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Women's Role In Ww2 Essay

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Women first began their entrance into the workforce during the era of World War II. On December 7th 1941, the United States entered the war after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii, in which they destroyed naval vessels, airplanes, and killed more than 2,400 Americans. The attack on Pearl Harbor united most Americans in agreeance to go to war finally, after remaining isolationist for so long. Though the lost lives, destruction of ships, docks, and airplanes were devastating, the attack was what the United States needed in order to be pushed into the war. A day after the attack, the declaration of war on Japan by Roosevelt had been approved by Congress, officially announcing the United States entrance into the war. This entrance into the war allowed for an abundance of jobs to open up, this including women: “Prior to Pearl Harbor, there were approximately 800 active duty naval nurses. By the end of the war, there were 10,000.” The war peak called for an abundance of new jobs, which allowed women for the first time truly to fill …show more content…

When men returned to home after the end of the war, many women were pushed aside and laid off to open places for the incoming men. Though women proved themselves in high positions, men still took priority. Once men returned back, the prejudice against women returned in heights: “It took the perspective that women should belong in the home, using their “inborn” gifts for nurture and motherhood, rather than performing wage labor.” Women were best fit to be wives, homemakers, and a respectable mother in the general perspective’s eyes. Women were once again seen as much less than men and were booted to the side to provide men with labor work. Though women were pushed to the side after the war, the chance to work in male roles allowed for new experiences and

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As World War 2 progresses, we will see millions of males being drafted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This created a lack of manpower in the workforce which women beginning to take the jobs that men usually before the war. As women move into the workforce during World War 2 they will experience inequality and discrimination. Despite the inequality and discrimination that women had to endure to while working during World War 2 was a good experience for women across America. Women entered the workforce open up many opportunities, “It had been long assumed women couldn't do those jobs -- engineering, other professions in the sciences, manufacturing jobs that had been considered men's work, things women were believed to be too weak to do” (kcts9.org).

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When the men went off to fight in World War II, women took over their jobs to aid the war effort by joining organisations which allowed the men to be recruited into the war as soldiers. For the

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Women played an important roles during World War II throughout the world; they gave their time, energy, and some even gave their lives. The War also transformed women's roles in the workplace and society, but for many, it did not last forever. Many had to do work that men did before the war. However, most of the works needed professional and outstanding skills. Nearly 350,000 American women served in uniform, volunteering for numerous reserves and corps.

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Compared to World War 1 women’s roles drastically changed as they played a more active and important role in World War 2 than World War 1. During World War 1 women were expected to be 'housewives' or to do certain 'women's jobs', such as nursing, to be a domestic servant or a shop assistant. The government also discouraged the women who wanted to involve themselves in some kind of military services. However, in World War 2 it soon became clear that the war was going to demand much more than the government had expected. This changed the world of work for women forever.

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During World War 2 over 65 million women joined the workforce in the US. For many women, that their first job ever outside of their house. Within the first 2 months of the war the number of women in defense plants rose from 25% to 36% (History.com). Women finally got their first chance to shine in the workforce which eventually lead to men and women having equality.

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During the War many things had to change in order for the country to survive and function. With so many of the able bodied men off fighting in the war women had to take things into their own hands in order to get things done and many of them did. Many women with their husbands and family members gone to help provide for their family and assist the war effort worked in war factories and did other jobs that were usually viewed as just for men. The jobs that many women took

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Women all across the country transformed from average housewives, into a individual with a voice and most importantly a purpose. Prior to war, there was approximately 8.1 million unemployed workers in the US; once America joined the war in 1941, the unemployment rate plummeted to 5.5 million as citizens scrambled to find jobs (document 3). Although, it was not always a piece of cake working, workers made immense sacrifices for their country that went unnoticed. It was not uncommon for employees to experience hostility at the workplace; multitudes of people were not open-minded of the idea of women taking jobs that were once occupied by white men. Other issues women and minorities experienced while on the job was unfair wages, FDR urged business owners to pay men and women equally, nevertheless numerous business owners ignored his pleas.

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Shortly after the men started leaving to go into war women began to break away from their traditional house roles. Due to the men leaving for the war, the work force started to decrease. Women began to fill mens shoes in jobs such as bank clerks, ticket sellers, chauffeurs, elevator operators, etc. as a result. Labor Unions were adamant that women not work in the factories.

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Men had to step away to aid in the war meaning there was a demand for women within the workforce. According to document 4, the Office of War Information encouraged women to step away from their housewife roles and fill in the jobs that were left behind. They achieved this through propaganda posters claiming that it would help the war end sooner; about 6 million women joined the workforce. Some of these jobs include farmworkers, mechanics, construction workers, manufacturers, and Messengers. Within the military 4 branches were created for women, opening up more opportunities and employing 216,000 women, allowing them to step further away from the traditional jobs.

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The war provided them with a much greater opportunity to work in different fields. Such as many women went to munition factories and they were even able to earn the same title as people in the war “munitionettes”. In the factories the women worked on all type of things that ranged from making ammo to uniforms and even planes. They counted bullets for the soldiers at war, they also mended planes that were a great factor in winning the

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During World War II, American women made significant contributions by filling roles left by men who had gone to fight in the war. During this time the US Government saw women as a way to fill in the jobs, enter the workforce in large numbers, and take on jobs in factories, offices, and other sectors essential to the war effort. The National WWII Museum’s exhibits on Rosie the Riveter symbolize this shift, showcasing women working in manufacturing roles, and producing airplanes, ships, and munitions critical to the war effort. The National Women's History Museum notes that the participation of women in the labor force rose from 27% to nearly 37%, with over six million women joining the workforce. These women not only supported the war economically but also demonstrated their ability to perform tasks that were usually reserved for men.

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World War II is the deadliest conflict in human history, accounting for an estimated total of 50-80 million casualties or roughly 3-4% of the entire world population, at the time. It was also a turning point in world politics as the United States solidified itself as the leading world power in the West and the Soviet Union as the leading power in the East. World War II impacted every country involved in many ways, but none quite like the United States. At the time, only about 25% of American women were in the workforce. When the U.S joined the war in 1944, women had to take a bigger role both in the workplace and at home, increasing women in the workforce to slight over a third of the population.

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The war had provided a variety of employment opportunities for women and the most common job for women was at home, working in factories and filling in positions for their husbands, fathers, and brothers in their absence. Although the highest demand for workers were in previously male-dominated

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The wartime economy brought women into the workforce, both north and south, for the first time in meaningful numbers” (Davis). Just before the Civil War, women were fighting to reform their rights and freedoms. The war really pushed the controversial topic of women’s rights to the forefront. Many women were left to pick up the slack after men left for the war. This was a chance for women to really prove themselves.

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Lastly, the nation's social norms were also altered heavily, particularly with respect to gender roles. The war led to a significant increase in women's participation in the workforce, as countless women took on jobs in factories and other industries to support the war effort which were originally seen as man-exclusive jobs (Gopnik et al. “Social Consequences of the War”; par. 1). Many worked in factories like Rosie the Riveter but 3,00,000 also took an occupation in the Red Cross and over 200,000 served in the Military (“Research Starters: Women in World War II”, par. 1). This source also mentioned that women had an active role in the war with the formations of multiple auxiliary branches in the military such as the “Women’s Army Corps (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).”

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