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At the time of World War One, the experiences of women were vastly different from those of men, and often different from their traditional roles. While many men were enlisted to fight in the front lines of the war, women stayed at home, taking care of their families by themselves, contributed to the war effort indirectly, or was enlisted in supportive roles in the battlefield, depending on their class and personal decisions.

Contribution

right|200px|thumb|Badge of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps Women contributed to the war effort by working in munitions factories making explosives as well as handheld weapons such as guns. The fumes from the TNT caused damage to them causing them to be infertile and their hair and skin turning yellow. Women worked in munitions factories as they had high pay because they had health risks. Without the weapons and shells, the war could not be fought. Not only this, many other women grew food in Australia which made sure everybody was well nourished with food as they learn from Britain that their food supplies had been running short as German U-boats had been sinking many supply ships. Women had also taken over jobs that were usually for men such as working for the police and being a train driver. The half a million men which were sent to the front line had to have their jobs be replaced by women though the government did not let this occur too quickly and thoroughly as they feared traditional male jobs were going to have their wages lowered due to greater numbers of people in that industry. They also provided the soldiers with comforting small things such as socks, scarves and even some delicious baked food. All this and women also had to mind the children and do the housework. The war also gave opportunities to women from lower classes to work in high class sectors such as lawyers.

Organizations were also founded to help keep up the war effort such as the VAD which was formed in 1909 with the help of the Red Cross. The VAD was also known as the voluntary aid detachment was a voluntary organization which provided soldiers with relief at the front line. Women signed up for various jobs such as nurses, cooks, stretcher-bearers, maids and motor-drivers (though Australia did not allow this participation). The participation of women in these activities freed up men who were originally in that sector thus providing more men to fight. The war was not all bad though as the impetus which women provided had gave them more recognition and general rights in society. Many other organizations were formed on the home front such as the Australian Women's National League which acted like a political party, the Australian Red Cross which also gave relief like the VAD, the Australian Women’s Service Corps and the Women’s Peace Army.

Role in Recruitment

A white feather is sometimes (and often unfairly) given as a mark of cowardice.

The continuous casualties on the front line led Australia to immense recruiting campaigns. Many posters were put up which women in them trying to convince men to join the war. Men were either persuaded or forced to join the war by family or friends. They were also used in propaganda, one poster used in Ireland featured a women standing with a rifle in front of a burning land with the heading “Will you go or must I?” Women were crucial to recruiting men as they looked down on the men which did not enlist. British women were encouraged to give out white feathers to men. The white feather was a symbol of cowardice and was also another way of recruiting. Other posters showed men in uniform with sexually attractive women which aimed at unlisted men to join and take their “reward”. The death of women was useful as propaganda which showed defenseless women when the war is lost. Women were mainly used as propaganda in many ways.

Women were also targets for some posters which were used to persuade women to encourage their man to volunteer and join the fighting force. Women spoke at meetings which were aimed at recruiting men, this role being crucial as it showed the men how the women in society viewed them if they did not join and made many other speeches. Women were used as moral and sexual persuasions to try to convince men to join.

War Work

Australian women had far less participation during the war than women in other combatant nations such as England. The evidence for this already stated above was that women in other nations were allowed to go to the front line, not just hospitals in Gallipoli but to be stretcher bearers or motor drivers for men at the literal war zone. The women of Australia did aid men at the front line but without risking their lives as much, jobs for them included making clothes and small necessities. Australian women’s main role was to be at home taking care of the children and to do the housework. It is not because Australian women did not want to participate as much than women in other countries; it is mainly because unions and the government did not allow this. Australia needed women to replace the jobs of the men who were sent to war but it was not possible for all the women to replace these jobs as some women also needed to mind the children.

The main reason why Australian women did not participate as much in the war than other women in other nations is because Australia had only been in the war because of allied relations with Britain. It was only the beginnings of the 1900’s and Australia’s relationship with Britain was still strong. Australia was not afraid of invasion as Australia’s location was much further away from Germany or Turkey compared to Britain or Belgium. The Australian government did not want to go all in on the war because Australia was not in danger. Another reason for why Australian women were not as much involved was because the population of Australia was growing and that the loss of many women at the war zone would be crucial for Australia. Thus Australian women did not participate in the war as much as women in other countries who where prone to invasion.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Wartime Roles

Women's wartime roles in many cases helped to aid both the war and the rights of women in Australia, but there are limits to both of these factors.

Women's voluntary work helped such as the Red Cross did help Australia's war time effort. Items such as food, some clothing created by women doing voluntary work would have helped soldiers in the battlefield. Many items had little practical use and took a disproportionate amount of time to create. A pair of woolen socks would have been useless in the battlefield and took 10 hours if labour to knit. These voluntary roles could usually only be taken by well off women, since working class women were completely occupied by having to raise money for their families by themselves. Despite this, some of the upper class women felt that these women were not doing their part in helping the war, leading to class tensions.

Some women performed a more active role in the war, being nurses, ambulance drivers and cooks. These roles were necessary for the war, and would have required men to fulfill them if women did not. Women’s roles in these jobs were limited by the social restrictions; they could not be members of the supporting auxiliary units, and were not allowed to be doctors because it was believed that they could not cope with the roles demanded of them even though the roles as nurses were just as demanding.

Women also took civilian jobs left by men in Australia, such as clerical workers, in farming, factories and in small business, also allowing more men to fight in the war. Women would not usually in the past have been allowed to take these jobs, so these did have benefits in terms of women’s rights. However, most of these were taken back by men after the war, and there were not as much women in these jobs as other countries like Britain, which were more desperate. The fact that women working in these jobs were classified as part of the reserve workforce, and women who took active roles were paid worse than men suggests that attitudes towards women did not change during the war, rather, these changes were made only to free up more men to take part in combat.

Sources

ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee. 2008. Womens Role and Place. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/homefront/women.html. [Accessed 05 November 11].

ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee. 2008. WW1 - Nurses. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/overview/nurses.html. [Accessed November 11].

Retro Active 2. 2.8 Womens Experience of the War Effort. [Textbook] [Accessed November 11]