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
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.
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.
The lives of women on the Home Front were greatly affected by World War I The lives of women were greatly affected by the war, mainly in a positive way in the long run. Before the war upper-class women did not work, in contrast working class women worked in professions such as maids or working in factories as a way to provide for their families. Statistics show that as many as 11% of women worked as domestic servants before the war. The war also helped the social status of women dramatically in a positive manner as well as giving women the chance to work in a greater variety of jobs, although after the war they were expected to return to their original traditional housewife role. When the war broke out in August 1914, thousands of women lost their jobs in dressmaking, millenary and jewellery making.
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
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. Another huge landmark in feminism was the abolition of the property law that stated that women could not own property; all property would be their husband's or father's. Previous to this in the 60s the birth control pill helped liberate women by giving them highly effective control over their own fertility. As the 60s progressed, the women's liberation movement gained momentum. Later in the 60s the sex discrimination act was put in place, making it illegal to discriminate against someone on the grounds of their gender.
In response to women’s contribution in WW1 Women gained the right to vote. Because the women helped the government in order to win the war by creating ammunition and Farming, this changed the lives of women by having the right to choose who is going to control the country. I can also infer that, the group called the Suffragettes has been fighting for women's rights. Because, the leader Mrs Pankhurst believes that women and men are equal and should have the rights and this changed woman's life by getting the same amount of payment as the men. This can be seen on source A1 which states that ‘’ women had proved that they were just as important to the war effort as men in 1918 women were given some form of political representation.
Compare Barkers portrayal of women with that of Sherriff’s When WW1 began in 1914, women in Britain were still very much the oppressed gender. Campaigns for women to be allowed the vote were well established. However, throughout the war, women began to take on more masculine roles and were seen to transform into strong-minded individuals. This is greatly portrayed in Regeneration, where Pat Barker presents woman’s involvement in war work, showing their growth in independence, freedom, influence and role in society. Whilst women do not appear on the stage in ‘Journey’s end’, they are referenced to by the other male characters.
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.
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.