The Changing Roles Of Women During World War I
World War One did a lot of great things for women. Before the war, women didn’t have a lot of rights and they were thought of as weak compared to men. With the war going on, it meant that women had to take over a number of traditionally “male” roles. Their ability to do this led to change in attitude, women became more confident in their ability to influence people to have their say. They learnt to juggle home and family, and manage financially. This all led to women believing in themselves and they wanted change, and knew it had to come from the government.
Pre war women did have working opportunities though very little compared to men, as they were seen as weaker and that their place was in the "home". The jobs that women had were dependent …show more content…
Women had to pick up all the jobs that were left behind by the men and had no choice. Women were given responsibility and knowledge to carry out skilled work. Women took on numerous responsibilities not only at home, but also replacing men in offices, factories and also serving in the arm forces. More then 25,000 women served in Europe in WWI, women helped nurse hurt soldiers, provided food and other supplies to the military. Since factories ran out of workers, they had to hire women to cover the jobs, however the factories were all very unhealthy and dangerous. Women were still only getting paid about half the wages of men. Women weren’t unionizes since the Labor Union stated that they had to hire many women to replace one man, the women had no protection so their skin and lungs were being exposed to very dangerous chemicals. Women who worked in munitions factories were the most exposed since they worked with sulphur, the sulphur made their skin turn yellow. People would recognize these women by the importance of their job. Even though women started their own union, The National Women’s Trade Union League. The wages still weren’t raised. As a result of women showing the male-commanded society that they could do more then just take care of the house, they started to pave the way for women’s rights (for example: to vote) and freedom (not being controlled by the men in the
Pre war women did have working opportunities though very little compared to men, as they were seen as weaker and that their place was in the "home". The jobs that women had were dependent …show more content…
Women had to pick up all the jobs that were left behind by the men and had no choice. Women were given responsibility and knowledge to carry out skilled work. Women took on numerous responsibilities not only at home, but also replacing men in offices, factories and also serving in the arm forces. More then 25,000 women served in Europe in WWI, women helped nurse hurt soldiers, provided food and other supplies to the military. Since factories ran out of workers, they had to hire women to cover the jobs, however the factories were all very unhealthy and dangerous. Women were still only getting paid about half the wages of men. Women weren’t unionizes since the Labor Union stated that they had to hire many women to replace one man, the women had no protection so their skin and lungs were being exposed to very dangerous chemicals. Women who worked in munitions factories were the most exposed since they worked with sulphur, the sulphur made their skin turn yellow. People would recognize these women by the importance of their job. Even though women started their own union, The National Women’s Trade Union League. The wages still weren’t raised. As a result of women showing the male-commanded society that they could do more then just take care of the house, they started to pave the way for women’s rights (for example: to vote) and freedom (not being controlled by the men in the