Women In Slacks And Calluses

Slacks and Calluses tells the story of two teachers spending their summer building bombers for the War Effort in the 1940’s. Bowman and Clair Marie, referred to in the book as C.M., decided to spend their summer vacation working at a factory called Consolidated where they would help build airplanes that were used in World War 2. Despite not having any experience in building airplanes, they were hired and started working the swing shift. The swing shift worked from four thirty in the afternoon to one in the morning, but they were paid more for working such difficult hours. Bowman and C.M. were not the only women that decided to spend their summer here. The social classes of women were changing, and whether women worked at Consolidated out of patriotism or because it was an open opportunity can be debated. Women were leaving the home to come work in factories, which was a big change during this time period. In the 1940’s men were away fighting in the war, which left many jobs open. Typically, the women

World War 2 was happening and the nation needed all the help it could get at this point. This meant embracing the fact that women would have to leave the house and start working different jobs. The women in Slacks and Calluses worked to help increase war production by building bombers. There were women from many different backgrounds working at Consolidated, some schoolteachers, students, and mothers. Women working these factory jobs were not given special treatment just because they were women. They had job assignments that had to be done at the end of the night just like everyone else. Although some ladies might have worked harder to keep their slacks clean and hair in place, they were still contributing to production. Slacks and Calluses supports the idea that the country embraced women leaving the home to work in factories for war