How war and conflict revolutionized women
The First World War and the Second World War was a cataclysmic event that significantly disrupted many lives in the entire world. This war brought the entire human race into active battle zones that spanned parts of Africa and across countries in Europe and Asia. With the rise in technological innovation, weapons being used in the war became even more sophisticated. The introduction of this new technology extended the borders involved in the war. The use of aerial warfare made it easier for the armies to launch attacks not only at each other but against innocent civilians that were a distance from the frontlines.
Moreover, these weapons made it easier for countries to attack civilians as a way of weakening each other. Albeit with leas novelty, the armies invading countries begun to occupy parts of territories, taking them up under their control. This is why many men decided to enlist. It is at this point that women were called to take up the numerous jobs that the men left behind as a way to hold up the economy of the country. Before these two major wars, women were considered to be homemakers. The ones who worked took up administrative jobs as assistants and secretaries under men because the job market at the time favored the men as more capable. The First World War and the Second World War created the opportunity that women required to rise and show their ‘strength. Women’s lives significantly changed because of their roles and responsibilities in society expanded.
War holds very many ironies, and an important one is a liberation that women experienced. when Entering the war, many countries experienced a shift in the economy, which created a demand for labor, especially from women. Since the participation that involved women during the war was for an allied victory, many women left their homes and children to enter the labor market. Some women joined different branches in the military, and the ones who did not join the army went to work in factories while having to fulfill the roles the men had in the society, even in the family. The women who decide not to work chose to volunteer their energy and time towards the war effort. In America, women from the state of Minnesota were some who put forward a significant effort at the home front. Sixty percent of the people working in factories were women. The shipyards were manned by women while the transport had female street conductors. Since most of the land at the time was arable and meant for farming, women and daughters were left with the responsibility to take charge of them when the men got drafted. However, the few male workers who remained out of the war felt it was their responsibility to ensure women do not ‘’encroach’’ into the physically demanded tasks that they felt was their territory. These employers attempted to stifle the women by paying lesser wages compared to the men for the same amount of work. However, once women realized they could work, they bared down and ensured their independence and freedom were not taken away.
After the war, men wanted to come back and reclaim their jobs. Women were once again being marginalized despite their efforts during the war period. Without the war justifying the unconventional roles that women picked up, many employers pushed women out of employment, and they were taken back to being homemakers and to clerical jobs. Wartime work proved the necessity and transformative need for women to become independent and free in order to embrace the variety of challenges that they would have otherwise not have handled. This transformative period strengthened the resolve of women at the time, and it was the basis of the female revolution in the job market. More women took up posts and even more started being entrepreneurs.