"The women of this country ought be enlightened in regard to the
laws under which they live, that they may no longer publish their
degradation by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position,
nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they
want."
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton
laws under which they live, that they may no longer publish their
degradation by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position,
nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they
want."
-Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Before the war, the predominate view was that the position of a woman was to be wife and mother, not breadwinner. Most professions were reserved for men only. Women had been given the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, but they were still denied many other rights like the freedom to work. Some states even had laws that banned married women from having a job.
On December 8, 1941 "the United States declared war on Japan, entering World War II."² Soon many American men had enlisted and there was a great shortage of workers. A 1943 government documentary explained, “for every machinist available, 22 are needed. For every riveter available, four are needed. Employers, faced with crisis, hire workers from other war plants by offering higher wages. Women were the last on the list of being able to hold down a useful job." Since the men were away, however, the women had to be the breadwinners and provide for their families by getting jobs. "When America was out of options, they finally allowed women to enter the workforce.
Out of 50 million women at the beginning of the war, 10 million were working; by the end of it they built the aircraft men flew in.”³
¹Quote from GoodReads Inc.; ²Excerpt from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; ³Excerpt from Bel99tv Video; ⁴ Picture from About.com; Top picture from dailymailre r