“Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory” is a book written during the time of World War II. It is about two teachers, in San Diego, who decide they need to do their part for the war effort. One of the women, Constance Bowman, is a high school Journalism and English teacher. The other woman, Clara Marie Allen, is also a high school teacher, but instead of English she teaches art. The reason for the name “Slacks and Calluses” is because these women go on a journey from women that wore skirts to women that wore work slacks. The two women of the story go from prominent women of the schoolyard to the working class of America. The author, Constance Bowman, states “people who knew us acted as if they did not’ while ‘people who did not …show more content…
know us whistled as if they did” (Reid intro. II ). The women speak of the struggles they went through being integrated into the working class of America, because most men thought women could not do the same work as them.
Men and women alike started belittling these working-class women that did hard labor for long hours, low pay. These people did not understand the significance of the work that was being done nor did they think the women could do it. The two teachers gave up their summer vacation to build bombers in a factory for sixty-eight cents an hour. In all actuality, these women did more for the war than most civilian men did. The two women, in the factory, stuck out like a sore thumb to most people. They had lunchboxes with only two tools in it whereas the other people had entire toolboxes. Even the foremen, “red-buttons” of the factory looked at them with disgust when they did not know how to use a ratchet or even knew what a ratchet was. These foremen also gave them small jobs such as building safety harnesses and tying electrical wires together that ran throughout the B-24, the Liberator. The women, at the time, did not really understand that these men just did not trust them with larger jobs on finishing the aircraft. The two women also started getting treated weirdly, differently because of their gender. Men saw these women that were dressed in …show more content…
work slacks as an “easier target” than a more prominent teacher. Fortunately, these women knew what they were worth, because during the school year they were teachers. Unfortunately, that was not the case for many women during that summer before the war. Most of the women came from poor families and some were even teenagers that had dropped out of high school for a plethora of reasons. The author and illustrator of the book, the two teachers that worked in a factory that summer, understood the need for them to work in these factories. On the other hand, most men saw them as nuisances in the workplace that simply did not belong and that never would. The country, during the time of the second world war, thought that a woman’s place was either in the house, in the garden, or in a school.
Little did they know that women would play a pivotal role in building many different things in war-time factories. The differences between these two women and their fellow workers were significant. The other women had six months of training on how to perform the tasks needed to do this job. This caused a sense of distance between these women, because even their coworkers thought they were incapable of doing the job. Admittedly, the two teachers were completely unqualified to do this job, but the factories needed workers on the shift they were choosing to work so they were hired for the position. The two women, Constance and Clara Marie, thought it their civic, patriotic duty to devote themselves to the war effort in any way they could. Though they were not sure of their ability to perform, they took on the task
wholeheartedly. In the end, the women are needed to perform these certain tasks that need to be done for the completion of the aircraft building, and are even training other women to perform the same tasks. Their fellow workers realize their importance to the construction process and give them the recognition they deserve. The country though, did not. Most civilians still viewed women as dainty housewives instead of hardworking people like the rest of society, men. These women went through many trials during their duration at the aircraft factory and at the end were grateful for the work ethic that was furthered instilled in them.
In 1943, most women worked as teachers, nurses, or done some sort of domestic labor. Their opportunities were nowhere near as vast as the men’s. This caused the women to feel left out or unequal. Women fought for more equal opportunities as well as equal treatment. This along with their sense of patriotism is what led them to work in these factories. They wanted to be viewed as equal counterparts and have the same opportunities as men during this time. Not as many opportunities were open to the women so they jumped at the chance to widen them when the idea of working in the factories came up. This also paired with their sense of patriotism, making their determination to work stronger. The women knew the men were off fighting for their freedom so this would give them a chance to contribute to the cause as well as help war production. This challenged the views of the workplace as well as the beliefs of where women belonged in the workplace. Numerous men...
Women who worked factory jobs during World War II, faced a lot of problems. In Slacks & Calluses, the author brings attention to this. The women were degraded. They had to put up with ridiculous dress codes. They were made pariahs by other women. Some were not even seen as women. Yet, through all of the adversity and ridicule, these women became stronger because of their struggles.
How sad can that be for these women to feel that they have no other option out of their marriage? In conclusion, both short stories were great at allowing the reader to see the way that women were repressed in their society in the 1900s. We don't hate the men; we just wish women did not have to be so subservient. Freedom is achieved in very unconventional ways in both of these stories, but the kind of freedom these narrators achieve is not available to most women of this time era. Works Cited Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia.
“At the war’s end, even though a majority of women surveyed reported wanted to keep their jobs, many were forced out by men returning home and by the downturn in demand for war materials… The nation that needed their help in
Since the war began women were led to believe that they were the ones who had to be the patriotic sacrifice until the men came home from war. The film reveals how the government used the media to alternately urge women to give up such elements of their feminin...
The setting of both stories reinforces the notion of women's dependence on men. The late 1800's were a turbulent time for women's roles. The turn of the century brought about revolution, fueled by the energy and freedom of a new horizon…but it was still just around the bend. In this era, during which both short stories were published, members of the weaker sex were blatantly disregarded as individuals, who had minds that could think, and reason, and form valid opinions.
For the first time women were working in the industries of America. As husbands and fathers, sons and brothers shipped out to fight in Europe and the Pacific, millions of women marched into factories, offices, and military bases to work in paying jobs and in roles reserved for men in peacetime. Women were making a living that was not comparable to anything they had seen before. They were dependent on themselves; for once they could support the household. Most of the work in industry was related to the war, such as radios for airplanes and shells for guns. Peggy Terry, a young woman who worked at a shell-loading plant in Kentucky, tells of the money that was to be made from industrial work (108). “We made a fabulous sum of thirty-two dollars a week. To us that was an absolute miracle. Before that, we made nothing (108)." Sarah Killingsworth worked in a defense plant. " All I wanted to do was get in the factory, because they were payin more than what I'd been makin. Which was forty dollars a week, which was pretty good considering I'd been makin about twenty dollars a week. When I left Tennessee I was only makin two-fifty a week, so that was quite a jump (114)." Terry had never been able to provide for herself as she was able to during the war. " Now we'd have money to buy shoes and a dress and pay rent and get some food on the table. We were just happy to have work (108).” These women exemplify the turn around from the peacetime to wartime atmosphere on the home front. The depression had repressed them to poverty like living conditions. The war had enabled them to have what would be luxury as compared to life before.
For both women, their motivations all lead back in some way to social expectations, although one woman is trying to conform to them and the other is trying to defy them. Works Cited Meyer, Michael, ed., pp. 113-117. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. New York: Bedfort/St. Martin, J.D., 1999.
The women encountered discrimination from the government and other male soldiers but, The WASP exchanged roles with male pilots. Giving the WASP women the opportunity of a lifetime. These women would make sure that those marvelous aircraft built by the "Rosies" were ready for combat service overseas. The “Rosies” was a cultural icon of the U.S. representing women who worked in factories and shipyards during this era.
...as Mary Ann in the novel show that women can do so much more than sew and cook. Without women, all wars would have been a lot harder. Although men tend to keep a macho facade in order to calm others (such as the women in their lives), inside they may be like glass, easy to break. A society set on the ideal stoic, fearless warrior who acts ruthlessly and saves the damsel in distress (also showing that women are weak) obviously is one where doomed to sexism. Without the comfort and inspiration, men would have deteriorated in the face of death. All and all, women provided the needed comfort, nursing, “manpower”, and love that the soldiers of Vietnam need, something that helped them endure the havoc of war. O’Brien’s expert use of the feminist lens allows the reader to know that women indeed were a powerhouse in the Vietnam war, without whom, men would have perished.
When all the men were across the ocean fighting a war for world peace, the home front soon found itself in a shortage for workers. Before the war, women mostly depended on men for financial support. But with so many gone to battle, women had to go to work to support themselves. With patriotic spirit, women one by one stepped up to do a man's work with little pay, respect or recognition. Labor shortages provided a variety of jobs for women, who became street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. Some women took over the farms, monitoring the crops and harvesting and taking care of livestock. Women, who had young children with nobody to help them, did what they could do to help too. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves.
During America’s involvement in World War Two, which spanned from 1941 until 1945, many men went off to fight overseas. This left a gap in the defense plants that built wartime materials, such as tanks and other machines for battle. As a result, women began to enter the workforce at astonishing rates, filling the roles left behind by the men. As stated by Cynthia Harrison, “By March of [1944], almost one-third of all women over the age of fourteen were in the labor force, and the numbers of women in industry had increased almost 500 percent. For the first time in history, women were in the exact same place as their male counterparts had been, even working the same jobs. The women were not dependent upon men, as the men were overseas and far from influence upon their wives.
hard working women as whores and lesbians and felt the women on the front lines of combat were only there for the moral support of the male troops. These false accusations humiliated the women and had a huge impact on the attitudes of people and policies regarding women in front line combat for the decades to come” (Moskos 54). Along with these accusations came the tests of the military manpower and strategies.
This was the start of a new age in the history for women. Before the war a woman’s main job was taking care of her household more like a maid, wife and mother. The men thought that women should not have to work and they should be sheltered and protected. Society also did not like the idea of women working and having positions of power in the workforce but all that change...
The story Little Women takes place at a time when women were taking on uncustomary roles like physical laborer, family protector and provider, and military volunteer while their husbands served during the Civil War. Keeping within the boundaries of the time, Louisa May Alcott uses herself and her own three sisters to create this classical novel from personal experiences. Each sister is different. They each set goals and dreams for their selves whether it goes along with their contemporary society or not. With the assistance of their mother, friends and experiences, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy struggle between their personal expectations and society’s expectations as they plan for their future and choose their destinies.