Describe the changing roles of women during ww2?

Answer 1

How the role of women changed during World War 2: When the men went off to fight for the first time the American/Canadian Governments asked the women to help their Nations by working in the plants and other industries while the men were off fighting the war. That they did! That's where the American "Rosie the Riveter" came from. They helped build planes, worked in munitions plants, packed parachutes, became secretaries in the Corps, etc. The big mistake the governments made was when the men came back from war the women were basically told to go back home to their ironing and cleaning house and the men got their jobs back! The women for the first time had a taste of working and they knew they could do more than stay home and scrub, clean, look after kids and keep their mouths shut. They fought back, and some did get jobs and every generation is proving that women are quite capable of doing many jobs and holding high positions in corporations. Women today are scientists, doctors, lawyers, etc.

As World War II approached, the government started to realize how many men were needed to fight on the frontline in order for Britain to realistically win the war. In order for that to happen, women had to take the other traditionally male jobs, and so in 1940 Sir William Beveridge demonstrated in a secret report the necessity for the conscription of women. By 1943, 17 million women aged between 14 and 64 were in the forces or involved in war work.

Women worked in skilled jobs as mechanics, engineers, carpenters, code-breakers, farmers and pilots. The sudden gift of authority made some people respect women more, and realise that their fixed status was an unfair one. Women were more confident and independent, and showed this through a new wave of daring fashion statements. Many women were paid 5 times more per week than they were before the war, although they were still paid less than men, as they often earned 75% of a man's wage for doing the same work.

The government began to recognise the importance of child-care for working women. They set-up nurseries and encouraged employers to allow women with children to job share. This liberated women more as their role became less child-dominated. Also, the TUC campaigned to make sure that women were treated equally to men. They successfully complained that women were paid 25% less and received lower accident compensation than men in the Rolls-Royce armament factories.

Also, the attitude towards married women working adjusted slightly, and it became more acceptable for them to do try and find work. Therefore the number of employed, married women had increased by 1951.

Women were greatly affected by these factors, but they also had to adjust to the degeneration of many of these changes after the war. A government survey in 1947 displayed that 58% of women believed that married women should not work. Nurseries shut down at the end of the war so many women who wanted to carry on working were forced to return home. In addition, employment opportunities returned to their former state, and in 1961 15% of doctors and 3% of lawyers were female. The Equal Pay Commission suggested that pay should not change or become more balanced, but instead women should look for different jobs so that they would not be in competition with men, and therefore "equal pay would not be an issue".

Finally, women were still portrayed in their traditionally domestic role by the media, which confirmed the post-war attitudes that had already returned.

Answer 2

When American men went off to fight duing World War II, women stepped in to fill their positions at home. Because of the demand for machinery like airplanes during the war, companies were signing huge contracts with the government and were in need to manpower, hence women found an doorway into the workforce.

In fact, the government so needed people to fill the vacant jobs that they began a campaign to get women employed during the war. The most famous image from this campaign is Rosie the Riveter, a woman in a bandana flexing her arm.

When the men returned home from the war, they expected their jobs back. In fact, they expected that society would return to the way it had been before they left. Women, disatisfied with the loss of their newfound independence, fought back against this assumption, sparking a new wave of changes in women's role in society.

Answer 3

As many men were away at war, women had to take over the men's jobs, as well as work in factories that were supplying the troops, factories that produced boots, cookware, bullets, etc. They had to take care of the home and the children on top of that. Also, women were targeted to buy war bonds to help financially support the war.

Answer 4

I did an essay On this subject for GCSE history coursework. Women's greatest role change at the start of WW2 was in their occupation. AT the time the vast majority of the work force were men, as Men went off to fight for their country women took many of their jobs many working in munition factories or for organisations such as the WLA ( women's land army) growing and supp-ling civilians with food. wages were similar to the men who had previously had these jobs. Greater incomes for women gave them more freedom and clear prewar gender boundaries in things such as smoking cigars and drinking beer became blurred. similarly to ww1, however after the war women mostly went back to their traditional prewar roles as house wives and men retook their roles as the main bread-winners.

Answer 5

The roles changed in that women in Britain and America took on many jobs that men had previously handled. Women went to work in factories, shipyards, making aircraft, driving ambulances and delivering warplanes.

Answer 6

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