Women's Contribution During World War I - Essay Example

WOMEN’S ROLE IN WORLD WAR I Women only played the role of a typical homemaker, before World War I. It was a set standard to judge them by their beauty rather than their ability. They were only typical homemakers, whose duties were cooking for family, caring for children, cleaning the house and sewing clothes for all family members. As far back as 1880, women had worked in textile and a few other industries but were kept away from heavy industries or those positions which involved real responsibility and power. These were the traditional roles they played from which they broke away just before the war started. Women replaced the men, when these men left their jobs to serve their country in war overseas. They filled many jobs which were brought into existence by wartime needs due to which the number of women employed increased greatly in many industries. In U.S, about eight million women had paid occupations before the war but after the war began, the number of women working increased in common lines of work as a newspaper stated, “There has been a sudden influx of women into such unusual occupations as bank clerks, ticket sellers, elevator operator, chauffeur, street car conductor, railroad trackwalker, section hand, locomotive wiper and oiler, locomotive dispatcher, block operator, draw bridge attendant, and employment in machine shops, steel mills, powder and ammunition factories, airplane works, boot blacking and farming.”(“Protecting the working mothers” Seattle Union Record) Most of these women were married, some whose husbands or older sons had gone to front. If we research and look through the various newspapers including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Times, dated from 1917 to 1918, we will be aware of the role which women played during World War I. 1. General feminine jobs This war created more domestic jobs for women, as those women who got busy in industries and factories and were working outside their homes were not able to take good enough care of their children and houses. Ads such as: “Widow: 40; very good appearance, whose only support has gone to war would like some light work to help out” (“Situation Wanted-Female” Seattle Daily Times) were very easy to find in all the newspapers ‘help wanted’ sections, which were a good evidence to prove that women of that time were willing to work at any cost, regardless of age or status, to help the nation win the war.       2. Increase in war emergency jobs There was high increase in jobs due to World War I as more and more men were leaving jobs to move to the front for the war, the industries had to look for female workers who could replace their men’s jobs. During 1917 and 1918, demands of female stenographers, telegraphers and phone operators were increasing rapidly. In the field of telegraphing, a newspaper wrote, “Women are more apt than men in this line of work.” (“Find women are apt” Seattle Post-Intelligencer.) The railroad companies also employed about hundred of capable woman operators, because not only were these woman known to be skillful but also dependable. There was an extreme high demand of female stenographers at one point of time too that almost two thirds of the total ads in newspaper were looking for stenographers, an example being, “Thoroughly competent book keeper, cashier, and stenographer, six years with last firm in charge of books and collections, desire position of responsibility.” (“Situation Wanted Ad” Seattle Post-Intelligencer). The women in that era wanted to take more responsible jobs did not wanted to be just a substitute labor force. 3. Military auxiliary jobs Nursing During World War 1, young women and girls worked as nurses. There was a high demand of nurses in the newspapers with headlines like, “Girl: 16 years, wants a position as a nurse.” (“Help Wanted Ads” Seattle Post-Intelligencer. June 16, 1917.) In April 1917, when United States entered World War I, the Navy had 160 nurses on active duty. In the next one and a half year, the number increased more than eight-folds as the Nurse Corps expanded to meet the war’s demands, “Growth was gradual, with 345 Navy Nurses serving by mid-1917, 155 of them members of the U.S. Naval Reserve Force.” (Naval History and Heritage) Young women volunteered to join the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY).  Those in the VAD came from diverse backgrounds: cooks, domestic servants, laundry workers etc. These volunteers who were a part of VAD did not get paid as it was a voluntary appointment. Their medical training was pretty basic and went to the war zone so as to provide the wounded soldiers with basic medical treatment. The nurses who joined the FANY had to drive ambulances and run soup kitchens for the soldiers and even helped in organizing bath for those soldiers who were given some time off from the front line.   The Women’s Land Army The women’s land army played a crucial role when so many men were away fighting in the war, as the government needed women who would keep the farms going. So women were needed for producing food and goods through farms replacing those men who were out on the front line. One of the statements made by a woman in the women’s land army was that, “Their feet were never dry even in dry weather - simply because they had to work early in the morning and the dew on the grass would enter the boots through the lace holes.” (Spartacus Educational, Women’s Land Army) Factory Workers One of the most important works done by the women was in the ammunition factories while the men were fighting in the World War I. It was extremely risky and dangerous to work with explosive chemicals because a single explosion in a factory could trigger many other ones. So not only were the women working with explosive chemicals in the ammunition factories but they also worked as power machine operators and even in some naval machine shops too. One example being, “Authority to employ women for work in the various shops at the navy yard has been received from Washington D.C. and according to commandant of the naval station, the majority of 1,000 employees for shop work, for whom calls are now out, will be women.” (“Women to work in Naval Station machine shops” Seattle Daily Times). These women were used in all shops to a certain extent, mostly in the machinery, supply, and public work departments as women employees. Some other manufacturing industries were also in need of female power machine operators due to lack of male workers. So in order to supply these factories with skilled female workers, schools were set up to train women in upholstering, trimming, and other work calling for skilled operatives.  A factory manager was quoted as saying, “Women were seen as quick learners and that in some departments they are more efficient than men, although those departments have been employing men exclusively for years.” (“Women prefer not to wear overalls at work” Seattle Post-Intelligencer). World War I gave women a chance and an opportunity to show an extremely male-dominated society, that women can do much more than simply bringing up children and staying and looking after their homes. During World War I, it were women who basically kept the nation going with their multi-tasking abilities, keeping soldiers equipped with ammunition as well as replacing men in their jobs in various industries and factories. World War I proved to be a turning point for women as many young men volunteered to join army, a space was created in employments which were filled by the skilled women of that time. Women found jobs in transportation including railroads, cars, ambulances and trucks, nursing, ammunition factories, on farms in the Women’s Land Army, in shipyards etc to name a few. Apart from nursing all these jobs were only for men before the war, as women has no socio-economic power at all, but by the end of it women proved that they were equally important in the war effort as the men. During the wartime crisis, as time passed by, one could notice how the women earned a great respect due to their active participation during the wartime crisis. Women clearly proved that they were no less than the men and that if given opportunities they can not only prove themselves equally good as men but even better than them. The coming generations should continue to work on women rights as they are no less than men of this world. References "Nurses and the U.S. Navy, 1917-1919." Naval History and Heritage Command. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2013. . "Seattle General Strike: Where Women Worked During World War I." UW Departments Web Server. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. . "Women In World War 1." Women In World War 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. . "Womens Land Army." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2013. . Read More