1 Women’s lives after the two world wars changed, but there is some debate as to how much it changed. Their lives changed politically, with women gaining the vote, they changed in terms of employment, as they were now permitted to join certain professions and they also changed socially as a better way of living was set out for them. It is argued that women were given greater opportunities after the wars due to their exceptional participation on the home front. However, many historians believe that this change in women’s lives was simply due to the changing times and the progression in society. 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.
The closure of WW1 marked a significant period in women’s history. The franchise was extended to women over 30 in 1918, enabling them to vote in national elections. However, this was less than the ‘universal adult suffrage’ they had sought, and even by 1918, it would take a further decade to achieve this. The key debate over this achievement, however, is over the contribution of peaceful tactics. Even before the creation of a specific national suffrage movement, certain rights had already been gained by women.
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.
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. However, financial incentives were given to women to stay home and have children, and awards were granted depending on how many children a woman had – the more children, the higher ranking the award. They were told that it was their responsibility to provide soldiers for the future. As a result of this, many more women became mothers than might have down normally. Married couples were encouraged to divorce if their partner was infertile and many women joined Nazi women’s organisations.
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.
Between the 1920s and 1950s there was a lot of new technology, but it’s probably not the kind you are thinking of. Between the 1920s and the 1950s there were many changes in people’s social lives. In the 1920s there were a lot of social changes for women. Women gained the right to vote, and they also had the opportunity to obtain a job for the first time. This ties over to the 1950s where there were a lot more job opportunities for the women.
Women learned the ways of men (doing business and taking care of finances) while the men were away at war. Because of this they desired more equal marriages and wanted a say in decisions. They also wanted to marry for love instead of economics. Men finally began teaching women in schools which eventually led to women teaching other women. Abigail Adams reminded her husband to not forget the women in the constitution which is significant because it was the beginning of women’s rights.
Without the changing role of women, things that we have in everyday life as American’s could possibly not exist. Women not only were more help to the family, but they were helping rebuild the nation. As a whole, women helped clean up the process of urbanization and immigration, helped literature grow, and helped change the ongoing problem of women’s suffrage. After the Civil War, many people from other countries started immigrating to America. As a result, urbanization quickly started going out of control due to lack of communication, too many people being forced into slums, and many other reasons.
In her satire “I Want a Wife” Judy Brady states,” My wife must arrange to loose time at work and not lose the job.” Basically, Brady is saying some women work numerous jobs while maintaining family as top priority and involving their selves in their children’s extracurricular activities unlike men. Women are also more emotionally driven than men, giving them more sympathy toward their children when they are in need. The amount of women in the workforce has increased tremendously since 1972. The hours of housework between men and women has roughly stayed the same since Brady wrote the satire. Like Brady says,” I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and then do the cleaning up while I do my studying.
However after 1920 the role of women changed. After the 1920s women were given much more freedom. They were allowed to go out alone, work, were trousers ect. Flappers were introduced which showed that women were actually allowed more freedom. Flappers were outrageous party girls.