The Effect of World War Two on the Status of British Women - Essay Example

This essay stresses that women, in particular, assailed by a series of unending attacks to their humanity and had to claw at what appears to be a hint of hope for survival. Class distinctions broke down and the formerly rich women adjusted to life’s painful realities that they had to live like the rest of the commoners. This discussion declares that women prisoners of war were treated inhumanely. Their captors were usually cruel, desensitized by the evils of war. They were forced to live in despicable conditions – overcrowded cockroach-infested huts, poor sanitation, and the epidemic of head lice.

They were made to sleep on very narrow wooden boards, with no privacy at all. They was utter disregard for their well-being and health. Women camp prisoners were ordered around to do forced labor. In all kinds of climates – in very high temperature, under the blazing hot sun, they were made to dig graves to bury the dead, dig up latrines for their own use, chopped wood and carry extremely heavy load. In a sense, chivalry was dead in those times. Being participants in the war, women were exposed to all kinds of danger.

Although threats to their lives were all around and caused chaos in their biological systems, it became a normal occurrence to be at gunpoint or the target of enemy fighter planes. The war demanded enormous manpower, not just in the armed forces, but also in industry. The government therefore, took the decision to draft women into ‘men’s’ jobs, just as they had done during the First World War, in an attempt to keep production at a steady level.