Some women “felt they were needed at home to raise families, crops for food and to fill the jobs that the men had vacated in order to serve their country.”(Suite101) Women’s lives on the home front during World War II were a significant part of the war effort for all participants and had a major impact on the outcome of the war. Once the men went off to war and left their jobs, the women that were single had a great advantage because job opportunities were everywhere. In the other hand married women had a tough time, especially if they had children. Hundreds of women worked in machine shops, welding shops, manufacturing plants, and also worked in war industries to make equipment for the war. New industries, naval, and army bases were being built during the home front.
Introduction In the American civil war, thousands of women were involved as volunteer nurses in different military hospitals and the battle field. Although social taboos prohibited women from working outside their homes, women sought direct and convention involvement in the civil war. They focused on participating in the national struggle and pursuing career opportunities in the military rather than the traditionally confined domestic support roles. Women nurses experienced the detrimental and depressing constants of the civil war, such disease, as mutilated bodies, amputated limbs as well as death. In addition, they offered invaluable aid to the wounded and sick soldiers as well as medical authorities.
For well-off southern white women who stayed at home during the war, there was a lot of responsibility to take on. They had to keep the rich businesses of their husbands who went off to the war. According to Maddie Dwyer, “With their husbands being the wealthiest of society (planters or business owners), they had a lot of responsibility to take over once they were Gone.” (Dwyer 2). This quote explains that they had to play the role of the mother and father proving that women are obviously capable of doing what
The women of the early 20th century helped by filling in the jobs that men used, volunteering as nurses, and giving hope to the soldiers to fight back with. Women completely stabilized all the jobs that were left by the men. Around 1 to 2 million women joined the workforce during the war, such as in governmental jobs, in public transport, in the post office, in business clerks and
They did practically everything a man was supposed to be doing, besides fighting in the war of course. The women cleaned, cooked, havested the crops, spied, ect. The women helped the Union or Confederates gain knowledge about the rivalry side. The women were almost the foundation of the familes. Mostly every person in a family relies on the mother figure,
The government decided to start a propaganda campaign to get women working to help with the war. They promoted “Rosie the Riveter” as the ideal woman worker: loyal, efficient, patriotic, and pretty. (Sorensen 3) The campaign was a success because the women stepped in to take the factory jobs that the men left behind when they went off to war. The women took jobs such as making ammunition, uniforms, and air planes. They were also doing jobs such as welding, riveting and engine repair.
The Woman Who Raised a Nation In the book Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, Cokie Roberts gives voice to the unsung female heroes who helped shape the foundation of the United States. The women she wrote about faced enormous challenges yet believed in the possibility of a radical concept called democracy. They gave a great deal of themselves during the building of this nation, perhaps none more so than George Washington’s wife Martha. One of Martha’s many contributions to the birth of this nation was the support she gave to military troops in order to boost morale. Early on in her marriage to George, Martha got down in the trenches and joined him at army camp which started “a pattern that was to last throughout the war” (Roberts 87).
Women’s Roles Throughout the history of the United States, women have held many different roles in social, political and economic classes. Before the Civil War, a woman had a traditional role in the home, working as a housewife. The fight for equal and voting rights started but was unfortunately not continued until after the war. With new technology and industrial advances, women’s roles in the work force increased immensely and obtained many new opportunities. Although before the Civil War, women rarely took a part in society, the war significantly changed women’s roles in many ways.
How did some women try to force to government to employ more women? Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading suffragette, campaigned vigorously with one of her daughters, Christabel, to have women more involved in the war effort. The Pankhursts organised “The Right to Serve” procession in 1915 in which 60,000 women took part. The government was soon forced to change its mind and allow women into industry and other traditionally “male” jobs. It was the only way to keep up production.
Since men were fighting for the country, this propaganda encouraged women to take roles men had to do before they left for the war. This suggestion was shown by demonstrating the lady in the picture drilling through metal. The picture also displayed, she was working on war equipment. Also, the propaganda shows a slogan saying "Do the job HE left behind". Meaning since most men had gone to war, nobody else but women were able to fill men's daily roles.