Role of women in WWII?

Question: Role of women in WWII!?

how did the role of women in the united state changes during and after WWII!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Most single women were already working before the war started!. the first women to go and work in defense jobs were single women who left poorly-paid positions to go into the much better paid defense jobs!. Peggy Terry, who got a job with her mother and sister at a shell-loading plant in Kentucky was euphoric!. "We made the fabulous sum of thirty-two dollars a week" she said "To us it was an absolute miracle!. Before that we made nothing!." As a result of the migration to defense work, a lot of restaurants and laundries went out of business because they could not get help!. The wives of servicemen also volunteered for defense work, and some students dropped out of college to take defense jobs!.

However, the government was not particularly successful in getting housewives to take on defense work!. By the end of WW2, 90% of women who were at home at the time of Pearl Harbour were still at home!. This was partly due to the lack of childcare facilities offered by the government, and partly that defense work was not particularly pleasant, it was dirty and strenuous!.

More than 350,000 women enlisted in the women's services, mostly in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and the nursing corps!. 1,000 women pilots joined the The Women's Airforce Service (WASP), created to free male fliers for service overseas!. The women flew 60 million miles during the war, in every type of plane manufactured by the military!.

For black women the war years were a combination of opportunity and frustration!. The high-paying defense jobs were difficult to get!. In 1943, a survey of 280 factories found that only 74 were willing to employ black women!. Most employers, when challenged, claimed they could not hire black women because white women would not work with them!. This was often true, though companies that took a firm line and forced their employees to choose between integration and loss of their lucrative jobs generally managed to overcome the problem fairly quickly!.

In 1944, under heavy pressure from Eleanor Roosevelt, black women were welcomed into the military!. The WAC enlisted 4,000 black recruits, and the nursing corps took 500 black nurses!. Many black women took over low-paying jobs that had been vacated by white women, like elevator operator or car cleaners on railroads, but whatever the job, they saw it as an improvement over domestic work!.

After the war, many of the women who had worked in defense lost their jobs because the defense industry was closing down, and the employees the factories were going to keep were the most senior male workers!. For women who needed to work this could be a serious problem!. "I happen to be a widow with amother and son to support" ottilie Juliet Gattus wrote to President Truman after she was laid off from a job at Grumman Aircraft!. "I am a lathe hand!.!.!.classified as a skilled labour, but simply because I happen to be a woman I am not wanted"

If defense work did not lead to a career for most women, it was still a transforming experience for many!. Peggy Terry, the Kentucky woman who worked in a shell factory, had so little knowledge of the world that she barely understood what being at war meant!. Her horizons expanded when she wound up in Michigan, working at a plant with a large population of Polish workers!. "They were the first people I'd ever known that were any different from me" she said "A whole new world just opened up!.!.!.I believe the war was the beginning of my seeing things!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

During WW2, Rosie the Riveter was highly acclaimed!. Women filled men's jobs throughout the war year, but once the veterans returned, the women were excpected to go quietly back into their kitchens and leave the 'real world' to the men!. It would be many more years before they regained the territory they had lost!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Since most men went to fight half way across the world, many women stepped up and took the places of men!.
Rosie the Riveter was one of the most famous women during World War Two!. She made it possible that women could build planes, tanks, and boats for the US army!.
Another thing women did during the war was plant a victory garden!. The gardens help many familys have food during the war!.
After the war, women kept many of the jobs they had during the war!. They had more rights because of what they did for our country!.Www@QuestionHome@Com