Women at Work During World War II
Throughout the years of our country’s history, the image of the ideal woman, as well as the ideal man, has changed. With a labor shortage in America while men, and some women, were at war, women took on both male and female roles to save the economy. The country needed women and they were willing to meet the needs of the war efforts. World War II was the time women began to realize their strengths in other areas outside home. World War II was one of the biggest factors in changing gender roles and the lives of women. It required women to support their households by leaving the physical home and going to work to earn an income.
Before World War II gender roles were, for the most part, strict. Most women took on the jobs within the home while men played as the sole breadwinner. While WWII didn 't change this completely, it was the first time women were able to see they had more abilities than just their everyday cooking and cleaning. As the war began, women had to take on responsibilities outside of the stereotypical housewife tasks. With their husbands away and a labor shortage in the country, women knew it was time to step it up.
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Women were limited to certain jobs. Society went back and forth on whether or not women should be part of the jobs previously reserved for men. During the time of the war six million women went to work for jobs such as factory workers, quality-control inspectors, assembly-line workers, and weapons manufacturers. After the war, women kept fighting for the power to work just as men did. Common careers for women were jobs such as, nursing, teaching, sales work, and library services (Amundsen). But the thing women fought for the most was equal job rights for both men and