How Did Women's Role Change During Ww1

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WW1 was an evidential rise of female empowerment and employment. It was through their courage and devotion to war efforts, that we foresaw a silent triumph. Women were always depicted as fragile dolls, however proved that they too can carry their own weight and succeed. Its not easy when life changes and theirs did, dramatically. Having been so reliant on men to bring in weekly wages and shape the world around them, they adapted efficiently and rapidly under profound circumstances. No women took the leave of men lightly, having to fulfil the then mass of vacant jobs, as well as care for themselves and others. The war was seen as a liberating experience and many women wanted to be apart of it, in home and in war. Nursing became one of the most popular ways for women to come face-to-face with the first world war, having to …show more content…

Between 1914 and 1919, 2139 Australian nurses served abroad, a further 423 worked in Australian military hospitals and 29 for which died during service (Dennis, Grey, Morris, Prior & Bou, 2008, p.62). Women whom joined the western front showed great bravery and force, dedicating their own lives to save the injured. During WW1 the first bravery awards for Australian women were given to four nurses. Sisters Clare Deacon, Dorothy Cawood and Alice Ross-King and Staff Nurse Mary Derrer each received the Military Medal for risking their lives to rescue patients trapped in burning buildings after a German raid in France, 1917 (“Women in action - nurses and serving women”, n.d.). Many of the nurses at war worked on offshore anchored ships or in temporarily built hospitals and contributed actively,