The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was a law passed by President Harry S. Truman, allowing women to join the army. Before the act was passed, only men were permitted to be in combat, while women in the army worked in clinical positions. When World War II began, despite women not being allowed to join the “regular” army, the Women’s Army Corps was created and granted full army status during wartime. The growth in the number of women in the corps, along with the fact that they performed equally to the army, were two of the main factors for the law to be created and passed. The WAC was set to be expired in 1948, but the act was passed in the same years which meant that women would continue to be allowed to fight in the army.
During World War II, Woman’s were assembled for duty in the Canadian Armed Forces, for the first time. The armed force was shy of men in war services and administration, which lead the Canadian government to choose and declare on August 13, 1941 to give woman’s the privilege to take an interest in war utility. 50,000 women were enlisted and more than half provided service in the Canadian Army. Most were doled out occupations including customary female work, for example, cooking, clothing and administrative obligations, also woman had pioneer roles in the mechanized and specialized fields. The Canadian Women 's Army Corps (CWAC) performed fundamental administrations, both at home and abroad, that achieved Allied victory.
With the women’s rights movement and the end of the draft the pentagon was compelled to review the status of women in the military. (Moore) The Army committee had recommendations to separate the women’s corps to increase the specialties offered to women. The Army committee also pushed opening ROTC and military academies to women and also changed the law that required automatic discharge if a woman became pregnant. It was after these recommendations were followed that women could serve in 430 of the 467 military specialties, but they could not command any unit that had a combat mission.
The needs of the armed forces, the war economy and the deployment of men overseas created new jobs and opportunities for women. Before World War 2, they were not permitted to enlist in the military services, most of them were working in factories, shops or family businesses. From late 1940, Australian women were permitted and encouraged to enlist in the military services. Australian Women’s Army Service (A.W.A.S.) established the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force, Army and Navy forces. Lorna Byrne who used to be a member of the Australian Women’s Army Services (A.W.A.S.) said that women lived and worked under the same conditions as men.
In the feature article “All Guts, No Glory”, I agree with the author Molly M. Ginty, that women participating in combat. If I was in the military some of the things that might affect me would be probably because of my gender. First, women would not be put into battle because people think women cannot handle the work or bloodshed. They think women are better off bring a nurse for helping men in battle if they get injured. Second, they think women in combat would be a distraction.
The Colonel Mary Hallaren, was known as the godmother of the women in the American military. She was a true advocate, before and after her retirement, for women’s rights to serve in the military, especially in the regular army. She believed that women were not the exception in serving. Therefore, she began to alter the society she lived in by proving that women were able to perform more than certain tasks and showed that women were able to serve the the same way as men did.
The targeted audience is young women who aspire to help their troops and break away from the stereotypical roles of women during that era. In this analysis, the topic of femininity and Rosie the Riveter will be applied and compared to “Woman’s Place in the War”; as well as other elements such as colors, lines, emotional and logical
(Document 1) Before this new national policy was established, a men’s traditional role was to work and financially provide for their family. They have gained a new responsibility and must contribute to this war for their nation. As almost all men now partake in the military, there is an empty role in a family that needs to be filled. Women are now left to fill in the place of men to work and provide for their family. The government is encouraging all women to take this new opportunity in the workforce and states that the more women who work, the war will end quicker.
Wives, mothers, and daughters, of Patriot soldiers were left to operate businesses and keep up with the duties of farms. Other women followed their soldiers to the battlefield. Though their presence around the army men was oftentimes controversial - they were commonly regarded as nuisances - having women around to clean and cook, along with being companions, benefited the American army. Women that wanted to fill the boots that their husbands left, or step up to the plate on their own, would disguise themselves as men so they could participate in battle. Post-war women’s roles were seemingly regarded the same as they had been before.
The women of the early 20th century showed that they have the ability to be productive in the work place and fight for the greater good of the United States of America. In modern times women have started joining combat roles in the military and increasing in demographical size in the military. This has shown that women are striving to be more equal to men in all aspects of modern life. By showing they can fight in wars and hold their own against our nations enemies they can and will be seen as equals. The public celebration of women’s history in the United States began in 1978.
Women were well suited for providing nourishment and necessities for the army due to their skills obtained by their accustomed housework. “...the American army often recruited the many female camp followers to fill these jobs” (Brooks 2013, para. 17). They had slowly began to achieve recognition in society, especially war. It was then, that woman had begun to silently “protest” on having the same equal opportunity as men. During the war, women created a role for themselves to side amongst the male soldiers: a secret soldier.
Retrieved November 29, 2017, from docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/velaquez/ill1.html Female Soldiers in the Civil War. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/female-soldiers-civil-war Gardner, J. (n.d.). Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission [Digital image].
Many women have proven themselves in the military for example, General Ann E. Dunwoody, the first woman
In the book written by (Gavin, 1997) it was cited that “As women took over from their absent men in hundreds of new and challenging occupations, many of which had previously been considered inappropriate”. From the beginning of the World War 1, the German women were participating a great deal. They contributed to half a million-people working on the munitions manufacturing alone (Gavin, 1997). It also mentioned in the book that over in the U.S, the men in charge refused to let the women participate up until April 1917 (Gavin, 1997). The U.S government never formally authorize the enrolment of women, despite Army officials repeatedly asking for such personnel’s.
The gender role in military as women categorized and stereotyped by men has never been easy. Military does not require muscular or gender power for leadership in combat or command positions. Some men believe that women in command will weaken the military tradition or military in context. The gender role of “women” and “soldiers” proved to many that is uncontested in World War I and II when women served as auxiliaries. Women have a long history of service in the military.
