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.
Women were able, furthermore, to stand as candidates in local elections by 1888, enabling women to challenge opposition views that had always denied them their rights, and the increasing roles of women in society indicated greater social acceptance. However, limitations persisted in that these responsibilities were seen as ‘domestic’ and women were still openly denied the parliamentary franchise. In addition, these crucial changes remained restricted to only middle class women, thus losing crucial support from working class women who had already established highly developed unions. Hence, the Radical Suffragist Party focused on working class women thus ‘radical’ for these views. These contributed to social reform through peaceful means and set up successful women’s trade unions which created equal rights for women in payment and working hours.
To what extent did the First World War change the lives of women in Britain? The First World War was a time of loss, heartbreak and an endless fight for victory. It was the worst war the world had ever seen. But in amongst all of this suffering came an unexpected but positive outcome for women in Britain which had a huge effect on their lives. 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.
There was a massive disruption of the industries in which women were mostly employed, such as dress-making and textiles. This, in the end, was actually a benefit. As war work became available, such as munitions factories, many of those women could now work in a higher paid job as well as do their part in the war effort. Women in the domestic services even left their jobs in order to work for higher paid jobs2. The first world war gave women more opportunity in the workplace as more occupations were open to them and the war also
It was in the early 1800s when women began to question various issues such as their roles in society and their rights as a woman, or their lack of rights and unjust inequality in comparison to males. Interestingly though in 1792Marry Wollstonecraft, who was a significant driving force in the women’s right movement, wrote “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). In her book she argued that women were rational beings who should be able to be educated, earn their own livings, and develop their characters “regardless of the distinction of sex” (pg 24 Alison M Parker). Then in 1820 the activist Frances Wright went on to further publicize her work. At the time Frances Wright was best known for being a early proponent of the notion that marriage was a form of cohesive bondage for women, who there thereby denied the right to inheritances, wages, and joint guardianship of their children.
Prior to the First World War women's role in society in western countries was generally confined to the domestic sphere (but not necessarily their own home) and to certain types of jobs: 'Women's Work'. In Great Britain for example, just before World War I, out of an adult population of about 24 million women, some 1.7 million worked in domestic service, 0.8 million worked in the textile manufacturing industry, 0.6 million worked in the clothing trades, 0.5 million worked in commerce and 0.26 million in local and national government (including teaching). [1] The British textile and clothing trades, in particular, employed far more women than men and could be regarded as 'women's work'. [1] While some women managed to receive a tertiary education and others to go into non-traditional career paths, for the most part women were expected to be primarily involved in 'home duties' and 'women's work'. Before 1914, only a few countries had given the right to vote to women, and apart from these countries women were little involved in the political process.
World War 1 played a significant part in developing women's political rights in both positive and negative ways. World War one may have foiled the drive by women to gain political rights just as much or even more so then it helped. Pre war women did have working opportunities though very little compared to men, as they were seen as weaker and that their place was in the "home". Their employment was limited to the domestic service (cleaning or working as a servant) and secretarial work and not manual labor in factories or working class women often worked in the textiles industry. Women were lower paid and were restricted to do less skilled work, as they were considered incompetent.
This is when women first began to work for political equality with men. They pushed for equal opportunities involving their careers, working conditions and wages, and the right to own property. A breakthrough came in 1916 when Robert Borden granted the sisters, wives, and daughters of soldiers the right to vote. Nurses serving in the forces were also added to that list. Unfortunately, after the war ended many women were pushed to the side, as the female factory workers, ambulance drivers, and nurses
The Nazi’s were fixed on the idea that a woman’s role was at home, being a mother and a wife. They wanted women to have plenty of children so the birth rates would go up and Germany could form a large army and become a more powerful nation. Working class women were removed from factories and encouraged to stay at home, and middle class women were removed from their professions. They were urged to wear traditional clothing, and behave in a much less liberal way than was allowed during Weimar times. Many middle class women were unhappy about this, and after the freedoms and empowerment of women during Weimar they did not like the new constrictions – it seemed almost like a step back for them.
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.