Before World War II, while some American women did have jobs, most did not and were primarily home-caretakers. However, due to the large number of men that left their jobs in the factories to enlist in the army, women joined the industrial labour force in addition to their home lives. The female percentage of the US. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent between 1940 and 1945. By 1945, approximately one out of every four married women worked outside the home.
However, not only did women begin to work more in factories during the war, but they also began to join the Armed Services. The First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt even encouraged the idea of introducing a women's service branch into the army. Eventually, in May 1942, Congress instituted the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, which later was changed to the Women's Army Corps. The members worked in more than 200 non-combatant jobs and in every "theatre" of the war. Members of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service held the same status as naval reservists. There was also the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, who ferried planes from factories to bases. They transported cargo and participated in simulation strafing and target missions. In World War II, they freed thousands of male US pilots for active duty.
2 comments:
I wonder what big change caused this wave of women taking more stronger and influential roles in the military system. Maybe it was the influential power of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that communicated this idea of the expansion of women's roles. If so, I guess the only way to achieve change like this is from getting large influences to bring it about.
Interesting article! It's cool how the Women's Air-force Service Pilots freed men, that breaks social norms in a good way. I wonder if the women were honored when they got home or if only the Men were honored. Also, I wonder if nowadays the army has complete equality between men and women, or if there is still some divide. I'm thinking that there probably is still some divide since just naturally men are stronger than women, but that might not effect anything. Seems like an interesting topic to discuss.
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