women's role in USA after the world war 2?

Question

what was rold of women in USA after world war 2?

Answer 1

When America won the war in August, 1945, millions celebrated. The war was finally over and millions of men would finally be able to return to their homes. When the fighting stopped, the war machine, which had employed millions of women, ceased. There was no need for women to leave their families to work eight hours in a factory; they could again stay at home and take care of their families. But for some women that wasn't enough anymore.

Wartime economy had given women more freedom than they had ever had before. Though they did face some discrimination in the workforce, it was minimal compared to that of pre-world war II times.

For the first time, women were experiencing social and economic mobility. Suddenly they were faced with choices, and by exercising these choices they were able to explore their own individuality and independence. With the war over and the break up of the war machine, women who were urged to go to work to support their country were now in jeopardy of losing their jobs.

But the future of women's place in the workforce did not depend solely on the state of the post war economy. Much of their future would depend on the women themselves. During the war, women were subjected to long hours, little benefits, and low-cost and low-quality child care facilities, not to mention almost unprecedented physical demands. For many women losing their job was a blessing. The fact was that only time would tell how women would fare during the postwar period.

Public opinion was another factor in deciding the postwar place for women in the workforce. Many people assumed that American women would return to their homes voluntarily. Most figured that the American homemaker turned "production soldier" would understand that her position was a temporal as a soldier’s.

Millions of men were asked to leave their job to become soldiers, and when the war was over they were expected to return home to work.

There was no typical feminine response to the postwar era. The choices women made and their reasons why were as unique as the women themselves. Some women were glad when the war ended because they could go back home where they felt they belonged. Others returned home not because they wanted to, but because their husband and society believed they should. Some left their jobs, because they could resume their pre-war plans. (I.e. marriage or pregnancy.)

Some women elected to stay at work. They enjoyed their new found independence, and the income they had brought in was either important to their own livelihood, in the event that they were single, or their families. Women who worked in defense centers during the years of 1944-1945 responded to a survey conducted by the Women's Bureau in which 75% of them said that they planned to continue working.

Most definitely, the effects of World War II could not be reversed. Women had experienced new opportunities, independence, and were experiencing their own individuality. Many women who continued to work after the war received wage cuts and demotions. The war allowed women to make decisions, and it gave them a chance to fight for their rights. And there is no doubt that the consequences of the World War II (the discrimination, job cuts, and wage inequalities) led to the development of many of the civil rights movements of the 1950's.

Answer 2

Most people wanted women to go back to the home and create a "nest" for the family. Women liked the freedom and wanted more of it. Personally, I think women need to make creating a home a priority and working outside it secondary.

Answer 3

the war brought out the worst of mankind and was a study of torture, jape & germans both were extremely vicious in their mangling of inhumanity to man. there was no man or woman that didn't have to adjust to massive does of either unionism or managment controlling behavior, women were subject to stress to become the barbie doll even before she was created because of the lack of food to go around and the working conditions that were dog eat dog out there just to make ends meet. what ever was her roll she was going to do it because it kepted the peace in the house but it all went to hell as the manipulated struggled under the yoke

Answer 4

After the soldiers returned home, so did their wives. This "feminine mystique" era lasted until 1963, when the second wave of feminism hit, thanks to Betty Friedan.