Gendered Experience

Gendered Experience

 Gendered involves reflecting the prejudice, experience, or orientations of one sex compared to the other. The gendered language emphasizes gender differences or stereotyping of gender roles. Gender experience encompasses the gender roles assigned to a particular sex by society and how they should act, dress, groom, and conduct themselves. Society expects women to dress in a feminine way ways and also uphold politeness, be accommodating, and nurturing.  However, in some instances stereotyping and assigned gender roles to change or are interfered with as people focus on adapting to a specific situation. War is a gendered activity where males are stereotyped to be at the forefront. World War II is associated with a change of gender roles as women were expected to fill the gap left by their husbands. In the past, women were expected to remain at home to raise children and look after their men. They were not allowed to work, and only a small percentage made the workforce. Precisely, when women got married, they prioritized their marriage, and most of them left the workforce to remain at home to take care of the children and other related activities.  It is important to note that before World War II, paid women labor was highly restricted to traditional female professions such as sewing or typing. With the gender equality campaign taking a significant stride in modern times, it remains significant to explore the degree of continuity and change between women’s and men’s gendered experiences before and after the Second World War.

With the war requiring adequate personnel to guarantee to fight and have a guaranteed success, gender roles changed in society. A massive change in society was experienced where almost all the men were involved directly in the war. The gap they left and their assigned responsibilities had to be filled by women for them to continue living and propel the war positively. The major changes witnessed in World War II included filling the employment opportunities that were critical to ensuring the success of the war. Women had to replace the gap created by departing soldiers where they had to take defense plants and factories across the country. The war brought unprecedented opportunities where they had to move into occupations previously associated with men, such as the aircraft industry where the number of women increased by 1943.  Women took over office and factory jobs, and not many were directly involved in the defense industry. Men had been doing these jobs before the Second World War, and women were perceived as incompetent or did not have the required abilities such as masculinity to work in industries. It is important to highlight that women did not make as much money compared to men during this period, irrespective of doing the same job. However, it was a great milestone to many where they earned and became financially independent when men were in battle. They had to provide for the children and took all the responsibilities of men to ensure the family moved on as per the expectations of the society. Despite women earning low when compared to men during this period, they got a chance to change the mentality of many in society. They found a chance to demonstrate their abilities in different sectors to the extent they became a reliable human capital asset. The manner in which they filled the gaps left by the soldiers created a new perception that allowed as many women to look for employment even after the end of the war. Women themselves gained confidence by defying the stereotype associated with them working in some sectors such as factories. Factory work was associated with masculinity, and it was evidenced when employers brought women as employees. Some men failed to embrace them and instead subjected them to harassment. Other employers opted to keep them in a different department away from men to avoid harassment while also gauging the quality of their work.

The role played by women, such as supporting the militaries as nurses, militaries auxiliaries, ambulance drivers, farmworkers, and factory laborers, among other occupations, enabled them to have a new role in the society. The aftermath of the war saw women allowed to continue working in different capacities in factories and other occupations. The degree of continuity in their new roles was evident as they were celebrated from different corners across the globe. Men chauvinism reduced at this point as the society accommodated women in different capacities in workplaces, having managed to support the militaries with their knowledge and skills. Others were able to fill the gaps left by their husbands as they went to war, where supplies never decreased. It was an indication they have had the ability to work and contribute to society, having undertaken the role of men in families by providing to the children, and providing security. The society had assigned males this responsibility, and they felt entitled when taking care of their family.  Society saw females as ineligible to undertake this responsibility, but with the Second World War, they found a chance to prove their ability by raising their children on their own. Many women publicly acknowledged and embraced occupations associated with men, and they were not ready to relinquish them when the war was over. The aftermath of the war brought changes, with many men developing complications associated with the experiences of the battlefield. For instance, some were traumatized due to the carnage unleashed by modern weaponry. Others experienced major injuries from machine guns, powerful artillery shells, fire, and poison gas, and thus they were unable to undertake their responsibilities after the end of the war. It became the role of women to provide and take care of the family since most of the male’s conditions were wanting. In this consideration, they continued to work in factories and other occupations with the society acknowledging their importance in different fields of their experts.

The legacy of the war revolves around the changes it brought in society in the long-run. The war destroyed many lives, and thus it reshaped international political order and many aspects of life. It can be viewed as a catalyst that enhanced major changes in all aspects of life, including ideas about the gender of both men and women. Regardless of visible changes in politics, culture, and society, the degree of continuity existed, such as women’s participation in politics remained limited. However, women gained voting rights in many countries as a result of their role in the Second World War. In other states, they refused to enfranchise female inhabitants, such as France, in 1944. In the case of minorities in countries such as the U.S continued to face discrimination, such as not able to exercise their political rights with demographic trends that existed and were prevalent pre-war persisted after it. Another change that arose after the war was continued family size shrinking despite the renewed anxiety about falling birth rate and the ongoing emphasis on the significance of motherhood among women and their nations. Among many other factors, baby booms were experienced after the war leading to an increased birth rate dramatically. Economically, returning men from the war managed to displace a significant number of women from their wartime occupations who were subjected to hardship. Those women who faced many difficulties were those heading households as breadwinners as a result of a husband injury or any other condition developed at the battlefield. Other men died, and considering a significant number of women did not retain or gain access to all professional occupations and also did not get equal pay for comparable work, it was worse for them in the long-run.

It is also important to highlight the gender and cultural change witnessed after World War II. Certain norms of Western middle-class femininity disappeared, and the appearance of women between 19140-1918 during World War I differed markedly evidenced by women having shorter hair and wearing trousers or shorter skirts. After the war, new forms were witnessed where social interaction between sexes and across class lines arose. However, expectations about family and the domestic lifestyle as a major concern for women remained unaltered. Post-war societies were subjected to the morning after a huge number of men failed to return. The process required combined efforts of both men and women in rebuilding in public and perhaps also in private shows.

Challenges faced by women as they tried to adapt to the new situation, such as being embraced in the workplace leading to changes witnessed during and aftermath of World War II. Working women during this period, specifically mothers, faced difficulties as they tried to address the role of women as mothers and workers. The difficulty they experienced can be evidenced by the proposal of Eleanor Roosevelt urging his husband Roosevelt as the president of the U.S to approve U.S government childcare facilities. The approval was to be done under the Community Facilities Act of 1942, where seven canters hosted and serviced 150000 children. The First Lady also encouraged the industries to build model childcare facilities to host children of their employees. However, the efforts were inadequate to meet the needs of working mothers since the centers could not cater to all the working mothers.

Working women also faced cultural resistance in the workplace, specifically male-dominated environments. The government had to initiate a propaganda campaign known as Rosie the Riveter for women to be recruited in factories. The propaganda portrayed Rosie as tough yet feminine. The government reassured men the demand for war would not result in making women too masculine, with some factories upholding female lessons on how to apply makeup and cosmetics. Maintaining American women at their best looks was associated with boosting morale, a critical factor in industries as it ensures the realization of the set goals.

The issue of discrimination was also a challenge for African American women or minorities. White women were unwilling to work beside them, and it was also difficult for them to secure jobs in the defense industry. They were heavily stereotyped, and even though they were allowed to work in factories, they were later fired after the war. They resumed their job as servants as cooks and maids.

It is also important to highlight the irrespective of the upheavals witnessed during this period, basic ideas of gender remained consistent and continued throughout the war. Different waring states defined the essence of masculinity services to the country as a combat to the extent those old men, young or ill, were expected to support the war. Other men were expected to remain in their position in industries to ensure the consistent production of basic supplies.

Apart from the challenges faced by women during this period, there were critical changes that were witnessed, and some became permanent.  Even though the women opportunities in the labor force contracted as millions of veterans were re-employed, women began to infuse the work of being homemaker while upholding professional virtues. It is important to highlight that gender roles remained rigid after World War II. The rigidity was a critical factor that subjected a significant number of women to remain at home doing household chores such as cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children. The male took their responsibility as heads of the family, subjecting them to waking up every day of the week and left only to come back home late. Their main responsibility was lawnmowers and backyard BBQers on the weekend. It is also important to the point that irrespective of gender roles rigidity continuing before and after the way, perception and stereotype changed where some married women managed to work.   They worked on the grounds of the international expansion of the American economy after the war. Even though inequality in terms of payment was evident, it was associated with the gender of the role of men in a family and in society at large. The change that was witnessed after the Second World War was the increased number of women in the labor force than ever before in American history. For women working and society embracing this change was propelled by domesticity and money pressure. The reality of most middle and aspiring middle-class family’s finance could not match their dreams, and thus women needed to work to support their husbands.

Conclusion

It is clear Second World War had a huge impact on society in terms of looking at things in terms of gendered experiences. Women were given a chance to demonstrate their ability by replacing men in different capacities in the workplace, such as factories. Others were directly involved in the war, such as nurses, truck drivers, and as auxiliaries. They had to adjust irrespective of the difficulties of raising children and working as they supported their families. The war had an impact on society’s views of different issues, such as changing a culture where women were allowed to work after the war. In other instances, there issues that continued to stay as it was irrespective of women demonstrating their ability outside households. For instance, the rigidity of roles continued the same with the males heading the house and taking provision responsibility. Despite women being allowed to work, they received low payments, an indication of high inequality in the system. It is worth noting that despite changes in the society about the perception of women, some perspectives did not change, such as many women being retrenched for the veterans to get back their jobs.