In this blog I will post the progress of my research paper, describing how important the role of women were during the second world war.
My topic is on the roles of women during world war two. This relates to our theme of women because it was the beginning of one of the many feminism movements. This was an time when women realized how important their cooperation for the war had become. While soilders were away they had become in charge of their husbands occupations. This completely changed their roles as housewives and mothers and they became part of America's work force. It was as if they had overcome an obstacle of oppression, when it came to opportunities for employment.
D'Ann Campbell, Women at War With America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era (1984).
This had information about the different roles of women in places like Germany, the US, Soviet union and the United kingdom. Basically describing their occupations and how important they aid was to their country.
Darian-Smith, Kate. On the Home Front: Melbourne in Wartime, 1939-1945. Australia: Oxford UP, 1990.
This concentrated on womens roles in the United States during the war. It has stories and examples of women who became powerful by taking over a males job. Illustrating how they had as much potential.
Higonnet, Margaret R., et al., eds. Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars. Yale UP, 1987.
Article about how a persons gender no longer determined their occupations. It was as if some invisible boundaries were crossed, a new perspective on work and on women.
Pierson, Ruth Roach. They're Still Women After All: The Second World War and Canadian Womanhood. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986.
This source gave me good information on different types of strikes women organized in order to obtain equal pay. It gave very good explanations about how women were viewed at the time and how important their contribution to the war was.
Chris Trueman BA (Hons), MA set up www.historylearningsite.co.uk 2000.
Website for pictures and information on women as secret agents. Also information on women in the armed forces.
Scrivener, Laurie. "U.S. Military Women in World War II: The SPAR, WAC, WAVES, WASP, and Women Marines in U.S. Government Publications." Journal of Government Publications 26 (1999): 361-83.
PRIMARY SOURCES
McDaid, Jennifer Davis, comp. Virginia Women and the Second World War [online]. Richmond: Library of Virginia, February 2001 [cited 12 January 2002].
Litoff, Judy Barrett, and David C. Smith, eds. Since You Went Away: World War II Letters from American Women on the Home Front. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Reviewed by Theresa Kaminski in H-Women, H-Net Reviews, May, 1996. Available from http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=12244851402898.
