Changing roles for women
ACTIVITY: Look at these posters. Can you answer these questions about these posters?
1. What is the main message of this poster?
2. Look at the text on the poster. Why has the artist included the text? What is the purpose? What does it mean?
3. Who is this poster aimed at? Who do you think that they were trying to influence? Why?
4. How would people at the time have responded to this poster? Consider what was happening at the time in Australia and the Pacific from 1941 onwards and refer to these events in your answer. Make sure to explain your response well.
1. What is the main message of this poster?
2. Look at the text on the poster. Why has the artist included the text? What is the purpose? What does it mean?
3. Who is this poster aimed at? Who do you think that they were trying to influence? Why?
4. How would people at the time have responded to this poster? Consider what was happening at the time in Australia and the Pacific from 1941 onwards and refer to these events in your answer. Make sure to explain your response well.
Guided research on the topic
ACTIVITY We used the Jacaranda textbook, History Alive 10 for the Australian Curriculum pp 62-63 to answer the following questions. If you have been away, please use the recommended sites or Google to find the answers. The correct answers will be added here in the following days. We will play a trivia game with your answers in class.
1. What were the different roles that women could take to help with the war effort?
Nurses, munitions assembly workers, ship building, aircraft construction and maintenance workers bus drivers, delivery drivers, security, meter inspectors, Farmers, military maintenance, cooking, codework, education, interpreting, signalling. Many of these jobs they did for special portions of the military forces (Explained below)
2. What does WAAAF stand for? What did women do for the WAAAF?
Women's Auxilary Australian Airforce. Set up in 1941. Provide signals and maintenance services to support the Royal Australian Air Force. 27,000 women joined between 1941-1945.
3. What does AWLA stand for? What did women do for the AWLA?
Australian Women's Land Army. They filled jobs in rural areas such as farming jobs.
4. How many women were working in industry by 1942?
500,000
5. What types of jobs were women doing in industry? Be specific.
munitions, ship building, aircraft construction and maintenance. This included driving trucks and motorcycles and operating machinery, driving buses, delivering food and working security.
6. Did women want to continue with their new jobs after the war?
Yes! But because they made less money than their husbands they were expected to go back to housework after the war and leave the jobs to their husbands.
7. In 1945, what was the salary for a man? What was the salary for a women? How did they compare?
120 shillings for a man. 72 shilling for a woman. Men made much more for the same work.
8. How many women were in the AWLA at its peak in 1943? Why was this the peak?
3000. In 1941 many men who were part of the militia went to fight the Japanese so women were needed to take their places.
9. Where did Australian Nurses work close to the front line?
Papua New Guinea
10. What was the largest Australian women’s service?
AWAS Australian Women's Army Service
11. What were some causes of stress for nurses?
being close to the front line, the poor quality of medicines available, having too many patients to look after, the seriousness of patient injuries
12. How many nurses served in Malaya and Rabaul? How many became prisoners of war?
3477, 32 POWs. Many others were killed
13. What is a war bride? How many war brides were there from Australia in WW2.
In this case, A war bride is an Australian woman who married an American soldier. There were 12,000 war brides from Australia in WWII.
14. What does AWAS stand for? What did women do for the AWAS?
Australian Women's Army Services. Driving, maintenance and communications. IF Australia was invaded they were trained to fight.
15. What does WRANS stand for? What did women do for WRANS?
Women's Royal Australian Naval Service. cooking, code work, education, interpreting and signals. The Navy DID NOT want women. They fought against it. 3122 women joined.
16. Look at these pictures below. How did life change for women after the war? Explain your answer using evidence from the pictures. How are women viewed differently during the war and after the war? How do you think women felt about the change?
EXAMPLE ANSWER:
During the war, women could do many of the jobs that men did before the war. Women were needed to fill the positions of the many men who went overseas to fight in the war. When the militia's were sent to fight the Japanese in 1941, even more women entered the workforce. Some of the jobs women took over were working in factories, as farmers, drivers etc. They even joined special sections of the military such as the AWAS, WRANS and WAAAF. If you look at the first picture you can see evidence of this, the women is wearing clothes for working in industry and is working with some kind of machinery. Her focus is on work.
After the war, women were expected to go back to the home and what was considered 'women's work'. Women wanted to continue with their new jobs but because they made less money than men, they were expected to leave the jobs for the men.
In the second picture from after the war, you can see the change in how women are shown. The women is shopping and her difficult decision is choosing which hat is prettiest. There is no sign of the previous responsibilities that a women would have had during the war. This may have been very disappointing and also disempowering for the women who suddenly had reduced responsibility and power in society.
1. What were the different roles that women could take to help with the war effort?
Nurses, munitions assembly workers, ship building, aircraft construction and maintenance workers bus drivers, delivery drivers, security, meter inspectors, Farmers, military maintenance, cooking, codework, education, interpreting, signalling. Many of these jobs they did for special portions of the military forces (Explained below)
2. What does WAAAF stand for? What did women do for the WAAAF?
Women's Auxilary Australian Airforce. Set up in 1941. Provide signals and maintenance services to support the Royal Australian Air Force. 27,000 women joined between 1941-1945.
3. What does AWLA stand for? What did women do for the AWLA?
Australian Women's Land Army. They filled jobs in rural areas such as farming jobs.
4. How many women were working in industry by 1942?
500,000
5. What types of jobs were women doing in industry? Be specific.
munitions, ship building, aircraft construction and maintenance. This included driving trucks and motorcycles and operating machinery, driving buses, delivering food and working security.
6. Did women want to continue with their new jobs after the war?
Yes! But because they made less money than their husbands they were expected to go back to housework after the war and leave the jobs to their husbands.
7. In 1945, what was the salary for a man? What was the salary for a women? How did they compare?
120 shillings for a man. 72 shilling for a woman. Men made much more for the same work.
8. How many women were in the AWLA at its peak in 1943? Why was this the peak?
3000. In 1941 many men who were part of the militia went to fight the Japanese so women were needed to take their places.
9. Where did Australian Nurses work close to the front line?
Papua New Guinea
10. What was the largest Australian women’s service?
AWAS Australian Women's Army Service
11. What were some causes of stress for nurses?
being close to the front line, the poor quality of medicines available, having too many patients to look after, the seriousness of patient injuries
12. How many nurses served in Malaya and Rabaul? How many became prisoners of war?
3477, 32 POWs. Many others were killed
13. What is a war bride? How many war brides were there from Australia in WW2.
In this case, A war bride is an Australian woman who married an American soldier. There were 12,000 war brides from Australia in WWII.
14. What does AWAS stand for? What did women do for the AWAS?
Australian Women's Army Services. Driving, maintenance and communications. IF Australia was invaded they were trained to fight.
15. What does WRANS stand for? What did women do for WRANS?
Women's Royal Australian Naval Service. cooking, code work, education, interpreting and signals. The Navy DID NOT want women. They fought against it. 3122 women joined.
16. Look at these pictures below. How did life change for women after the war? Explain your answer using evidence from the pictures. How are women viewed differently during the war and after the war? How do you think women felt about the change?
EXAMPLE ANSWER:
During the war, women could do many of the jobs that men did before the war. Women were needed to fill the positions of the many men who went overseas to fight in the war. When the militia's were sent to fight the Japanese in 1941, even more women entered the workforce. Some of the jobs women took over were working in factories, as farmers, drivers etc. They even joined special sections of the military such as the AWAS, WRANS and WAAAF. If you look at the first picture you can see evidence of this, the women is wearing clothes for working in industry and is working with some kind of machinery. Her focus is on work.
After the war, women were expected to go back to the home and what was considered 'women's work'. Women wanted to continue with their new jobs but because they made less money than men, they were expected to leave the jobs for the men.
In the second picture from after the war, you can see the change in how women are shown. The women is shopping and her difficult decision is choosing which hat is prettiest. There is no sign of the previous responsibilities that a women would have had during the war. This may have been very disappointing and also disempowering for the women who suddenly had reduced responsibility and power in society.