International Women’s Day (IWD) was born out of women’s rights activism in the early 20th century. Its roots can be traced back to a 1908 demonstration for women in New York City—15,000 women marched through the streets advocating for better pay and shorter hours in addition to the right to vote.

Then, in 1909, National Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time in the U.S. as an extension of these activists’ work. National Women’s Day was observed on the last Sunday of February until 1913, but the first official IWD was held in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19, 1911. It was transferred to March 8 in 1913, and it was celebrated by the United Nations for the first time in 1975.

In the Second World War, the traditional roles of stay at home moms mostly had to be suspended so the country could keep the war well supplied with medical supplies, food, uniforms, guns and everything else. Many women had non-traditional roles which usually would have been carried out by men. Women supported the war front from the home front doing war plant jobs and other jobs. They worked in factories, making ammunition, repairing planes/aircraft. Many wives had to run their husband's businesses. Farmer's wives worked the family farms with the help of farm hands.

This was a huge learning experience for managers of plants and factories--all men. Male managers often resented having to teach and supervise ~women~. However, women workers saw it as a challenge-- one they would win. Many women were smarter and more skilled than their male bosses, but women had to often try to "dumb down" to placate their male bosses' egos. However, women proved they could keep up with production time deadlines and that they had the ability and skill to produce products just as excellent as male workers. Many women learned the business side of supervising and managing from their factory jobs--- but these were skills women used every day as stay at home moms! Women in the workplace were not about to give up, despite negative male attitudes toward women. And, the country indeed needed women as workers. The US would not have been able to send all the able-bodied men they sent to war, if women had not been placed in worker roles, or if they had produced inferior products for war!

Women also cooperated with the rationing programs and recycling plans -- they ran these programs in their local communities, not just cooperated with this plan. They bought billions of dollars of War Bonds. Women were the back bone of the victory of the war. See my answers on the links below that shows what they did. This question does not indicated the period of time that affected the roles of women. Since it was put into the category of World War 2 I will tell you that the women in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other nations worked in the war manufacturing plants building war armament and ships, planes and boats. Women and men ineligible to fight in the war were the major reason the Allied Forces won the war. Teens and older girls helped with war bond fund drives along with the women and men running the drives.

Over 300,000 women served in the armed forces doing clerical jobs, nursing jobs or war type jobs such as manning radar stations. In addition they often did the following roles:

• They may have conscripted to the army - - First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (UK) -known as "FANYs" - Home front during World War II - SPARS (USA) -
• Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (USA) -known as "WAVES" - Women Airforce Service Pilots (USA) -known as "WASPs"
• Women in the Russian and Soviet military
• Women's Army Corps (USA) -known as "WACs"
• Women's Auxiliary Air Force (UK)
• Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (UK) (in which Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II was enlisted)
• Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (Australia) -known as "WRANS"
• Women's Royal Naval Service (UK) -known as "Wrens"
• Women's Royal Army Corps (UK) - Air Transport Auxiliary (UK)
• Look at Lydmila Pavenchenko - fought in WWII as a sniper. . .she inspired many women in Europe!

• On the other hand, many other women took the choice of the traditional roles by staying at home with the children, knitting socks for the army, filling sand bags, cleaning up after a bomb attack (all of these took the traditional role of caring) etc. Women who did not do the war work did all the other jobs needed to run the country. Many women had to do childcare for the war workers.

When the war was over many women realized they did not have to be wives/mothers/housekeepers anymore. Some went to college to get professional jobs and others started their own business. Those who could not get professional jobs went for the clerical positions or other types of work.

World War II was the impetus for the 1960s Equal Rights Movement for the women. Men's and Women's daily roles had been forever changed; women would not go back to the way it was.

Some historians who wrote about women's roles in WWII include:

• Neil DeMarco
• Carol Harris
• Professor Penny Summerfield
• Dr. Corinna Peniston
• Bird Jean
• Bethke Elshtain