Women wanted the same working rights as men, and they fought hard for it. Suffragettes stoped their campaign of violence and supported the government and its war effort in every way. The work done by women in the First World War was to be vital for Britain's war effort. Even though women gained the right to vote shortly after the war, its argued that the war wasn’t really the cause of giving women this right. 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.
Other negative attention was from those who felt alienated which resulted in anti-suffragette campaigns. Militant tactics were proving to society that women could not be trusted with their emotions, how could they be trusted with the vote? Gaining public attention was not easy for suffragettes as they were never taken seriously, they became desperate and did anything for public attention including throwing herself on to a horse race track. Emily Davidson became a well-known suffragette for throwing herself on a race track, supposedly to stick a ‘Votes for Women’ banner on the kings’ horse and died. Her actions proved how serious women were.
Anderson points out that despite continuing occupational sex segregation, a lack of appropriate child care, and the lingering negative attitudes regarding female employment, women persisted in gaining employment and opening doors for themselves and later generations. The necessities of wartime America undermined a somewhat sex segregated labor market and the ideas that perpetuated it. Lacking national uniformity, local municipal government and attitudes greatly influenced the breath of change. Such themes arose was mobilization where employed several rationales in convincing women to pursue employment among them patriotism, the prestige of war workers, and “a stress on women’s capacities for nontraditional work.” For women themselves, several factors encouraged them to find work. While patriotism remained one, others such as economic necessity, escape from the home, desire for social independence, and preventing loneliness or anxiety provide a few examples.
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.
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.
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.
Firstly, as the war broke out, many women took it upon themselves to do a duty for the common good of the “new“ nation. They began as boycotters, camp followers and fund raisers, even when their “invaluable Rights and Privileges are attacked in an unconstitutional and most alarming Manner.” They felt it was their public duty and sometimes did it more than the men. Many other women showed their patriotism by serving in the war, as nurses, cooks, or laundresses. However, life on a military camp was hard and not very attractive. They were usually so busy they didn’t know what was going on as, Sarah Osborn, a camp follower, asked about why officers had swung their hats.
Also I thought that the Suffragists played a vital role in getting the rights for women to vote because they proved to the men that they could protest and campaign without using violence or breaking the law, unlike the Suffragettes, who resorted to violence when they wanted their way or when they wanted to be heard. Before World War 1 there, were two groups of women that campaigned for votes for women and they were known as the Suffragists and the suffragettes. They called themselves the Suffragists because they were trying to mock the word Suffrage which means the right to vote. Then there were the Suffragists they were so different from the Suffragists yet they were so similar. Both groups of women were campaigning and fighting for the same thing, but the way they achieved the vote was very different.
Women colleges C. Coeducation Conclusion The Fight for Women’s Rights Throughout history women have been hidden behind their husbands. They were not able to have a say in the household, hold a job with reasonable hours, or be able to earn reasonable pay. Many women would not speak up for themselves. Men took pleasure in their control over them. Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for women to have legal rights, have better jobs, and higher education, even though many men shunned her.
A woman is human” (Vera Nazarian). Women have always been considered as having a lower status then men. They are marginalized in society because of their gender. There are also many stereotypes about women for example, when a guy is scared to do something he is referred to as “a girl” implying that all girls are scared. We know this is not true because women have done everything in this world that men have including dangerous adventure sports yet they considered to be lower than men .Their talents are not as recognized as men’s talents are and they are mostly looked upon as not being fit for the same jobs as men are.