Women of the World Wars Worked

In general, the roles of women were the same in both World War I and World War II. Many went off to work so as to fill in spots vacated by men, while some remained at home and took care of the family.

Women in both World Wars served mainly in factories, where large numbers of men had previously worked. They also took on such jobs as nursing and care.

In World War II however, women took on an even larger variety of jobs that were originally "men-only". Some, especially in the Soviet Union, joined front-line-combat divisions of the military, while others did skilled labor in the factories (as opposed to being barred from operating the more complex machinery).

In summary, the role of women in World War II was similar in that women took jobs to replace the men, and that some left once the men (who survived...) returned. However, their roles between World War I and II differ in that women in World War II had a much larger variety of jobs and were allowed to take on the more traditionally male jobs. This led eventually to women's suffrage.

Total war is just as the name suggests. It is a war that totally involves the nation (that sentence sounded very "surfer-brah"-like. Ugh.) and relies on everyone to help support the war efforts. Total war's pull was powerful enough to break down the previously male-dominated structure of society- if only temporarily.

Rosie the Riveter

The role of women in both WWI and WWII are fundamentally the same. However, the role of women in WWII has more significance to modern America, which can be attributed to such figures as Rosie the Riveter. Ultimately, Rosie was an icon that sparked awareness of female roles in the war throughout America. At this point in history (especially during total war), it was expected that women partake in the highly critical and valiantly patriotic war industry. Yet we see that as female roles increased, they were able to form their own sub-category of prominence in the war and American society; something we certainly did not see during or after WWI. It is even fair to say that WWII jump started the female role in working American society, an issue that became prevalent after women realized their value and potential in the work force. And for the first time in American History, women were portrayed through propaganda and nationalism as symbols of patriotism and dedication through work. Although these working contributions seemed to be an afterthought following WWII, it was enough to upstart a civil movement.

Rosie the Riveter

Although the image of Rosie the Riveter has gained international fame for symbolizing the beginning of the introduction of women to the workplace, this, in fact, was not a novelty at the time. Back in World War I, millions of women served as nurses, worked in munitions factories, or even sewed clothes for soldiers.

During World War II, women filled the same jobs as in World War I, but also a few new ones, due to the time, and progress in women's rights, that took place in between the wars. For example, women were even allowed to fight in World War II in special battalions. To me, that can be considered a point in history when they truly acquired the social status of women. Also, because the USA was much more involved in WWII than WWI, by the middle of WWII, it was said that 89% of all jobs were open and accessible to women, whereas at the beginning of the war, only 25% of all jobs were accessible to them.

Not only is this statistic interesting, but its circumstances are. Only when we, as a country, are faced with a common enemy (in WWII, Germany) do we allow gender equality in the workplace out of convenience. Later on, when international troubles are gone, and we're back to dealing with domestic issues, women are discouraged from working in factories. This says that total war really affects the home front to a point that all social norms are momentarily forgotten: total war can effectively change a nation.

Clearly, then, during WWII, great progress was made in terms of women's independence and rights in the workplace. This was spurred on by popular images such as that of Rosie the Riveter that encouraged - and normalized - women working in such places that were traditionally considered manly as factories.

Movies/Books: WWII

Books:

The Book Thief- story about a young girl in Germany amidst Nazi regime and british air raids in Munich

Movies:

Atonement: Love story about a couple in England ripped apart by a lie and ultimately the War

Pearl Harbor: Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck deliver stud performances set in Hawaii during the very attack on Pearl Harbor. They also take part in a secret retaliation mission

Band Of Brothers: HBO miniseries about Easy Company and their incredible heroism throughout WWII

The Pianist: Adrian Brody plays a polish piano player who escapes Jewish extermination and struggles to survive during Nazi reign

Downfall: A German film about Hitler's final days lodged underground in Berlin. A profound piece of analysis upon the Fuhrer as he faced imminent defeat.

Life is Beautiful: Story of an Italian Jew who shields his young son from the atrocities of the Holocaust by playing a game to distract him.

Saving Private Ryan: Tom Hanks leads a mission to retrieve and discharge a young man from the war in order to spare his mother the grief of losing 4 sons

The Thin red Line: Movie detailing the war in the pacific, as marines fight the Japanese

The Longest Day: Old movie centering around a platoon during the assault on D-Day

Woman in World War I and II

During World War I, women did not have a huge place in their country's involvement in the war. Women did have many contributing factors on the war, but society limited their involvement. They were not part of the military but instead worked as nurses. They also filled in many jobs left open at home, as the men went to war. The amount of physical labour that women did increased, but these jobs proved to be temporary. In 1917 they were authorized to be in the Navy, but they couldn't advance in the field as much as men.

At the beginning of World War II, the same mindset of women being too feminine to participate in the military. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this mindset began to deteriorate as more and more manpower was needed. IN 1942, the WAAC bill passed allowing the establishment of Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. The WAAC could cover parts of the military allowing men to go to combat. Shortly after the Navy passed acts creating different sects of the Navy attributed to women. The lack of manpower forced people to let go of their reserves concerning women to participating in the military. Yet, women still didn't get paid as much or have the full military benefits as men. In 1943, The WAAC or the new version of the Women's Army Corps, was passed and gained women full military status. 

Between the two wars, the involvement of women was greatly increased. Even though initially it was because of a lack of manpower, woman became a vital part of the military forces. The involvement of women unified the US even more and helped every effort of winning the war. Woman were a crucial part of every country during both wars from the home front to the military.

World War II in Popular Culture

In the past few years, I have seen many a movie set in the battlefields of World War II. Most, if not all of them, were quite good from a historical, videographical, or other point of view.

A few of movies that have made an impression on me are as follows:

Saving Private Ryan (1998): Saving Private Ryan has a relatively straightforward plot, but is well-written, well-filmed, and powerfully acted. To put it simply, a specially-formed group of Rangers is assigned to rescue a Private (James Ryan) from behind enemy lines in Normandy. Awesomeness ensues.

Flags of Our Fathers (2006): Flags of Our Fathers follows the behind-the-scenes political action behind the soldiers who raised the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima (this is a famous picture, you should probably have seen it before). It questions propaganda and the twisting of truth for the purposes of converting the public to the government's side. Philosophically interesting, but not nearly as exciting to watch as the other movies that are listed here.

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006): Perhaps one of the most touching and unique WWII movies I have seen, Letters from Iwo Jima follows the action of the American landing and assault of the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima, but from the Japanese persective. It allows the viewers a peek into the thoughts and feelings of the soldiers of the Japanese army, painting them as people and not the crazy kamikaze-bombers and suicide-committers that they are often oversimplified as. If you have the time, you should watch this movie above all of the other movies that are listed here- it's just that beautiful.

Valkyrie (2008): This movie is yet another one about an alternative perspective of World War II- specifically that of a group of German soldiers who attempted to assassinate Hitler, take over the German government, and surrender to the Allies to avoid further destruction. It is very action-packed, and (I would say) it has more of a focus on the action than on making any subtle philosophical point. But it's awesome. Very awesome.

All of these are worth watching (although I'm not so much a fan of Flags of Our Fathers, but it's still good stuff).

Books Set in WWII

Here's a list of books (all of which I recommend) that I read, and that deal with WWII:

- Night, by Elie Wiesel

- I Have Lived A Thousand Years, by Ellen Bitten-Jackson

- The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen 33541, Mirror Lake Camp

- Torn Thread (Holocaust story)

- Maus

- The Sunflower

- My Name was Keoko (not really set in WWII; but rather in Korea during the Japanese occupation)

- Many AVI novels that I have either lost or thrown away or sold

- Horrible Histories, Woeful World War II (graphic novel that describes different events in history)

- A Seperate Peace

A few movies:

- The Sound of Music

- La Grande Vadrouille (an interesting French movie about smuggling Jewish people out of occupied France)

- The Pianist