With the advent of the 1920s and the signing of the Nineteenth Amendment came a rapid movement toward women’s rights. It sped up with the beginning of World War II where six million women went to work in military factories, producing ammunition and other military goods for the sixteen million troops fighting abroad. The end of the war brought the realization that American women could work just as hard and efficiently as American men. Thus the idea of feminism was born. From here, the momentum continued before taking a hit with the loss of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980s. This only caused women to fight harder and soon a new generation of independent women arose in the early 1990s. Nowadays, self-sufficient women can be found everywhere as CEOs in companies like PepsiCo and Kraft Foods or as associate justices on the Supreme Court. However, all the strides taken thus far had its origins not in businesses or the government but in the military. Since Joan of Arc first picked up a sword to fight for the French, women have disguised themselves as men in order to fight for their country and for their own personal independence. For example, during the Civil War (1860-1865), nearly three hundred women fought bravely in support of both the Northern and Southern cause (Weiser). Yet despite their bravery, three hundred seems trivial next to the approximately three million male soldiers that fought next to them (Weiser). The majority of contributions came from the women who stayed within the societal boundaries of the time. Unfortunately, most accounts of women in the Civil War focus on the hidden soldiers and not the supporting housewives. With such a small amount of women defying the norm, one has to wonder to what extent did women ... ... middle of paper ... ...orth Carolina, 1997. Print. (Kerber) "Godey's Lady's Book Online Home Page." Rochester History Resources. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. . (Godey’s) Newman, John J., and John M. Schmalbach. United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. New York, NY: Amsco School Publications, 2010. Print. (Newman) "Spying in the Civil War — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . (History) Slavicek, Louise Chipley. Women and the Civil War. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. Print. (Slavicek) Eggleston, Larry G. Women in the Civil War: Extraordinary Stories of Soldiers, Spies, Nurses, Doctors, Crusaders, and Others. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003. Print. (Eggleston)
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
Women in the US Military - Civil War Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
When first examining the documentation it is difficult to comprehend whether women were being patronized or treated too delicately; the fact of the matter is the average treatment of women during this era was radically different from society’s attitude toward men. It is also evident women exploited stereotypes to their advantage. Larry G. Eggleston explains the particular viewpoint of American society in Women of the Civil War as “Women were held with respect even though they were considered to be the weaker sex. Many women broke away from society’s traditional view of women when the Civil War began” (1). To avoid detection agents often manipulated social stigmas. Traditionally, Men were expected to join their countrymen upon the battlefield and women were to remain at home attempting to keep order. Some women were equally effective from their posts at home, while acting as scouts for their respected causes.
After the success of antislavery movement in the early nineteenth century, activist women in the United States took another step toward claiming themselves a voice in politics. They were known as the suffragists. It took those women a lot of efforts and some decades to seek for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. In her essay “The Next Generation of Suffragists: Harriot Stanton Blatch and Grassroots Politics,” Ellen Carol Dubois notes some hardships American suffragists faced in order to achieve the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Along with that essay, the film Iron-Jawed Angels somehow helps to paint a vivid image of the obstacles in the fight for women’s suffrage. In the essay “Gender at Work: The Sexual Division of Labor during World War II,” Ruth Milkman highlights the segregation between men and women at works during wartime some decades after the success of women suffrage movement. Similarly, women in the Glamour Girls of 1943 were segregated by men that they could only do the jobs temporarily and would not able to go back to work once the war over. In other words, many American women did help to claim themselves a voice by voting and giving hands in World War II but they were not fully great enough to change the public eyes about women.
...and the responsibility to be just as patriotic and dedicated as any other. When the war ended and the men returned, women weren’t required for the occupations, and this stirred a yearning in women to be once again sovereign, and perhaps the time set a scene for a path to complete gender integration and a women’s rights movement.
As most of us know the women of the Civil War were a lot different I believe than the
Written for the average American housewife, author Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is a true feminist novel. The piece of work was published in 1963, almost two decades after the end of WWII, at a time when a woman’s expected role was to be a housewife and a mother. It was during the war, however, that it was seen as socially acceptable, and even patriotic, for a woman to work and have a career outside of the home, being that the men were away at combat. With the demand of women in the workforce at an all time high, images of strong, ambitious, working women emerged throughout the media and press. Marketers capitalized on the theme of war and on this newfound sense of patriotism for women, and used it to sell their products. For women
Blanton, DeAnne and Lauren Cook. “They Fought like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War.” Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964. 91, 92. Print.
When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are
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.
Women During the Civil War I want something to do' Write a book,' qouth the author of my being. Don't know enough, sir. First live, then write. Try teaching again, suggested my mother. No thank you, ma'am, ten years of that is enough.
Since the resolution of World War II, the United States has been involved in over fifteen extensive military wars. Recent wars between Iraq and Afghanistan are being fought over several issues which affect women in both the United States and the other nations. While the military is often thought of a male dominated institution, women are present and affected all throughout the system as soldiers, caretakers, partners, and victims. Transnational feminists often fight against war due to the vulnerability that is placed on women during times of war. Despite often being overlooked, there is no doubt that women are heavily included in the devastating consequences of war.
Like with any modern point of contention, it is important to understand the history. Since as early as the revolutionary war, women have been active participants in the U.S. military. From nursing soldiers to cross-dressing and actually fighting, women have played a crucial
The story of America’s military woman can be traced to the birth of our nation. During the American Revolutionary War, the 18th and 19th centuries, where women served informally as nurses, seamstresses, cooks, and even as spies and were subject to Army’s rules of Conduct. Though not in uniform, these women shared soldier’s hardships including inadequate housing and little compensation. Women have formally been part of the U.S Armed Forces since the Inception of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In 1973 the transition to the All-Volunteer Force marked a dramatic increase in the opportunities available for women to serve in the military. As of September 30, 2009, the total number of active duty women in the U.S was 203, 375, and women made up 14.3 percent of the U.s armed forces (Robinson). Women are a crucial role in c...
In every war the women had stepped up to try to help the men who were off to fight, but the more agrarian societies of the revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and even World War I meant that most stepped up to do the work on the farm. In World War II, it was just as likely that the wives and mothers were stepping up to take a place in a factory as in the fields. While America was still primarily agrarian, the factories needed for warfare had brought the women to take their husband’s and son’s and boyfriend’s places. And while some women followed their husbands to the battlefront in the Civil War, and a few even enlisted as men, World War II brought a whole new experience as a huge war machine needed the men at the fronts for ...