There has been a misconception about when women first started to work outside the home. It is most thought that Women started to work more outside of the home when World War II started, however, this is not the case. About a quarter of women have been working outside the homes since 1940. The war was responsible for changing the type of work that women did and at what speed. This was due to the lack of men able to work because they were taking part in the war. Jobs thought to be exclusively for men were now being worked by women. For example, the majority of women worked in the aircraft industry.
        Even thought showed that they were able to work they still were paid far less than men. Elenor Roosevelt first lady married to Franklin Delano Roosevelt influenced him into creating The Community Facilities of 1943. This meant that the childcare would improve for when women went to work.
      Also during the war, you would think that makeup is unnecessary and a waste of money. Like today society believed that they needed to keep the women lookig their best. It was "important for moral" which is why makeup was never rationed. As well as keeping women more feminine even through the masculine wokr they had been doing.
       Around 350,000 women worked in the military. They didn't actually fight but they did repair airplanes and worked as nurses. Women's Airforce Service Pilots were women would fly from the factories to the military bases sometimes got killed or even capture. This lead to most receiving decorations for their bravery. Some women went further than this becoming chemist, and engineers. They were even invited to participate in the development of the atomic bomb.
       At the end of the war, there was a question of where the soldiers coming back home would work at. Women were laid off to make room for the men once again. However, this didn't change the fact that women were here to work whether there was a stereotype about women or not.




American women and World War II