Women’s Rights and Lives During the World Wars

The effects of the two World Wars were ubiquitous; while the First World War brought previously unrivaled change as women were granted the right to vote and officially became ‘persons,’ the progress was not permanent. Instead, World War II offered women a chance to serve their country in unprecedented ways: women established their own army divisions and helped decode intelligence reports while posters of successful women fueled aspirations. Veronica Foster — “Ronnie, the Bren Gun Girl,” Canada’s own “Rosie the Riveter” — alongside female pilots and air craft designers such as Elsie MacGill proved that women could make a difference in the war effort and deserved recognition. Despite backlash from social conservatives, who vehemently professed that women’s place was in the home, and a backtrack in progress after the conclusion of WWII, it was evident that the fight towards female equality was just beginning. The advancements made during the war served as hope for the future. Ergo, World War II made women’s desire for equality more realistic and plausible; the variety of jobs available to women juxtaposed with a dramatic change in ideology and society left a more lasting imprint on women’s lives than the First World War was able to achieve.