Roles of Women in World War II - Research Paper Example

Roles of Women in World War II and Section # of Women & World War II (Changing Roles of Women) Before the Second World War, women were confined to a specific set of tasks like taking care of home and children. The concept of women stepping out of their homes for working or other purposes was very rare and even if they did, women were found in very restricted types of professions like nursing or some very specific office jobs. (Zeinert, 1994). During the war, however, the roles of women in the society changed altogether. Most men were away to either fight the war or went to the major factories (like the ones that created arms and ammunitions, etc) to help fight the war. This left many male-specific job-positions vacant that needed to be filled. (Harper, 2004). Moreover, since most husbands, sons and fathers went away to help in war, someone had to step out and support the family. In this scenario, women stepped out to perform both the tasks of taking care of their homes as well as supporting them financially. (Litoff, 1997). Furthermore, there were many other social responsibilities that needed to be taken care of like volunteering and social work, rationing, farming etc. (Lewis, 2010 “Women and World War II”). Women were also needed in the military to help in various tasks like nursing the injured soldiers, cooking the food, etc. Later through these entrances in the military, women found their way to the combating military posts as well. (Daryl, 2008). On the governmental level, a pull was also created for the women to persuade them to step out of their homes and help the country win the war by working in the industries, volunteering and social working, etc. (Yellin, 2004). An iconic character Rosie the Riveter was created and various posters were made showing Rosie the Riveter as a symbol of how women should be during the war at the homefront and elsewhere, i.e. strong, energetic, dependable, active and helpful. (Lewis, 2010 “Rosie the Riveter”). This character of Rosie the Riveter blew a new spirit in the women of the war time and encouraged them to step ahead and play their part. (Lewis, 2010 “Women and World War II”). Rosie the Riveter Poster, produced by Westinghouse for the War Production, created by J. Howard Miller. Image courtesy of US National Archives. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2001.1 All in all, women started taking a more active part in building the society and this was highly encouraged officially by the government and related bodies as well. There are various roles that the women played during the World War II. (Zeinert, 1994). These roles are discussed as follows. World War II Homefront: Women at Home During the Second World War, most of the domestic workforce (comprising of men) went away to either fight or to work in industries for war-production. This led to a serious decline in the production of domestic products and created a shortage in the market. (Lewis, 2010 “Women at Home”). Although many women joined the workforce and contributed a lot to the production, the shortage still prevailed. (NWHM, 2007). Moreover, while allocating the resources, more emphasis had to be upon fighting and winning the war. (Litoff, 1997). Since women had always been the homemakers, and most women were now supporting their families as well, there was an added responsibility on their heads of rationing and managing the shortage of resources. (Lewis, 2010 “Women at Home”). There were many official campaigns in order to encourage women to conserve resources and to actively take part in resource creation. (NWHM, 2007). For example, there were campaigns encouraging women not to use transport while going out for grocery or for work in order to save fuel that could better be used in fighting the war. (Harper, 2004). Also, there were campaigns encouraging women to grow vegetables and other food products in their own gardens in order to help conserve the resources used in large scale farming and agriculture in the country. They were asked not to buy new clothes, shoes and other stuff and to mend and sew the old utilities to save the resources for the war. (Daryl, 2008). Women were convinced that by helping conserve the resources this way they would be contributing to the country’s victory in the battlefield. The home gardens where the women used to grow food were hence named “Victory Gardens”. (Lewis, 2010 “Women at Home”). Women at Work As more men left their jobs to go fight for their country or to join the war-production factories, more and more vacancies were created in the domestic job-market. (Yellin, 2004). Due to the shortage of the male workforce, women were encouraged to join the non-traditional jobs that were initially thought of as male-specific. (Daryl, 2008). Campaigns and propagandas like Rosie the Riveter were created in order to convince women that they are fit for these jobs and to persuade them to join the workforce. (NWHM, 2007). These campaigns induced the can-do attitude in women and women entered all sorts of industries ranging from health to education to manufacturing to services to government. (Lewis, 2010 “Rosie the Riveter”). Thus, the percentage of American women who worked outside their homes increased to 36% from 25% during the World War II. (Lewis, 2010 “Women at Work”). Nevertheless, this new role was very challenging for the women of the time since they had to perform two difficult tasks simultaneously, i.e. taking care of home and children and working outside and earning to support the family. (Litoff, 1997). Women in the Military Women were also needed in the military forces and many women did move ahead to work for the military. In the beginning, women were not hired at fighting positions. (Lewis, 2010 “Women and the Military”). They were rather hired as secretaries, nurses, field helpers, on ships, as cleaners and cooks, etc. so that more men were free to go fight for the nation. (Litoff, 1997). Thousands of women were working for the armed forced at that time in various positions. Many joined Red Cross or other organizations. (NWHM, 2007). However, as the time passed, women found their way to the combating positions as well. Especially after Pearl Harbor, many women joined the military forces to fight for the nation. (Lewis, 2010 “Women and the Military”). Women were officially allowed to join the armed forces on combating positions by the congress in 1942 for the duration of emergency. (NWHM, 2007). Hence, during the war, over 400,000 women joined the armed forces, out of which 432 women lost their lives and 88 were made prisoners by the enemies. (NWHM, 2007). Women in the Government During the Second World War, in addition to joining various other work-posts, many women entered the world of politics all around the world. They played a great part in the governments of various countries. (Yellin, 2004). There are many examples of such women who joined the government. Such as Madame Chiang Kai-shek of China who was known as the world’s most famous women for her efforts on the cause of freeing China from Japanese occupation. (Lewis, 2010 “Women in the Government”). From Britain, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth (the then to-be Queen Elizabeth II) are figures that portrayed immense leadership skills in the toughest of times. (Lewis, 2010 “Women in the Government”). Similarly, Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady of USA) worked a lot to boost and keep up the morale of the nation in times of war. (Zeinert, 1994). There are numerous examples of women who took leading positions in the government, worked very hard and succeeded in their efforts to raise the morale of the nation and getting many other tasks done that helped their nation immensely in times of war. (Harper, 2004). Women Celebrities & World War II Twentieth Century was the time when the concept of Celebrities and Stars was fast emerging. Keeping the high influence of the celebrities and public figures on the minds of the population, many celebrities made efforts to boost the morale of the nation, keep them hopeful motivated and energetic, and encourage them to fight for the nation. (Zeinert, 1994). Many parties also used various celebrities to endorse their objectives and aims regarding the war. For example, Hitler’s Nazi Party had Leni Riefenstahl, an actress and dancer of the time to make documentaries in favor of the party. (Lewis, 2010 “Celebrities and the War”). Josephine Baker took the task of entertaining the French troops in Middle East and Africa. (Lewis, 2010 “Celebrities and the War”). Many celebrities like Bette Davis, Lynn Fontaine, Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, Gypsy Rose Lee, Ethel Merman, and the Andrews sisters, etc. helped raise wartime funds. (Zeinert, 1994). In short, the women celebrities played a great part during the World War II in various tasks, like raising funds and keeping up the morale of the population, etc. (Yellin, 2004). Comfort Women Although women played many positive roles during the Second World War, the role of “Comfort Women” is also attached to the women of various parts of the world. Comfort women were basically those women who willingly or unwillingly provided sexual services to the soldiers. (Tanaka, 2003). An estimate explains the number of the comfort women to be around 80,000. (Lewis, 2010 “Comfort Women”). In some countries such as the USA, these girls were also known as victory girls who made their services available to the soldiers willingly free of cost just to boost their morale. (Lewis, 2010 “Women and the Military”). In other countries like the regions of China, Philippines, Korea, etc occupied by Japan, these girls either served as prostitutes or were made sexual slaves. (Tanaka, 2003). The girls who were made sexual slaves were usually of very young age and were mostly treated very badly which resulted in a permanent damage to their health and well-being. (Lewis, 2010 “Comfort Women”). Many such women filed lawsuits against Japanese soldiers after the war; however, no government has accepted the responsibility. (Tanaka, 2003). Conclusion Concluding the discussion, it must be said, that the roles of the women in the society revolutionized completely during the Second World War. Women stepped out of their homes and entered all sorts of industries and institutions to work alongside men and it is to be noted that although the change in roles was intended to be only till the war remains, there was no looking back and women are still working and rising up in various fields. (Zeinert, 1994). In fact, women have surpassed man in many walks of life and that is a great sign of prosperity. Bibliography Books Harper, Louise. The changing role of women during World War II. Louise Hooper, 2004. Litoff, Judy; Smith, David. American women in a world at war: contemporary accounts from World War II. Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. Tanaka, Toshiyuki. Japans comfort women: sexual slavery and prostitution during World War II and the US occupation. Routledge, 2003. Yellin, Emily. Our mothers war: American women at home and at the Front during World War II. Free Press, 2004. Zeinert, Karen. Those incredible women of World War II. Millbrook Press, 1994. Websites Daryl. (2008). “Women roles in World War 2”. HubPages. http://hubpages.com/hub/Women-roles-in-World-War-2 (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women and World War II - How Womens Lives Changed in World War II”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/overview.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women World War II Homefront: Women at Home - Womens Lives Changed by World War II”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/women_at_home.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women and World War II - Women at Work - Women in Offices, Factories, and Other Jobs”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/women_work.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women and World War II: Women and the Military - Women Serving the War Effort”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/military.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women and World War II: Women in the Government - Women in Political Leadership in Wartime”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/government.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women and World War II: Women Celebrities and the War - Stars Use Their Celebrity”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/celebrities.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Rosie the Riveter: Poster of Rosie the Riveter - Woman Working in a Factory in World War II”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/worldwariiposterart/ig/World-War-II---Victory-Home/Rosie-the-Riveter-.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). Lewis, Jone. “Women and World War II: Comfort Women - Women as Sexual Slaves of the Japanese Military”. About.com (Women’s History). http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/comfort_women.htm (Accessed May 24, 2010). NWHM - National Women’s History Museum. (2007). “Partners in Winning the War: American Women in World War II”. National Womens History Museum. http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/partners/exhibitentrance.html (Accessed May 24, 2010). Read More