Case Study: Women Who Came To The Front

Case Study: Women Who Came to the Front After scanning over the lives of the eight women during WWII the most interesting three I came across are Clare Boothe Luce, Dorothea Lange, and Toni Frissell. These three women all came to the forefront of presenting different forms of media to the public. All three women were influential in their coverage of the war. WWII opened new opportunities for women in journalistic positions and each of these women utilized their different platforms in a positive way for women in the media. Starting off with Clare Boothe Luce, as the case study explains, her background is of a privileged nature and her coverage of the war was more of an option to her. Clare led a comfortable life of a socialite and ambassador. By definition her life was comfortable, and wartime conditions were anything but comfortable. Interestingly enough, Clare’s articles in Life magazine, influenced friend led Winston Churchill to change Middle Eastern policies. Although Clare saw her reporting as time off from being a playwright her influence is undeniable.
The second wartime woman who caught my attention was Dorothea Lange.
Unlike Clare who was abroad and led a privileged life, Dorothea reported from the home front and spoke specifically about ethnic groups. Dorothea shed light on the Japanese internment camps after the events of Pearl Harbor. She gave light to inhumane and the disrespectful conditions of the Japanese internment camps. Her photographs facilitated the people held captive in the camp to have a voice and demonstrate their courage under such conditions. Although controversial and censored by the government at times, her coverage of the home front was influential to Americans that were oblivious to happenings inside our
country. The third woman is Toni Frissell. Like Clare, Toni was initially involved in the fashion/magazine journalism coverage prior to the war. At the start of the war, Toni volunteered her time to the American Red Cross and photographed wartime images which include nurses, soldiers, and WACs. Toni made the distinctive jump from news that was considered more ‘woman-friendly’ to photographic pursuits of ‘hard news.’ Unlike Dorothea’s sole home front coverage, Toni traveled both home and abroad to provide photographic coverage of the war. Toni’s influential photographs were used and media tools to change the perceptions of women in uniform and African-Americans in military positions. Each woman’s story has led down a different path of reporting during the war. All have had some form of influence and had given a platform for those who did not. Toni helped society’s perceptions of African-Americans, and woman. Clare’s coverage shed light on military conditions and Middle Eastern policies. Dorothea’s reporting depicted internment camps that the American public was ignorant to. Each of these women came to the forefront in some way and initiated change in the American public.