Preview

Effects of Women in the Workplace

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
985 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Effects of Women in the Workplace
Effects of Women in the Workplace
During the times of World War II the massive exodus of young married- and marriage-age men to distant war shores placed them one continent away from their families. And throughout the war years, the family back home didn't remain static. In the second shift of the war effort, mothers were now taken out of the home and moved to the workplace. The absence of men who were away at war left a massive vacuum in the industrial force, which was now gearing up for war production. And within a relatively short span, women and mothers who had been briefly "emancipated" to the work place, as a patriotic duty, were also requested to return to their homemaker duties at war's end as a matter of demonstrating further patriotism.
But the men who returned from war were altered to various degrees by the carnage of a global war. While they eagerly returned to family and work, something had changed in America. These men became less involved with the family, and more involved with making up for lost time in securing a financial future for themselves and their families. And while mothers and girlfriends returned to more domestic roles, to various degrees they too had seen a part of life that left them with new questions, new perspectives, and sometimes, new resentments about their previously accepted gender roles. This questioning and resentment was most likely the predecessor of the "woman's movement of the 60s.
Some believe that the impact of WWII has been overlooked. Its introduction of women into a previously male-dominated work culture; the subsequent psychic antagonism between the returning soldier and returning homemaker, resulted in a weakening of the marriage bond that has had a tremendous impact on their offspring as well. Further evidence of the impact of this major societal revolution on the family, marriage, and fatherhood comes from the records of divorce rates in America in the 130-year span between 1870 and 1998. In 1870, the divorce

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    “The women’s liberation movement raised the hopes and expectations of a generation of women. This movement challenged the prevailing notion that women were supposed to spend their entire lives engaged in housework and raising children” (Roesch). The women’s liberation movement from 1960-1980 changed the US forever. During the movement many new laws were formed to help women reach parity with men. The women’s liberation movement altered people’s ideas about the role of women in society on a mass scale (Roesch). Many women did not like the expectation that they were to take care of the children and the house, while the men were expected to earn the money to pay the bills. Some women felt mistreated by men, so they protested for equality which would change the view of women. The US women’s liberation movement of the 1960-1970’s affected the educational system, the work force, and men’s role in society.…

    • 1611 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    From Rosie To Lucy

    • 641 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the first section of the chapter the authors talk about how during World War II women made great strides toward becoming equals with men. They did this by going to work in factories. Women in the work place were not uncommon before the WWII era, but the actual women working in the factories changed. Before the WWII era majority of the women working in the factories were young, single women, but then that shifted to older, married women. Of the 6.5 million women in the work force more than half of them were the older, married women during this time period. And they were influenced to work in the factories not only because of society pressures, but because of the propaganda posters and ads about “Rosie the Riveter” who was a strong woman who worked in the factories and other jobs. This gave women more civil rights than before. However, when the war ended and all the fighting males came back many of the women were pushed out of the factories and back to their home lives. This also meant that many of the rights and authorities that they had gained were expunged. The female mystique changed from working hard in the factory to support the men overseas to working hard in the home to support the men at work.…

    • 641 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After World War II, women were dissatisfied with their roles and wanted equality. After the war, about two million women lost their jobs (Doc 1). They were told they didn’t want to work, and were forced to become homemakers and became separated from the workplace (Doc 1). Women began to question, “Is this all there is?” (Doc 2). They only made beds and shopped for groceries; women felt restricted and led boring lives (Doc 2). Women were also disappointed because there were only certain jobs available to them; mostly clerical work such as domestic service, retail sales, social work, teaching and nursing (RBP 983). These jobs paid poorly and no matter what, women were always made fewer wages than men. Women were also upset because they were denied easy access to education unlike men, and wanted to have a career outside of the home but could not because their lack of schooling. Women were not provided the same amount of opportunities as men and were very dissatisfied with their boring, restricted lives. Such lives led some women to organize small groups to…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Women’s fate changed when World War 1 swept into the United States. Women have contributed a significant amount for the development of the United States but they were not always independent. With the start of the Great War, improvements for women started to occur. The gender barriers for women were broken as women entered the workforce. World War 1 was a military conflict which lasted for four years involving nearly all the biggest powers of the world. As men started leaving for the war front, life on the home front became a challenge for women who had to take care of the household and earn money. The traditional family roles were changed and women took up jobs of men. The lack of restrictions on women in the United States during World War…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In comparison, the first and second World Wars set a great change in the ways women interacted with the rest of the world. While many men in the United States had to serve in war, women took on many of the roles at home that traditionally belonged to men. Women in both wars took on jobs in the war effort which included being military nurses, factory workers, journalists, and many more occupations that helped the war and occupied women in jobs that were primarily for men. One of most ordinary jobs women took during both wars was that of a nurse. Women joined the military forces to become nurses that helped heal soldiers who were wounded. Although men doubted the effort women can put in an emergency situation, women proved themselves and men became more certain. An important job that was taken by women at home during both wars was working in a factory. Having so many men serve in war, women were obliged to work in factories and showed their best efforts into helping the war. Once women began taking over, the idea was caught by the government in which they put great effort into hiring women for many jobs that helped the war effort.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World War 2 Dbq Analysis

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With the huge wave of men leaving, the government urged women to replace them in certain positions. By women filling these certain positions, it made them more knowledgeable and gave women a fantastic chance to do a variety of things they may not have done before. For example, in Document 1, The Women Worker U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1942 had stated: ‘” Men called to go to war have actually have been replaced by women in types of works they would not formally do. They include taxi drivers, bank tellers, electricians and operating service stations. Even a southern city reports a women manager of a parking lot.”…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Prior to World War II, the workforce consisted primarily of male workers. During this time, women who participated in the workforce were usually young and unmarried and held clerical and teaching positions--positions which lacked training or opportunity for advancement. As Sharpless and Rury note, approximately 80% of women in the workforce were unmarried: “the vast majority of working women were young, unmarried, and lived with their parents. Work, for all but a small minority, was a supplement to family income. It seldom went beyond a short interim period between adolescence and marriage (3-5 years average)” (324-5). When a working woman was married, she would typically leave the workforce to play the role of the homemaker, while her husband was responsible for financially supporting their household: “For nearly all working-class women, marriage and a family were seen as the most important goals in their lives. Their options for employment and, therefore, the character of their working-class…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although most women were happy to help their country, many were against this war and did not support it. Some even refused to allow their husbands and sons to join the army. However, within months of the war's outbreak, those women had taken a new route- supporting their government. They had to put aside maternal instincts and instead do what was right for their country's well-being. Feminists became passionate patriots and public advocates of the war effort. They hoped that their steadfast support would help aid the topic of women's suffrage after the war. As they said farewell to their families, the women knew they had an obligation to stop caring for their house and start caring for their country.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosie the Riveter

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In December 1941, the United States' economy was still recovering from the hard-hitting depression. The Great Depression reinforced the system of women as the backbone of the family, who was to stay home and take care of the household duties and raise the children. These duties often had to be carried out through unsophisticated means, as the benefits of technology had not yet entered the average home. In 1941, one-third of all households were still cooking with wood or coal; and water often had to be carried from an outside source. (1) The hardships that women faced day in and day out began to take their toll, but all too often there was no other option. Most women that did have jobs were either unmarried or were forced out of economic necessity. In 1940, out of the 11.5 million employed women, the majority of women would quit their jobs once married. (2) The traditional mentality of the population was that married women did not belong in the workplace. A 1936 poll showed that eighty-two percent of the American population felt that if a woman was married and her husband had a job, she did not need to work. (3) Women's roles were defined by society who told them that their main concern needed to be their family responsibilities. Once the United States entered the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, demands for enormous mobilization of troops left millions of jobs vacant. The war material already being produced for our European Allies was not sufficient for the new role that this country assumed. More material was needed, yet the bodies to make them…

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wwii Impact on Women

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages

    With life hard on women already holding the home together while their husbands were in the war, they were forced to fill the spots that were usually held by men. Being in the workforce and doing jobs they would have never imagined doing such as: working in the factories, in transportation, and in government. These would have never been offered to women if there were men available. To get these women interested in getting involved, the “government teamed up with industry, the media, and woman’s organizations in an effort to urge them to join the labor force: their agenda: telling women it was their “patriotic duty” to go to work.” While doing these non-traditional jobs they still did jobs traditionally performed by women such as: sales and clerical, nursing, and teaching. “Nearly a million women were hired by the federal government and women's share of federal jobs increased from 18.8 per cent in 1940 to 37.5 per cent in 1945. Many women earned higher incomes than ever before, yet their wages were still not comparable to male pay. Women increasingly joined labor unions; the proportion of union members that were women raised from 9.4 per cent in 1940 to 21.8 per cent in 1944 .This shows just a few jumps in percentages that women went from just in those few years. Especially the percentage of women actually enlisting in the military rose…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Role of Women in Wwii

    • 4604 Words
    • 19 Pages

    This paper explores the various roles carried by women during wartime in the 1940s. WWII presented opportunities in the military that had never been available to women. Traditional male roles in manufacturing were filled by women as the government recruited them to work in factories making things necessary to fight the war. Morale and entertainment brought women into roles they may have never considered during peace time. The total effect of women in WWII and how they stepped forward to sacrifice and serve was unprecedented in this country. Americans can thank the…

    • 4604 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the war waged on fears for their loved ones would continue to plague the thoughts of Americans across the country. Newspapers and telegrams did not help ease their concern; each informational source would line the headlines with the amount of causalities from the war. While women would continue to worry about their men off in combat they stepped up and aided in war by entering the workforce, this allowed more men to leave and fight in the war. Nearly three million women entered into various defense plants while other women enter into other occupations. Women also began to join various military occupations abundance from the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, Navy’s Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency, Army Air Corps’ Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilots, Coast Guard’s SPARS, along with the women’s branch of the Marines. With millions of women entering in these occupations once thought only for men, women would earn an increase in wages along with the ability to work freely. Women free of many restrictions could experience independence and security without relying on a man. Many women and men would purse in more intimate relationships and promiscuity due to the sense of urgency caused by the war. This sense of urgency would affect the increase of marriages, pregnancies, and divorce in young Americans.…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With World War Two long over women still remained in the workforce, but it took a long time for them to be viewed as equals. Most people also expected women to the workforce to make room for the men returning from war. The exact opposite happened and the women stayed in the workforce, with the intent of remaining in their jobs. Though some people saw women as a nuisance in the workforce. ”What’s become of Rosie the Riveter?” asked Frieda S. Miller in the New York Times of May 5, 1946. She answered: “Yesterday’s war worker (is) today’s housewife.”(Foner 478-479)”. With women remaining on the workforce most jobs were filled and the amount of available ones was limited. The view of women in society was changing and no one knew what was going to happen next, especially with government propaganda everywhere. “The Saturday Evening Post’s wartime cover glorifying “Rosie the Riveter” was supplanted by covers featuring Norman Rockwell’s idealization of the housewife. (Foner 478-479)”. With the government controlling the majority of the news propaganda was everywhere. Their main objective was to try and get women to go back to staying at home and letting men rejoin the workforce. But as time went on people eventually accepted that women were going to remain in the workforce. Though women remained in the workforce many were fired from their jobs, with the only excuse being they belong in the house not a…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Women in the workforce are commonly seen however before the Second World War it was not this way. Before the outbreak of World War Two almost every women's job consisted of looking after the house and children and occasionally working as a domestic cleaner. With the manpower shortage being developed, women needed to take on the roles traditionally preserved for men. Educator Dr Johnston stated that “ War resulted in unexpected involvement by women in military, industrial, agricultural and voluntary organizations”(2006,p.27). Professor of Modern History Cameron expands on this by stating “ After war was declared, the government called on women not in jobs to join the workforce so men could be released to join the armed forced”(2000,p.120). As the war progressed the jobs that women were required to fill became more and more male preserved. Cameron also states “At first women were encouraged into lowly payed jobs categorized as ‘women’s’ jobs orientated with clothing, food factories or hospital works, as the war progressed women were encouraged into jobs seen as ‘mens’ jobs consisting of tram conducting, driving taxis and delivery vans”(2000,p.120). Throughout the progression of the war, joining the male orientated workforce was not all that women were encouraged into.…

    • 1658 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vanishing Family Essay

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women undertook the task of managing the war effort at home and they had to support their families. Thousands of men (husbands/fathers) were fighting overseas and great number of them was killed, so the huge brunt of the production in factories were left to women who had only used to stay at home as householders for their families. More than a million of women were working long hours in factories in jobs usually hold for men only. This brutal war created new family atmosphere in which the two main pillars of family structure were absent. Men who used to be the breadwinner and guide…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics