Women throughout history have been oppressed within their society; looked upon as second-class citizens. Viewed as fragile, helpless creatures that need a man in order to function. A woman was not considered to be on the same level as a man and even deemed unfit to perform the same duties. As a result, women were denied the right to vote, prohibited by legislation to obtain jobs outside the home, and not allowed to fight for their country. However, this ideology that treated women as second-class citizens changed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. With the United States of America in World War II, the U.S.A needed women to replace the men that were fighting and dying overseas. As a result World War II literally liberated women from their former lives and gave them the freedom to obtain jobs in the workforce, to fight for their country, to be themselves within society and later sexually liberated.
With men serving overseas, women were left on the home front to take over what used to be considered laborious ‘male’ roles. Prior to World War II “over 80 percent of
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At first, it was very hard for male soldiers to accept the idea of women in uniform. However, leaders in America felt women would make valuable contributions in the military and industrial sectors that they so desperately needed. Even though women were given the choice to fight, they still had multiple restrictions, such as they were not allowed to command men, and were generally paid less then the male soldiers. (The Women's Army Corps, 2015) The efforts of these women choosing to fight in World War II, resulted in the United States government giving more opportunities for women for years to come. Later, there was encouragement from the government for women to serve as full partners alongside men as equals. As a result society “fostered the respect for women in uniform” (Miles,