World War II was the second global war of the century from 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland to 1945 when the German’s were finally defeated. WWII involved the Allies, which were the anti-Germans consisting of France, Poland, and Great Britain, and in 1941 the Soviet Union after Germany invaded and United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The other side were the Axis powers, which consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
There were many changes during the war, for example industry boomed during this wartime though it was still attempting to recover from the Great Depression before the war started, and still struggled from that after the demands of war were over. Another major change that happened during the war was the social changes among the American people. A big social change involved fashion, because of the desperate war times the people had to conserve wool and cotton. Because of the conservation of materials dresses became shorter, women’s legs started to be shown more in public and it was very controversial during this time. In august 1941, The National Women’s Underarment Manufactures Association proposed a plan to save 10 percent of the fabrics used in fashion annually by shortening the skirts’ length by a few inches. (The-Young Lee Iowa State). The people who opposed, such as the founder of the Fashion Originators Guild of America Maurice Retner, stated that “dresses are just as short today as decency and grace will permit” (The-Young Lee Iowa State). Another worry was that the women would not accept the shortening of the skirts but by the Spring of 1942 the United States industries had to do what they had to do and the skirts were shortened. There were even government laws put on manufacturers on how many inches of fabric could be used in each skirt, depending on the size. Though many Americans may have been opposed to the skirt lengths they did not say anything because they knew these styles were a part of the patriotic movement to win the war.
Another social change for women was the appearance of uniforms on women. The military organized women into auxiliary units with special uniforms, their own officers, and, equal pay. By 1945 more than 250000 women had joined the Women’s Army Corp (WAC), the Army Nurses Corps, Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), the Navy Nurses Corps, the Marines, and the Coast Guard. (Digital History). Women got more and more job opportunities in the war because men were fighting on the front, their jobs involved office and clerical positions in the armed forces. World War II changed women in America forever, women started to drive trucks, repair airplanes, work as laboratory technicians, serve as radio operators, analyze photographs, and many other job opportunities. (National WWII Museum). Though this was a huge step for women and feminism during the time after the war was over, the women were no longer needed and the men could once again take over their jobs because they were no longer fighting on the front. Women veterans encountered roadblocks when they tried to take advantage of benefit programs for veterans, like the G. I. Bill. (National WWII Museum). The United States was not socially ready to take on the feminist movement head-on and accept the fact that women were equal to men and could do the exact same job that men could do.
I think the progression of women's roles in the family and society is really interesting to observe; we start from the Victorian-inspired Cult of Domesticity in the 1850s, and then the increasing number of women's workers during the industrial era. From there, we see women stepping in for men during WWI, the rise of flappers in the 1920s, and the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The increase of opportunities for women were mostly caused by necessity, but it is inspiring to see how women eventually took on the roles that were typically reserved for men.
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http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/19thcentury/womenandequality/
I like how you focused on feminism, as women are not commonly talked about in history. Dress code is a big topic of discussion these days with underclassmen wearing no clothes basically so its interesting to learn about just when dresses started becoming shorter because the same thing is happening now. Do you think think trend will keep happening?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article because it relates very well to a big topic going on in todays world. For the last couple years there has been a large debate about letting women have combat jobs, and I just a few days ago the marines past a vote that allows women to have any job a man can have as long as they can pass the same tests.
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