The historical debate surrounding this topic is wether women’s lives really did change greatly after the two world wars, or wether their lives simply went back to the way they were before the war started. This essay will discuss women’s participation during the two world wars, the gaining of the vote, women in the workplace after the wars, their role in society and how it changed and eventually, coming to the conclusion that women’s lives did not change to a great extent, and that it was all a result of changing times in society. Women’s participation during the two world wars was greatly appreciated. The great war came to be seen as a great opportunity for women, however, when war first broke out, the war was seen a threat to women’s position1. There was a massive disruption of the industries in which women were mostly employed, such as dress-making and textiles.
A wider range of jobs became available to them, they gained more independence and weren’t viewed as second citizens but most importantly, World War One lead to women in Britain gaining the vote. Before the First World War, The majority of women stayed at home and their priorities were looking after the family and the house. Women were seen as the property of their husband. The variety of women’s jobs was very narrow and most women had never had a proper job in their lives. During the war, asso many men were involved in fighting, countless women had a job whether it was working in a munition factory, driving an ambulance or working for the transport of London.
Is feminism still relevant in the modern world? In the early 20th century the suffragettes played a huge part in gaining votes for women. World War One also played a large part the feminist movement as women who had previously been deemed incapable of much more than looking after children and husbands were now required to help in other areas such as the work force as part of the war effort. After World War One women were not content to revert back to their pre-war status. World War Two required women in the munitions factories and as land girls which due to the shortage of men gave, women a definite place in the working environment, and the argument of women being incapable was now of no consequence.
Women took on jobs that were traditionally regarded as skilled men's work. However, women undertaking jobs during the war lost their jobs at the end of the World War I. ========================================= In World War I, for example, thousands of women worked in munitions factories, offices and large hangars used to build aircraft. [1] Of course women were also
After the Second World War, there definitely was a long lasting effect on the role of women in Canadian society. You all know that women are being treated a lot better than they were back in the First and Second World War compared to the women society today, well in this paper I will be proving this, but mainly focusing on the Second World War. During the First World War, it brought many good changes to the lives of Canadian women. We began to see women becoming more recognized and important not just in Canada, but around the world. They began to take up jobs that would be considered unsuitable for women before 1914, such as working in munitions factories and other war industries.
Using my own research i will discover whether the World War One had a positive effect on the role of women. After the immediate rise in female unemployment at the beginning of the war due to the ‘middle-classes wish to economise’ (first world war, accessed 07/01/09), the only option to replace the volunteers gone to front was to employ women in the jobs they had left behind. This was supported by all the major feminist groups, who suddenly ‘became avid patriots and organisers of the women in support of the war effort’ (war and gender, accessed 22/01/09). Overall women’s employment increased from ‘three million in 1914 to five million in 1918’ (Murphy, p373, 2000). For many of the women the war was ‘a genuinely liberating experience’ (first world war, accessed 07/01/09), and made the women feel useful as citizens.
After all, in countries such as New Zealand (1893), Australia (1901), Finland (1906) or Norway (1913) women got the vote before the war began, whereas others such as Denmark (1915), Iceland (1915), Holland (1917) or Sweden (1919) gave it to women during the war without being involved in it. (http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/womenww1_three.htm) Women did make steps when it came to labor, but many women also looked down on the working class feminists. They thought it was unnecessary, and women should have their own place in the home
However, an event that helped shape the future was the lives of women. For hundreds of years, women were down-graded and not deemed important. But, from the year 1914, the importance of women gradually kept increasing, resulting in women gaining new jobs, new responsibilities and a respectful place in society. In this essay, I will analyse five selected sources and determine whether the lives of women on the Home Front were greatly affected by the First World War. Firstly, employment for women throughout the war had a drastic improvement; many jobs became available for women to choose from.
Between 1914 and 1918, British women made significant contributions to the war effort in many ways. Most notably they emancipated more men to the front-lines, so their home country would have a greater chance of success in the First World War. British women did this through many ways. Firstly, they encouraged recruitment, which led more men to participate in the war. Secondly, the women kept the country going by sustaining the country’s labor needs.
“Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women’s most significant professions” (“WIC”). Over the years women have earned a bigger keep in their family lives, and now there are not many women that do not work outside of the home. As the years have progressed, women have become more active in the workforce, although there have been many obstacles to try and keep them out. “Sex discrimination in employment was legal in the United States until passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” (“Employment”). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped women out a lot concerning wages and titles in their careers.