Contribution of the American Women during the Second World War - Essay Example

Short Essay Answer U.S women during the Second World War played a very vital role at both their homes and the defense production plants while their men were abroad fighting the war. In order to help in building the armaments that were necessary to win the war, women were employed as welders, riveters, and electricians in the defense plants were they acquired many experiences of ‘man’s work’. A large number of American women were not employed prior to the war, they only carried out home duties, and the few who were employed were only the single or the professionals.

The jobs that women undertook during the war included nurses, engineering, mechanics, building ships, tank drivers, ambulance drivers, plumbers, among many others. About sixty percent of employees who participated during the war were women. 640,000 women were employed in the state’s armed forces, 55,000 were serving with guns, and 80,000 participated in the Land Army. Out of the women who were employed, 80 percent were married and worked of land, factories, and armed forces. The war marked a very great impact towards women pay.

The issue of gender equality was raised during the war after realizing that what men can do, women can also do thus resulting in gender equality. This led to the increase of women's wages. Although the portrayed women as only temporary workers who would return back home after the war, this was not true. Women proofed that they do what men can do and after the war, they remained in their professional jobs. The minority black women who were highly discriminated proved to be more hard working than the white women and they were moved out of South to urban centers to look for better paying jobs.

Work cited O'Brien, Kenneth P, and Lynn H. Parsons. The Home-Front War: World War II and American Society. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2005. Print.