American Women

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the 1940s were a turning point decade for the American family and particularly American women. It looks at how the rigors of World War II took men away from their jobs in the United States and how this marked the first large-scale entry of women into the workforce which became a turning point in the role of women in the United States. It also discusses how, apart from a brief return to being housewives in the 1950s, through the decades women have become more an more independent and how organizations such as the women's liberation movement, have created today's educated and entrepreneurial women.

From the Paper:

"In 1940, women in the United States had only been allowed to vote for twenty years. The 19th Amendment was still fresh in the memories of many, and many who had opposed it still felt bitterness that it was allowed to pass. It was widely thought that women would become masculine and would abandon their responsibilities at home if they were allowed to vote. The thought of married women working was an even worse thing to contemplate, and the very thought of it was deemed a threat to the American family. Most husbands.....who still held a lot of traditional authority over their wives, if not actual legal authority.......would not permit their wives to work even if the family needed the money for fear of the shame it would bring them in the community. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Berkeley, Kathleen C. The Women's Liberation Movement in America. New York: Greenwood Press. 1999.
• Honey, Maureen. Creating Rosie the Riveter: Class, Gender, and Propaganda During WWII. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press. 1984.
• Melosh, Barbara. Gender and American History Since 1890. New York: Routledge. 1993.
• Tobias, Sheila. Faces of Feminism: An Activist Reflects on the Women's Movement. Connecticut: Westview Press. 1997.

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