The Social Impact of the War on Women
The social impact of the war on Women differed vastly from each class. Although women’s employment rates increased from 23.6% in 1914 to up to 46.7% by 1918, many lower class women had already been working prior to 1914, so strenuous work was nothing new to them. However, the war did greatly effect Middle Class women in the sense that they were free of a life of domesticity and able to achieve a sense of identity and purpose in the community. As middle class women tended to me more literate it is usually their accounts available to readers today.
Many restrictions on women dissolved during the war. It became acceptable for single, middle-class women to have their own apartments, go out without chaperones, smoke in public and wear skirts above the ankle. Changes such as these lead to a relax of attitudes in the 1920’s. The ability for women to gain access to a whole range of jobs that had been traditionally reserved for men and the right to vote, advanced women politically and economically and offered many more opportunities. Following the end of the war women were sacked to make way for the returning men or remained working alongside men but at dramatically lower wage rates. There was much unsettlement about this which caused a group of women workers on buses and trams to go on strike in London in 1918. This was the first equal pay strike in Britain initiated and led by women and was ultimately won. The post war impact on Women was nothing significantly revolutionary. Middle class women were the most effected but for the other class members of Britain life did not change dramatically. Although female suffrage was achieved, as only over 30’s could vote, women were still politically outnumbered by men. This amongst other factors still affirmed the patriarchal values of the society. However, it was now shown that women had the capacity to have their own sense of identity in society and be recognized for their own individual efforts. |
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