American Women at War
The economy grew and the Great Depression officially ended. Half of the southern agricultural labor force migrated to cities. Also, Evans points out that the birthrate increased because fathers were freed from the draft. At first, women volunteered with the Red Cross, to drive ambulances, serve food, and even sell war bonds. Later, though, the country needed to hire women to meet industrial demands and wartime society.
However, there were strong opposition from male workers and many were seriously disturbed by the fact of bringing married women into the factories. Even some women had doubts about “crossing the boundary to male domains,” as Evans states. Still, the government made major propaganda campaigns. Once the War Manpower Commission decided to recruit female workers, including married women, the War Labor Board announced that women working in previously male jobs should be paid at the male rate. In films, for example, it assured women that the tasks in the factories mimicked household work. As a result of these efforts, the women’s part in the army, the navy, the Coast Guard, and the marines were created in 1942 and 1943. Almost 350,000 women served in these branches and a thousand more were involved in the Women’s Air force Service Pilots.
Even if the numbers of women working were indeed very high, most were nurses or in other low-skilled positions. Evans explains that the only reason the union was for the equal pay was because they worried that lower wages for women might create an inducement for industries to keep the female workers after the war. Yet as thousands of young women went in search for jobs, it was harder for them to find a decent place to live. Mothers had a difficult time finding day-care centers for their child. Some newspaper stories talked about “infants locked in cars,” as Evans mentions. By 1943, over 4,400 communities had established child-care centers.
Nevertheless, the government was very successful in that they managed six million inexperienced women to join the labor force during the war years. While the women wanted to retain their jobs after the war ended mainly because they had access to high-paying industrial jobs requiring skills for the first time, Evans states that the union and the business owners expected them to quit and return to their homes. Partly because of the fear that women would displace male workers, many wanted women to serve as a center of the family and home once again and support the returning men. Women, such as Margaret Pickel, fought back when they discovered that the jobs available after the war paid them only half of what they made during the war. Although she said that marriage and motherhood were in fact probably the best jobs women could accomplish, she also mentions that the male workers were being “unprofessional” and “weak”.
On the other hand, though, World War II had made many great progressions. The birth-control movement was finally accepted and its name was changed to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America instead of the Birth Control Federation of America. Furthermore, Evans point out that the war was a turning point in the homosexual identity. Because there were many young, unmarried women working in the environment, lesbians had more opportunity for relationships. Also, they could meet each other without fearing publicity.
Lastly, the war provided possible jobs for older married women. Before, only the young and unmarried used to work just until they got married, but during the war, married women were able to participate as well. Although millions of female workers ended up leaving the labor force, women and married women alike had a new sense of opportunity and freedom they had felt. Overall, the war provided women with independence and a feeling of self, as Evans proves in her extraordinary work.
