Before the World War 1: Women were worked in domestic services, like clothing trade, textile manufacturing,commerce, those jobs employed more women then men. Women also worked at home as a stay at home mother. Before 1914 only a few countries allowed women to vote, which were New Zealand, Australia, and a lot of Scandinavian nations.
Women's Role during World War 1: Women were giving the opportunity to participate during the war by supporting the men who went off to fight. For instance, the women helped as nurses, teachers, making clothes, textiles making, and coal mining. Also the women worked in munition factories, were they produced the supplies for the men, this also included tailoring, metal trades, chemical and explosives, food trades, hosiery and woolen industries. Working in these munition factories were hard work, tiring, exhausting and very dangerous, also hazardous to their health. The women working in the factories were meant for the lower class families, with the ages between 18 to 30 years old. The work consisted of making gun shells, explosives, aircraft.
The women working in the factories were enclosed in the chemicals some of common diseases and illnesses which occurred were drowsiness, headaches, eczema, loss of appetite, cyanosis, shortness of breath, vomiting, anemia, palpitation, bile stained urine, constipation, rapid weak pules, pains in the limbs and jaundice also mercury poisoning. Although the women were getting all these diseases they would go home and care for their children and put their family at risk with health problems as well. especially the women who were pregnant or breast feeding their babies.
By the end of the World War I, twenty-four percent of workers in aviation plants, mainly located along the coasts of the United States were women, and yet this percentage was easily surpassed by the beginning of the World War II. Mary Anderson, director of the Women’s Bureau, reported in January 1942 that about 2,800,000 women “are now engaged in war work, and that their numbers are expected to double by the end of this year. The skills women had acquired through their daily chores proved to be very useful in helping them acquire new skill sets towards the war effort.
Three quarters of women who entered the wartime forces were volunteers, compared to men who made up less than a third. Single or married women were eligible to volunteer in WAAF, ATS or WRNS and were required to serve throughout Britain as well as overseas if needed, however the age limits set by the services varied from each other. Generally women between 17 and 43 could volunteer and those under 18 required parental consent.After applying, applicants had to fulfill other requirements, including an interview and medical examination; if they were deemed fit to serve then they were enrolled for the duration of the war. WRNS was the only service that offered an immobile branch which allowed women to live in their homes and work in the local naval establishment.
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