Women Who Made a Difference January 9, 2012 World War II came after the women’s right to vote, which was a major accomplishment for women. But when the war started in 1941, the women in the military were nurses. WWII opened up opportunities for women that had never been available before. As the men were called up for duty, the women was left behind to care for families (Beasley, 2002), which meant they had to work and provide for their family. Most jobs were deemed a “man jobs”, but employers had to hire women to replace the men who went to serve.
With all of the men fighting in the war many women were employed in fields that were not generally accepted as “women’s work”. Many of these jobs ranged from trade jobs to volunteering as nurses in VA hospitals, but possible the biggest mark that women made were in the munitions factories. This undoubtedly solidified the quest for women’s rights nearly thirty years earlier. The U.S. Army created a
They gained a lot of sympathy when on hunger strike, and were force fed. One suffragette, Emily Davison, ran out in front of the king’s horse during the 1913 Derby and was killed. The violence of the militant tactics used by the Suffragettes and the fact that they were prepared to face violent opposition and imprisonment demonstrated their commitment to the issue of women’s suffrage. While many women did not agree with these tactics, they became sympathetic to the cause behind the tactics. As a result of this is there was an increase in the number of women joining women’s suffrage organisations, although mainly the non-militant more peaceful organisation of the Suffragists whose membership grew from 12,000 in 1909 to 50,000 in 1914.
Because of men and women leaving for war, many young women and once unemployed wives had to take over their roles back home and become the main supplier for everything. Women active in the war, however, began to change the way men and society viewed them. Men started respecting
Chapter 14 Essay (#5) Women played a very significant role during the civil war. For example, since men left to fight in the war, vast amounts of women had to take the roles of men in multiple aspects such as teachers, office workers, and many other professions in which they were obligated to comply in order to maintain an attempt at having a stable community during war time. Even though women took many different jobs men dominated previously, the profession in which most women found themselves during the civil war was in nursing. Besides being workers during tough times, women such as Susan B. Anthony led other women into reforms movements like women’s suffrage and abolition. During the civil war, women played a very significant role because they took many roles
1) During the Second World War, women proved that they could do "men's" work, and do it well. With men away to serve in the military and demands for war material increasing, manufacturing jobs opened up to women and upped their earning power. Yet women's employment was only encouraged as long as the war was on. Once the war was over, federal and civilian policies replaced women workers with men. 2) When the United States entered World War II in 1941, 12 million women were already working (making up one quarter of the workforce), and by the end of the war, the number was up to 18 million (one third of the workforce).
This amount of enthusiasm and energy women showed at work changed male attitude towards them and many realised these women were perfectly capable of being able to vote. The historian John Ray believes that WWI helped the decision to grant women the vote as “Women proved by their work that they deserved the vote equally with men.” And that “their war efforts succeeded where the suffragette campaign had failed”. However some believe that the great war in fact slowed the process of getting votes for women as before the breakout of war it looked like women were going to be granted the vote when Henry Asquith agreed to allow all suffragettes in prison to be released and arranged a meeting between the
I would have been a hero as a woman in supporting and sustaining the conflict. Many of the heroes in World War II were women who gave up the security of home to face the unknown in answering to the nation at a time when it was needed. As the need for men in the armed services grew, women supported these men by producing planes, ships, and ammunition, also by attending to the ill and wounded. Women also filled jobs in the military vacated by men called up for active duty. They could and they did.
According to numbers of the National Park Service, by late 1941, 14 million women constituted one quarter of the nation's workforce. The Second World War was a pivotal event for women's establishment as an equal part of the workforce. Men entered military service, leaving a high number of jobs vacant which women had to cover. By the end of the war, the number of employed women had risen to 18 million, one third of the total workforce Contribution to War Effort Direct involvement of women in military operations in the European and East Asian theatre of the war was limited. However, the nation's female population played a decisive role in wartime production, ensuring the smooth transition to a war economy.
Some women saw World War I as the opportunity for them to rise up. When men left to go to war, women took over their jobs and showed what they are capable of. Many women even continued their suffrage parties during the war and protested against the government. The movie Iron Jawed Angles illustrates all the hardships that women were face for doing that, but they did not stop. Finally, after the war, the bill was passed and President Wilson approved it and gave millions of women the right to vote.