Women in the Work Force
"Our Lipstick can't win the war, but it symbolizes one of the reasons why we are fighting... the precious right of women to be feminine and lovely."
-cosmetic ad during war
One of the most recognized females especially from this era of the Second World War is Rosie the Riviter. She was the ultimate symbol of the working American Woman during the war, as they took on the jobs many men left behind as they went on to fight overseas. During the Great Depression however a few years earlier, women were expected to keep out of the work force to make more opportunites for unemployed men.
Left: War poster, ad for women to get jobs
Above: Rosie the Riviter
After the onset of the war more than six million women took jobs men would normally do, like being a welder, electrician, in plants and on assembly lines. Although these women were making the same sacrifices as the men that did those jobs, and worked just as hard there was in fact a wage discrimination throughout the industries. The arguments the labor unions and employers offered when asked about the accuracy of the alleged wage differences, were that men put in more overtime, did the truly 'skilled' work, and had seniority. The average weekly factory earnings for men in 1945 was $55, and a not very comparable $32 for women.
Considering women were filling the jobs for the men that had gone on to war, it could only be assumed that their jobs would be completed as the men returned from war. This fact was more than welcomed by many women that were ready to return to the domestic life after the years of struggle and sacrifice. The separation from their husbands over seas took a toll on the working women as well, but more women than expected would have been just as happy to continue the jobs they took during the war. More women remained in the work force than there were prior to the war, however many of the women were forced back into their more feminine and lower paying jobs. This opened the door for future women to come, as working is more and more common for women as we go through life.
Although millions of American women tooks over the jobs that their husbands and other men had to leave behind to go defend our country overseas, over 150,000 women joined the Women's Army Corps. These were the first women other than nurses to serve our country within ranks for the United States of America. It was a hard concept for both the public and the Army to accept, but once the importance of these women was realized it was easier to appreciate and accept the women in uniform. Just like women in the work force, women in the military and armed forces has become more of a normal occurence, and the women during World War II helped normalize the concept of women in uniform.
Below: A video of how women factory workers should wear their hair
