The underlying theme for my research proposal is going to be the impact of the second

world war on the lives of women. This is a very vast topic. Within this domain, I intend
to focus on the last stages of the war when the social climate once again reverses and
women are compelled to adopt their conventional house wife roles.
During the war there was intense government propaganda trying to encourage women to
take up jobs and get involved in the army. Rosie the Riveter formed an integral aspect of
these efforts. During WWII, more than any previous war, women were actively identified
with national defense. The WWII campaign to enlist women to work on the home front
was needed to reverse popular sentiment. During the Great Depression of the 1930s,
millions of men were out of work, and women were discouraged from working (Role in
war effort helped shift societal perceptions and expectations BY GLORIA
STRAVELLI)

Class and race however still played an essential role as black women were restricted to
domestic work and kept out of heavy industry where the pay was better. So the war did
open some doors, but African American women were given the worst jobs; they were still
on the bottom rung. Part of the future of the women's place in the workforce depended on
the economy. But, it mostly depended on the women and if they wanted to keep the jobs.
For the five years, women worked for long hours, minimum wage, and little benefits
The impact of WWII on women in America was complex and is not easily assessed.
Some 800,000 women were fired two months after VJ Day. The overwhelming feeling
was that women should leave these jobs because the men needed them. Within months,
millions of women were fired. Factories had to retool for postwar production. They shut
down, and when they were back up, the men came back. For women, patriotism and
loyalty had a two sided influence to encourage them to take the jobs and to get them
back home. Another important consequence was that the womens movement, dead for
decades, was renewed. In the 1920s, women had won the right to vote. Then, in the 1930s
and 1940s, there was a period of quiet and no activity with respect to womens
movements.. During the 1960s, historians say, maybe these women who partici-pated in
the war transferred their experiences to their daughters, and that may have led to the
womens movement. The war undoubtedly brought women out of their homes but at the
end it compelled them to return to housework. However, the impact was so profound that
many womens movements were started. After the end of the war. The war had an
irreversible effect ton the attitude and psyche of the women.
Sources
1. Women, Social Leadership, and the Second World War
Continuities of Class
James Hinton
2. In unexpected ways WWII changed womens lives Role in war effort helped
shift societal perceptions and expectations BY GLORIA STRAVELLI Staff
Writerhttp://atlanticville.gmnews.com
3. Out of the kitchen, into the war; woman's winning role in the nation's drama,
by Susan B. Anthony II
4. Dear Helen : wartime letters from a Londoner to her American pen pal /
edited by Russell M. Jones and John H. Swanson.