The major event that occurred during the 1940s which created a drastic change in women's lives was World War II. As husbands and fathers, sons and brothers shipped out to fight in Europe and the Pacific, millions of women marched into factories, offices, and military bases to work in paying jobs and in roles deserved for men in peacetime. For the first time, women were coming out of their typical role involving staying at home, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the family, and started to be more involved in societal issues. Many things started to be accomplished, such as:
1943 - Cornelia Fort becomes the first American woman pilot to die flying a military aircraft.
1943 - The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is formed.
1945 - Harvard Medical School admits women for the first time.
1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to both houses of Congress.
1949 - Burnita Shelton Matthews is named Federal District Court judge for the District of Columbia.
These changes resulted in permanently evolving women's roles in the United States. Now that women had entered the working and educational society, nothing could make them go back to their old, housewive lives.
1943 - Cornelia Fort becomes the first American woman pilot to die flying a military aircraft.
1943 - The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is formed.
1945 - Harvard Medical School admits women for the first time.
1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to both houses of Congress.
1949 - Burnita Shelton Matthews is named Federal District Court judge for the District of Columbia.
These changes resulted in permanently evolving women's roles in the United States. Now that women had entered the working and educational society, nothing could make them go back to their old, housewive lives.
Times were definitely on scheldule to change. I think that women were not standing up for themselves and letting men do everything for too long. Its good that women showed the world what they had the potential of doing. Its a shame that there had to be so much fighting for women to be treated half as good as men.
ReplyDeleteWomen were becoming more involved within politics. In 1945 Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed by President Truman to serve on the United States delegation to the United Nations. During her time at the U.N. she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was a strong figure for women at this time.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful that women began to evolve during the 1940s. They had the chance to experience what the opposite sex had to accomplish during the era. Women did not only have to cook and clean but they were also allowed to work in factories, officies and mililtary bases. I admire these women because they took the opportunity to make a change and because of that the world today has equality among males and females.
ReplyDelete~Simi Kaur
I think it is great that women began to stand up for themselves. They were finally starting to be treated like equals. It is a shame that it took so many years for it happen. During World War II many women assumed typical male jobs while their husbands were fighting overseas. Women were finally being admitted into better schools and were able to hold political positions.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Amber, and I have to add how it relates to the play. Typically, the women were getting out more during the 1940s and getting involved with more work than they were normally aloud. We do not see much of this in the play, however, because it seems Linda is too old to look for work and knowing William, he would not allow it. This play I feel will shine a big light on gender, because it already has. We could see how Linda has acted, and how William has acted in turn to her. We do not know how accurate she is to the typical woman during that era, but the housewife is being portrayed as a loving, giving, caring person who is 100% for her husband. Linda is so full of love for her husband I feel it would be impossible for her not to be.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the fact that women took control in the time of war. As the men went to fight for their country, the women took control of the work industry. Of course, everyone knows that women had never before been so readily relied on in the work force. They often did not have jobs going to warehouses and working with actual merchandise. It is clear that women are making their break through as they take control of society.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in the play, Death of a Salesman, it has been difficult to see that female gender progression. At the start of the play, Linda is as she would be expected to be for a woman of the past. She takes care of the family; she supports her husband whole heartedly; she is very in tune with the economical status, societal status, and the love life of her children. Perhaps as the story grows the gender roles will become blurred and change from their orginally stereotypical "jobs". Perhaps Linda's feminist will arise more and take a bigger lead than the support of the family. If the story follows the gender change of the era, then the readers can expect to see a change in her "job" role. Perhaps Willy's changed behavior, that the family is now watching closely, is the foreshadowing to his break down and her rise to change.