Donna Jean Harvey and like many other women across America found themselves getting involved in the workforce more than ever during wartime. During the 1940s, millions of males in the United States were fighting over seas in the war, which left jobs that needed to be fill. This caused a problem in the workforce back home in America because someone still has to make bullets for guns and planes to fight in the war. The government started to urged women to get a job to help out with the war. Most women took jobs in defense industries like factors jobs or shipyard jobs to help contribute to the war. Donna Jean Harvey was like many other women sheltered from the workforce because they were a stay home mom or a house maid before the war. She also …show more content…
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). 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. The Women Airforce Service Pilot played a big part in the war, despite the limitation on what type of aircraft to fly or what mission was suitable for
With most of the men at war women had to fill their shoes at home. They took factory and industrial jobs. Women took a giant leap and tackled the work force. Society called these jobs war jobs. This let women know that when the men returned home from war that the men would return to their jobs and the women would have to go back to being the homemaker.
The most iconic image of working women during World War ll, Rosie the Riveter was the face of a campaign that was working to recruit female workers for various defense industries for the war. The industry that the campaign was centered around was aviation, they were placed in the US aircraft industry in hopes to help the US army in the war. As the majority of men had left to serve in the war, there were gaping holes left in the American workforce that had to be filled. With the plethora of jobs available, women– even married women– were now encouraged to get jobs.
As a result of so many men in the military, there was no one to run the factories so the woman stepped up and took their places. Woman would work in factories, shipyards and some even worked in the army, airforce, or navy all while trying to balance their home life for their children (Doc. 1). Nearly 350,000 women served their country in this way (OI). Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character on a poster stating “We Can Do It!” at the top of the poster and her flexing in a worker's uniform with a bandana on.
As depicted in Document 3, more women were joining the workforce in factories and having jobs only before being occupied by men. More women were joining the workforce in response to the open positions caused by men enlisting and being drafted into the war. To continue the U.S.'s productivity of supplies and to support themselves and their families, women began to take positions in workplaces that were mostly looked at to be as men's jobs by society. Women had more financial independence and were able to be employed in a larger variety of jobs due to the need for women working in factories to make materiels for World War
As a result of the war women were forced into the workforce due to many of the men being away at war. Many women had to run the family farm and work in factories and stores due to the reduced workforce. This provided an opportunity for women to obtain new job skills and change the belief that a woman’s place was in the home. Also, World War I provided an opportunity for women to enlist in the military as nurses and as part of the Naval Coastal Defense Reserve. Women participation in the labor force was helpful in the women’s suffrage movement that eventually gave women the right to vote thru the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
“World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind.” -http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/wac/wac.htm This statement is very true because World War ll was filled with many conflicts between certain countries and even new creations such as Women’s Army Corps. Women’s Army Corps were corps made for the military in which women would take care of wounded soldiers who would come in from a war. These Women were nurses to these soldiers.
The jobs were more varied than before as women were no longer being shielded from the war and its hardships. Many organizations did not allow for women to work as soldiers, but they were telephone operators in America, also known as “Hello Girls” (“Women During World War I”). Women were taking bigger steps towards equality and challenging the social norm of women being housewives by working the jobs traditionally meant for men, while successfully creating a stable Homefront and workforce for the war. There were still restrictions as women could not to work abroad or on board ships as they were not thought to be trained enough to be near battle (“Women During World War I”). Though not all women could work, others became volunteers, which was “of central importance to middle class women” (“Campbell”).
Many women were pilots and flew aircraft while men were being released for combat duty. Many became nurses, which was not as surprising as working on the battlefield. Throughout the war, they needed more armed soldiers to fight, but there weren't enough men to go fight, so many of those nurses took the role of becoming soldiers. Even if it was an accomplishment for many women, it was dangerous because, throughout the process, many women were captured and tortured in Japanese Prison camps. Also within those three years of torture, many of the women did not come back and therefore causing them to become more strict.
Women joined war service organizations such as the YWCA and the Red
For more than simple housework women were needed for jobs which advertised would help the US win the war, like taxi and bus drivers, salespeople, elevator operators, farm workers, etc. Women's participation in traditionally male-dominated fields opened up new career paths for them after the war ended; some even continued working outside of their homes when returning veterans resumed their old positions at factories or businesses across America. This raised the issue of over industrializing parts of the country. Articles like “Watch the West Coast” by Carey McWilliam express how the West primarily industrialized wartime products as factories retooled for wartime production of weapons and equipment needed by U.S. troops overseas, like aircraft and construction ships. So post-war would be a serious threat to employment rates.
The Effect of Women on the Outcome of World War Two World War II effected women tremendously by taking them out of their comfort zones and chucking them into the work force and pushing them to do most of the work men normally would have been doing. The war also effected women by providing opportunities for them to serve in non-traditional roles; in fact, some of them enlisted into the military to serve the United States. The way the war effected women is that they had to take care of family in addition to performing work normally done by men. It was difficult to find people to watch after kids which made life during this time very difficult. After the end of World War II society in general was effected considering the baby boom.
WORLD WAR 1 ERA AMERICAN WOMEN August 15, 1917 Women take over men 's jobs By: Alexander Rodriguez Before entering the war women were only housewives but it all changed when the United States joined the war. American women started replacing men 's jobs as the men left their jobs to go serve for the United States in the war. The number of employed women raised by a lot in many industries. “There has been a sudden influx of women into such unusual occupations as bank clerks, ticket sellers, elevator operator, chauffeur, street car conductor, railroad trackwalker, section hand, locomotive wiper and oiler, locomotive dispatcher, block operator, drawbridge attendant, and employment in machine shops, steel mills, powder and ammunition
World War II positively affected women by giving them new opportunities both in the workforce on the homefront and in participating in the war. It somewhat negatively affected African Americans as their migration to the Midwest provided them with new job opportunities, yet resulted in racial tensions rising majorly. With men fighting in World War II, women made employment gains on the homefront. With the draft, many male Americans were enlisted in the military and couldn’t work, making many worry
In the book written by (Gavin, 1997) it was cited that “As women took over from their absent men in hundreds of new and challenging occupations, many of which had previously been considered inappropriate”. From the beginning of the World War 1, the German women were participating a great deal. They contributed to half a million-people working on the munitions manufacturing alone (Gavin, 1997). It also mentioned in the book that over in the U.S, the men in charge refused to let the women participate up until April 1917 (Gavin, 1997). The U.S government never formally authorize the enrolment of women, despite Army officials repeatedly asking for such personnel’s.
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