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Women's Roles In World War II

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Women have been fighting for equality since the beginning of time and the women during World War II were like pioneers who helped women make a huge step in the direction for equality. Some believe that the roles of women in World War II brought only negative issues; however, the roles of women changed so immensely during World War II and made many positive contributions to women 's fight for Equality. Some of the roles of women in World War II are the following: the role of working, the role of a mother, the gender roles, the patriotic role, the military roles, and the role of propaganda. Before the war women were thought as only having the capacity to achieve the status of a homemaker or housewife, but World War II changed that whole idea …show more content…

Women not only were expected to act as a housewife, but dress as what an ideal housewife would look like. Since women were starting to put down their oven mits and pick up some work gloves they had to change the way they dressed because skirts and dresses were not safe for women in factories to be working all day in. So women started to wear pants and most people did not like the idea of women wearing trousers, but ultimately it was for the safety of the women working. Hall, Orzanda, and Lopez-Gydosh said, “Pants were adopted by many women out of necessity, for munitions work and similar hardworking activities. This change of dress is symbolic of the change in American women’s roles during the war” (2015, p. 237). Women started to change the idea that only men could wear pants and made a huge advancement in gender roles for women. Even though women only wore pants for work purposes they still changed the idea that women could only be feminine if they were wearing a dress or a skirt. This change might seem trivial to some, but this change helped bring equality to how all American women dressed in the past and dress in the …show more content…

The media used propaganda for many reason, but the media used propaganda directed towards women a lot in World War II. The media did this to raise moral, to get women to volunteer, and to start getting jobs. An article discussed one of the most famous uses of propaganda from World War II which was Rosie the Riveter. This article talked about how Rosie was a symbol for American women to start working and to help the war effort on the home front. Rosie was a symbol to women that they could achieve this task and to show everyone how tough women are (Rupp, 2004, p. 53). Without the use of propaganda then women might not have put all their efforts in helping the war. Women might not have taken those factory jobs or they might not have worked so hard to earn their spot in the military groups for women. They felt the duty to take on these roles because people were telling them they should and that they

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Women played a key role in the war, many women risk their lives and serve in the military, “Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs became the first women to fly American military aircraft. They ferried planes from factories to bases, transporting cargo and participating in simulation strafing and target missions” (History.com). For the time in American history women was doing other thing in the military. Many women enjoy their jobs during World War 2 because it was new opportunity and many were excited because they helping with the war effort. By allowing women in the workforce more will create more available manpower to fight overseas.

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The second World War resulted in a demand for workers after men began leaving for the war. Due to a lot of the working men in America going overseas as well as the demand for war products, women became a major source of labor. Propaganda began to address women, persuading them that it was their duty to start working for the men. The film The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter gives personal accounts of some of the hardships women faced in the era surrounding WWII, and how the media was used to create a desire for women to work.

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Australian women had a very broad range of duties and responsibilities during World War II. Their roles also changed a lot for a long time during 1939 to 1945. There are some factors that show how their roles changed. These factors are participation in military services, education to work in skilled employment and transformation of attitudes and beliefs of society.

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He focuses on the roles and contributions of women and children towards the war efforts of World War II. (b) Articles Witkowski, T. H. (2003). World War II Poster Campaigns: Preaching Frugality to American Consumers. Journal of Advertising, 32(1), 69-82.

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The Liberation of Australian Women in World War Two World War Two (WWII), the war between the Allies and the Axis, is known as ‘the deadliest conflict in history’ because of the holocaust, the Japanese invasions and bombings, and the millions of prisoners of war. However, amidst all this destruction, WWII also brought about a new and better era for Australian women; an era of military, home and employment freedom. The male absence in the home during the war dramatically increased the female participation in traditional male roles. As a consequence, WWII was instrumental for the liberation of Australian women in the workforce, family life and agriculture as it empowered women, giving them a newfound freedom as well as a sense of achievement.

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Years earlier, during the Great Depression, women were discouraged from getting jobs so that the few jobs that were available could go to men. However, when World War ll started, the governement now wanted women to start entering the workforce. They created the Rosie the Riveter campaign to try and entice women into getting jobs. In one version of the Rosie the Riveter poster, she was standing on a copy of Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler’s political rulebook. The message this sent out to women was essentially that although men were on the frontlines doing the physical fighting, women were also doing their part to defeat the enemy and help people.

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As can be viewed, document A presents various propaganda posters from Northwestern University. The different posters said things like,” Don’t miss your great opportunity”, “We can do it!” showing women being strong and independent. All of these encouraged women to join the workforce while men were away fighting in the war. This impact was positive for women because they earned their own money, this also made them independent.

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To gain their support, the public image of women had to be changed. More propaganda was produced, encouraging women to enter the workforce as a way to continue the progression of the United States as their men went off to fight. Propaganda targeted towards women usually consisted of an emotional tone rather than an authoritative one. “To mobilize women… government propaganda needed… central theme… concentrated on patriotism and emotional appeals” (Mathis). It was known by the government that the best way to persuade women into aiding the war effort was to appeal to their emotions; women were angry that their loved ones were forced to go off to war to partake in a fight that was believed America had no need to be in.

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One of the biggest factors that caused the roles of women in the united States to change during the 1920’s was the work they did during World War I. While the men were serving overseas, the women stepped into the men’s jobs and made up the majority of the labor force at that time. This allowed women the chance to show that they can do some of the same jobs that men could do. After the war, the number of women in the workforce increased by twenty-five percent. This opened up more opportunities all over the country to earn their place in providing for their families. Another thing that changed for women, during the 1920’s was “flappers”.

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Before WWI, women were restricted to traditionally feminine jobs. Their work was considered inferior and they were paid less than men. However, once WWI began, women were able to integrate themselves into a variety of different workforces. Since most men were off to serve in the military and navy, women that stayed behind replaced their positions in factories and other industries. Other women worked closely with the military as nurses or even soldiers.

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Through multiple form of government propaganda, millions of women worked for the government and other companies producing supplies need for the war. For some women, this was their first time working, other this was an upgrade from the work they were doing. No matter their previous work experience, the war provide women with better jobs with better pay than they received previously. Women were issued social security cards and were able to join unions. The center of the government propaganda was Rosie the Riveter telling women that they could do the jobs that were thought to be for men before the

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American Women during World War 2 had many responsibilities at war, work, and home. But they did not have many equal rights compared to the rest of the society. The women’s rights and responsibilities topic is very interesting. One is understanding and knowing the history about the responsibilities women had to do and how hard working they were. This topic is very important because there was a big change in women’s rights and responsibilities during World War 2.

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