The Role of Women in World War 2

Desiree Brown
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The Role of Women in World War 2
War is a form of conflict and misunderstanding that results in loss of lives and properties. In most cases, it is caused by disagreement and aggression from one party to another. In the early 1940’s, the WW2 started, and its major causes were complex. This was a fully-fledged war that involved many countries among which were the powerful nations and hundreds of millions of people participated in it (Shaw 15). Due to the scale of the war, personnel were strained because men were the only soldiers, and women stayed at home to take care of their families. Initially, the government had respectfully disheartened the participation of women in the war. However, due to the high numbers of casualties and fatalities, this had to change since soldiers on the frontline were dying. In that case, it soon became understandable to the government that the war demanded not only the participation of men but also women at large. Women started doing technical jobs usually performed by men, thus this helped to free those men for battle. This paper critically provides a detailed examination of the role of the women in the World War 2 from a broad point of view.
A campaign was started to encourage women to enlist. There were instances of government funded propaganda to entice and attract women to come forward (Weinberg 23). This saw women enlist in some of the stressed areas that included the manufacturing sector. Some women enlisted for the thrill of it while others did so for patriotism. Nonetheless, there were those who enlisted to escape from marriage life. Others even joined with the hope of working with their spouses and family members in the war.
Since women were considered a liability in the frontline, they were absorbed in factories and “safer” areas. Here, they were responsible for the creation of weapons that were used by the soldiers. One can concur that the role of women in society was changing from a domestic one to a more patriotic role, hence creating a sense of nationhood (Shaw 30). The influx of women in the ammunition sector resulted in less discrimination of women at the workplace.
In countries like Britain, women were used as transport and messaging agents. For instance, in the Inland waterways, women would foresee transportation of coal and weapons from one point to another. Nevertheless, in less acc...