Roles of American women during World War II

Roles of American Women during World War II

2008

INTRODUCTION

The World War II years continue to fascinate both the amateur and the serious scholar . The majority of publications , however , have dealt with the war front even the numerous memoirs have almost all been written by male participants . Only recently have scholars turned to specialized studies dealing with various aspects of women 's history : their military roles for the duration , and their lives on the home front , whether as homemakers , wage laborers , or volunteers for the war effort

Rosie the

Riveter ' has come to represent the working women , usually seen as paragons of strength as they maintained homes , families , and factories during the war years . The books , dissertations , journal articles , and movies focusing on women 's lives during the war have dealt largely with the women who found employment in large scale aircraft and shipbuilding factories in urban setting , from Baltimore to the Puget Sound area to Long Beach . With the possible exception of Doris Weatherford 's American Women and War II ' D 'Ann Campbell Women at War with America ' and Susan Hartmann 's The Home Front and Beyond American Women in 1940s , all of which move beyond Rosie ' as the central figure , most studies concentrate on women as war workers

Bounded on one side of the Great Depression and on the other by the age of affluence , World War II offered both unique and unprecedented opportunities as well as hardships for America 's women . While the vast majority of...