Many people say if you want something said, ask a man and if you want something done, ask a woman. However, historically that was not the case for women in a military role. In World War 1, women were involved in huge numbers in almost all the fields. Though the majority of women started working in the civilian workforce to replace men that left for the war. Many women served in military roles as well, but in Russia, women also took part in actual combat. During World War 2, there was more urgency and hence more women were working in the war industry, especially in ammunition plants. This led to women working in areas of work that were formerly reserved for men. These vacant jobs included tram conductors, police, firefighters, engineering services, etc. The purpose of this research is to highlight the roles of women in World War 1,2 and now in in the modern world.
Most of the women in wars mostly served as nurses, however, they also served as teachers and workers in many occupied jobs men. They were also involved in knitting socks for soldiers and ammunition factories. However, in World War 2, women took a variety of roles from country to country. In Europe, several thousand women participated in combat roles as well. Many German women served in the resistance to its other rival countries in the war. The situation now is different; however, most females now see military training as an opportunity to see themselves as strong and commanding. This also provides them an opportunity to escape from the shades of customary femininity. Today, women are active members of the military, Air force and navy all across the world.
Role of Women in WW1
The most prominent difference during the wars in women's lives was their involvement in different ranges of professions, some of which were completely new to them. Due to this reason, women's employment increased by 40,000 within the first year of the war in Britain ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"0dsdLAxZ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Grayzel)","plainCitation":"(Grayzel)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"rQdIfsU1/XJSqRlww","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/XZE6BLI7"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/XZE6BLI7"],"itemData":{"id":228,"type":"book","title":"Women and the First World War","publisher":"Routledge","ISBN":"1-315-83807-9","author":[{"family":"Grayzel","given":"Susan R."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Grayzel). Many middle-class women also worked in arms industries as well. The reasons behind that were both financial and patriotic. This also helped them to later move into textile industries as well. Many women didn't enter the fields that were mostly related or dependent on wars as they knew that these jobs won't last after the war is over. However, most of these opportunities were recognized as brief and when the war came to end, many women were forced out of their jobs and were given back to returning soldiers. Women in cities had more chances of work as compared to those living in rural areas. Russian and German women faced very tough living conditions due to the lack of necessities and were almost forced to work. In Britain, women were near the front lines but were not engaged in fighting. Britain was not invaded and similar was the condition of women in the USA. World War 1 was a turning point for woman's contribution to the military services in the United States and all around the world.
Women in WW2
During World War 2, more than 35,000 women served in the U.S. armed forces and between 1940 and 1945, the percentage of the females in U.S armies increased by almost 10% ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"cEcuziv3","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}American Women in World War II - HISTORY})","plainCitation":"(American Women in World War II - HISTORY)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"rQdIfsU1/DiRlvmKI","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/DM9A5YQL"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/DM9A5YQL"],"itemData":{"id":229,"type":"webpage","title":"American Women in World War II - HISTORY","URL":"https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii-1","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",10,8]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (American Women in World War II - HISTORY). During this war, some pilots became the first women to fly military fighting aircraft. In America, the biggest jump was in the Aviation industry for female workers. Hundreds of thousands of women worked in the aircraft industry during the time of world war, representing the majority of the workforce. One other industry which recruited a large number of Women was ammunition industry.
World War 2 is represented as a milestone when for the first time women worked outside their houses however that is certainly not the case. Many women, even before the war, worked outside their houses, but before that, they usually worked in traditional women professions. Word war 2 brought women into the fields historically dominated by men. During that time, many newspapers and posters urged women to join the military workforce. The motives behind these advertisements were to hit the patriotic emotion of women and increase the workforce through that. To peruse women to come out of their cultural comfort and participate towards society, the government created a figure known as Rosie the Riveter, which was a strong, yet feminine character to peruse that the harshness of war would not make women any weak or masculine ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"kkgH0wco","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}American Women in World War II - HISTORY})","plainCitation":"(American Women in World War II - HISTORY)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"rQdIfsU1/DiRlvmKI","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/DM9A5YQL"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/DM9A5YQL"],"itemData":{"id":229,"type":"webpage","title":"American Women in World War II - HISTORY","URL":"https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii-1","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",10,8]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (American Women in World War II - HISTORY).
Women’s role in Modern Military
After the initial world wars, women's roles have increased in the military ever since. Women now serve actively in combat missions and air force operations. They nowadays serve in combat ships and fly aircraft from different aircraft carriers. Since America became superpower, its military camps and bases have spread all across the world. Many women serve actively in these military operations. In the 21st-century, women's role in the military is almost the same as that of men though there is still a huge difference in the number and ratio of both. In the American Air force, Colonel Linda McTague became the first female to be appointed as commander of a fighter squadron ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"kHXf0Mml","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military | Norwich University Online})","plainCitation":"(How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military | Norwich University Online)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"rQdIfsU1/7UZGY0eD","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/JLU3UIAS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/JLU3UIAS"],"itemData":{"id":231,"type":"webpage","title":"How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military | Norwich University Online","URL":"https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/how-roles-have-changed-for-women-in-the-military","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",10,8]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military | Norwich University Online). The 80s saw a law passed in the US which represented the introduction of DOPMA which eliminates laws that require women officers to be appointed separately from male officers. This resulted in the permanent appointment of many women to non-combat ships and air crafts. A decade later, we saw women’s participation in war and more than 40,000 women were officially sent to Persian Gulf ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"f3E7pno8","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Moore)","plainCitation":"(Moore)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"rQdIfsU1/R4bnnTYj","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/FPPUYTB2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/FPPUYTB2"],"itemData":{"id":233,"type":"book","title":"Introduction to Armed Forces & Society: Special issue on women in the military","publisher":"SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA","ISBN":"0095-327X","author":[{"family":"Moore","given":"Brenda L."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Moore). Some of these women got killed or captured during the war. In the 90s, women actively participated in the missions and operations in Somalia, Haiti and saw active participation in Kosovo. The United States, along with all the countries in the world are currently moving towards more involvement of women in the armed forces. Currently, only 15% of U.S. forces are women with their numbers increasing day by day in combat forces ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ZNbubXOE","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Moore)","plainCitation":"(Moore)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":"rQdIfsU1/R4bnnTYj","uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/FPPUYTB2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/FPPUYTB2"],"itemData":{"id":"rQdIfsU1/R4bnnTYj","type":"book","title":"Introduction to Armed Forces & Society: Special issue on women in the military","publisher":"SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA","ISBN":"0095-327X","author":[{"family":"Moore","given":"Brenda L."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Moore). In the recent past for the first time, two female officers graduated from U.S. Army ranger school. Similarly, ten other women became U.S. army infantry platoon leaders around that time as well. The pressure from different social organizations has created different opportunities for women in the military field.
Women today are ever closing on full military combat. In the United States, many steps have been taken to include women in combat practices. These steps not only open doors for women to take an active part in military operations but also achieve a significant rank in the military. Women's involvement in the active military continues to bring new possibilities and dimensions in intelligence. It can also bring out the best of characteristics from a woman in future leaderships role. However, the increase in several women in different military roles comes with challenges. Many activities that are associated with combat roles are regarded as specialized for men and require masculinity. One of the more concerning problems is that young people, men, and women are not choosing military service as their careers. The issues of harassment and cohesion are still an issue for many women that are serving in male-dominant units.
Works Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY American Women in World War II - HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii-1. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
Grayzel, Susan R. Women and the First World War. Routledge, 2013.
How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military | Norwich University Online. https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/how-roles-have-changed-for-women-in-the-military. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
Moore, Brenda L. Introduction to Armed Forces & Society: Special Issue on Women in the Military. SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA, 2017.
