Today, women are extremely prominent in our workforce but years ago women were for nothing but taking care of their home and bearing children. “A woman's place is in the home” was a phrase used often to describe women before World War I because they were looked at as inferior to men. World War I began in August 1914 which was a major turning point for women in America at that time. With all the men going off to war to be soldiers, vast gaps were left in employment, giving women the chance to leave their homes and prove themselves able to do the same jobs as men. The most common of jobs women occupied at that time were nurses, factory workers, sewing bandages, shipyards, and spies. By 1917, 68% of women had changed professions since the World War began. Although women had now entered the work force most women were in a lower working class. There were also many mixed feelings about women working. Some believed that women would only do jobs that men didn't want and others believed that women should give their jobs away to men who were unemployed after the war especially during the Great Depression. Some also believed that women from a higher social class should never lower themselves to work. Although views on women employment varied none were exactly positive or supportive of women. This all begins to change at the start of World War II. With men off to fight the World War again, women had to take over the workforce again. The War Manpower Commission sought out women to employ organizations essential to the war. When the men came back, most women left their jobs but they proved that women could do all the jobs men could. This changed some people's mindsets about women but mostly it changed their mindsets about themselves. Women in the workforce only increased as more jobs became available to them. Today women have the same opportunities as men to be in whatever profession they'd like. We chose this topic because of the monumental impact it has had on today's society. Imagining what life would be like if women never had the chance to leave their home and get a job is hard for us today because of the large role of women in our society outside the home. During this project, we realized how hard women had to work to change the dynamic of home life and get the opportunities they deserved. Our topic relates to the annual theme this year because the World Wars had major impacts on society in many ways including women. Women in the workforce was a major turning point in America because it promoted equality pertaining to gender and gave women a new sense of independence. Women could now support themselves and didn't always have to depend on someone else making most women feel inferior.
http://www.wic.org/misc/history.html This website shows how people felt about women before and after they began to enter the workforce in large numbers.