A Womans Change
For women, wartime was considered "the best years of their lives" by some people and historians. Not only did women come to the country's aid in time of need, they also started the concept of women having a job. The idea of women at work during World War II was not utterly new. In the previous years of World War I, women were nursing sisters and volunteers. If a woman had a job it would usually be as a teacher, sales clerk or a secretary, but it never would require hard labor. As World War II came around however, the situation changed. As the men went to war, women would now take over the men's jobs. One of the most famous ads that tried to persuade women to take the place of the men was of an imaginary character named Rosie the Riveter. Rosie was portrayed very well and had rosy cheeks, a sign of a true lady. This advertisement not only made working look attractive, but patriotic as well. When women realized that they could work and still be feminine, they started looking for jobs. Some people had a problem with women working in the area of a man's job. Industry was hesitant to hire women because they thought the only reason women wanted a job was to earn a little spending money. They were wrong because women were tired of thei
worked at Gibson's, a soda fountain for about $15 for a 48-hour week. When Kathy asks the question what did you do in the war grandma, she responds by saying "after my husband went into war I quit my job at Gibson's and went to work in a woolen mill, Listers, which before the war was just a normal routine job. When the war started they needed wool very badly so this was considered a service job. In other words, it was important" (O'Grady). The job was so important because the soldiers were the ones who needed the woolen blankets. She was getting $27 a week at this point. This was a significant amount higher than her job before the war. When Katherine was asked the question if the war had changed her in anyway she responded, "after the war things changed because women found out they could go out and they could survive. They really could do it on their own. I think it made us more aware. It made me mature" (O'Grady). With personal accounts, a better perspective is given and more people can relate easier to that person just like many women can with Katherine. r old jobs that were dull and have a job that is exciting and something new to learn. The money factor also helped, but women wanted to prove that they could do the same job as a man. Women now did jobs that traditionally were not theirs. They worked on production lines, in steal mills, on the docks, and in other jobs that required heavy laboring. Over 6 million women took over in these fields for the men. Women were excited about their new endeavor and were excited about their new income status with the new jobs. In 1944 "the average woman's salary was $31.21 a week for her labors, even though the men that sti
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Approximate Word count = 1211
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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