Economics Of Race And Gender In The Context Of Rosie The Riveter Film During the world war II, the economic and social arrangement in America and Europe underwent a serious change. This was because most energetic and able men were out in the battles leaving behind the old, children and women. The duty of providing for the families and the older citizens shifted from men to women.
This is probably due to our general perception towards men and women based on their genders. I do not see this happening as much as it used to be when men are given first hand opportunities to become managers or directors. Women are now holding positions in the workplace. Although, there have been positive changes in the workplace when women start getting the higher management positions, they are still underrepresented in organizations. There are few women in top leadership positions and many women quit from their jobs when they see that there are no opportunities for advancement.
Societal changes that created greater opportunities for women in education also had an impact on the workplace. From a modest role early in the 20th century that essentially limited women to teaching, domestic work, and retail, further changes after World War II expanded job horizons for women in fields traditionally reserved for men. World War II was a principal reason for this change, as the nation’s war needs created a shortage of available working men, which made opportunities for women to assume factory jobs and other work typically done by men. While women often were not able to retain those jobs after the war ended, the experience created a precedent that women were capable of doing the same work as men. It also made many women recognize
Women struggled to be treated as equals when trying to qualify for federal programs. Social security benefits were structured around the idea of a male breadwinner and a dependant housewife. (Ware). Much of society believed that women could not possibly be the head of the household and therefore it was much more difficult for women to get the help they needed in the depression. Even though many people believe that the need for feminism died out it was still needed in the 1930s to help the women with jobs.
In the second wave, a few decades earlier, media imagery showed more female working professionals as an ideal compared to the housewife figure. In 1970, more women received bachelor and master degrees, but even then the numbers didn’t rise above the level of received diploma’s during the second World War. During the war, while men had to go to the front, it was a woman’s task to go out to work. Women became more independent as they were now the main breadwinners and supporters of the family.. In the 70’s, the “Modern Woman” was put forward even more prominently than during the war, although women had more problems in the workplace with indignities such as sexual harassment.
The Great War was a horrible catastrophe which led many men and women to sacrifice their lives. It was described as “the war to end all wars”, which was a global disaster and many troops were excited to join the war and fight for their country. The Great War originated in Europe and lasted from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. In this time Canadian women contributed enormously. They donated their own time to the production of munitions, as nurses on the front lines, fundraised for the war effort, and maintained their homes and farms.
Women’s ongoing fight for equality from the 1920s to the 1970s was reflected through their attire. The 1920s were marked by the shockingly short hemlines and their right to vote. While women struggled to get fair pay in the 1930s, they got hired more often than men, which gave them greater independence. However, due to the gloom of the Great Depression, women lost their confidence and their clothing became more conservative. By contrast, the 1940s provided greater opportunities as the United States went to war.
In the Gilded age or the start of the industrial era, women and children were forced to leave their homes and try and get jobs in factories that were fit for them. This era created many new job opportunities than before. The number of women who now had actual jobs had increased drastically. Even though all these jobs had opened up women were only seen fit to do small tasks such as desk jobs that require little knowledge and skill to be able to do. Women forced into the work force tended to be poorer struggling individuals whose children were bound to labor as well.
History has shown that females gain their different rights step by step. Voting right for females was a very controversial issue in the past in all over the world; however, today females can vote almost in all countries. Numerous occupations were open only to men, but nowadays it is not shocking to see female truck drivers, carpenters, construction workers, police officers, and so on. Female soldiers in the military can perform as successful as males who are in similar positions in the military. Before 2016, Tan (2015) states that female soldiers could serve in 90% of the positions in the U.S. military.
While the Nursing Corps was recognized as an official unit, it was not regarded with the same status because women were given no military rank and did not receive the same benefits as men. By World War 1 over 25,000 women served overseas; the sacrifices of these women helped drive the way for the 19th Amendment which guaranteed women the right to vote (A Woman’s Struggle for Equality). Since 1973, the percentage of women serving in the U.S. military among enlisted ranks has increased seven-fold from 2% to 14%, and it quadrupled among officers, from 4% to 16% (Not A Woman). In 2012 there were 355,904 female service members who made up 16% of the total force (Women In Combat: Framing the Issues).
During world war II people’s lives changed in America it was hard for most men and women to provide imperative supplies for their families. American citizens had to do a lot of volunteer work because the government told them that it was for the nations wealth but really it was for the government. It was a hard time for Americans you couldn 't use cars, vacuums, and kitchen appliances until the war ended, and women didn 't have the rights to get a job and most men were sent overseas to fight in the war. Many women did volunteer work as in nursing the wounded soldiers who were in battle against the Nazis, Japanese, and Italians. There was a lot of racialism in America during that time period segregation was a big issue
This movement pushed to allow women better jobs (outside the stereotypical nurse, teacher, and secretary roles they typically held) and salaries to close the salary gap between men and women. Post World War II, there was an increase in the number of jobs that needed to be filled, including white-collar jobs in the private sector which required a college education. Women soon started filling these abundant roles because there simply was not enough men to work and families also needed extra income. This trend continued through the sixties and by the seventies it was clear both middle-class and working-class women were in the workforce for good and “working for wages outside the home has become the norm.” (Epstein, 2002, p. 35) This time period was, according to Epstein (2002), “connected to a transformation of the economy that was drawing women into the labor force on a permanent basis.”
They received better pay than they normally had, and by the end of the war, one third of the work force contained women. To build tanks, ships, planes, and weapons it required massive amounts of metal. According to office of war information-war production
Australia was a young nation when it participated in World War 1 and became an independent nation through Federation on the 1st of January 1901. Before 1901, Australia consisted of six separate colonies that each had their own government, laws, defence force and collected taxes. This was abolished due to the system's inefficiency in regulating laws, immigration and how weak each individual was. Australia was a juvenile nation stepping into the brutalities of WW1 having a small population with little understanding of military tactics. The reason behind Australia’s involvement was their dedication to their mother country, Britain, not to mention since Britain declared war on Germany, Australia was undoubtedly involved.
World War I changed many aspects of American society and led to a very large shift in U.S. foreign policy away from isolationism and toward involvement in world affairs. Many circumstances led to the shift in American position regarding entrance into the war such as, The Zimmerman note, and German U boats. World War I Impacted American society by changing and improving the roles of women in the U.S and a new found use of propaganda. The Zimmerman note was a letter and or note issued from the German foreign office in January 1917 that offered a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event that the U.S entered the War and fought against Germany .