American Women and World War II
Doris Weatherford’s second book titled “American Women and World War II” is a vivid recount of the experience and contribution of women in one of the most historical periods in the 20th century. The author borrows heavily from personal diaries lines, newspaper reporting, articles and magazines to tell the story of women during the period. The book explores four wide areas of women involvement in the WWII: (1) women in the frontline; (2) women as nurses helping wounded soldiers; (3) women in the home front; and (4) women in industry (Weatherford, 2008).
The authenticity of the narration is to be found in direct quotations drawn from the numerous contemporary sources, 80 black-and-white photographs depicting women in different capacities. The book depicts how WWII brought about institutional change in the United States as it affected every aspect of life, from education, healthcare and workplace to religion. It exemplifies the fact that the WWII was the time the United States was faced with a rather clear choice in her wartime strategy: either actively include women in military and industrial activities on the one hand, or lose the war because of outmoded attitudes and beliefs (Weatherford, 2008). The reference value of the entire book is supported by extensive source notes, bibliographical note as well as an index.
The book appreciates that in excess of 150,000 American women were enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) formed during the World War II period. The female WAC members were the first American women, other than nurses, to be included in the United States Army. The author observes that the decision to include women in military activities was not voluntary rather necessitated by the unfavorable circumstances at the time (Weatherford, 2008). The American political and military leaders were forced to solicit the service of women to supply much needed additional resources to the military and industrial sectors. The United States was engaged in a two-front war which entailed continuous supplying of both men soldiers and material for the war on the one hand, and sending lend-lease material to the Allied forces (Weatherford, 2008). The book also notes the plight of contract and volunteer women during World War I: women served the United States Army without any official status or benefits enjoyed by their male counterparts. Women suffered the challenge of obtaining their own food and quarters, and lacked both medical care and legal protection (Weatherford, 2008).
The underlying notion of the author historian is that the World War II was characterized by a host of ironies, key among them being the liberating effect on women in the United States. Weatherford point outs to the author the discriminative state laws of the 1930’s that restricted women from jobs, condemning them to home roles. However, the entry of the United States in the World marked the turning point of women as they were coaxed into the workforce (Weatherford, 2008). President Roosevelt attributed to women as the penultimate “labor reserve” for the nation. Weatherford is the view that World War was a blessing in disguise as it was the first time that women were afforded better jobs than had initially took up. In other words, it is argued that there was newfound independence as women were permitted to take up “men’s work” (Weatherford, 2008).
On the positive, the “American Women and World War II” book provides a moving and largely true account of the experiences of American women during the World War II. The accounts are largely believable considering that letters written by women to their husbands in combat were well kept by the latter for sentimental reasons. In the letters, as evidenced by the book, women expressed the fears and frustrations in very frank manner to their away husbands. A common major theme in the letters is the newfound sense of self – where wartime circumstances had forced women to develop a whole new sense of themselves as well as their capabilities. The diary entries and letters point to the great transformations that the American society underwent during WWII, serving as evidence of the active involvement of women in the war effort in addition to the women’s growing political and social consciousness at the time (Weatherford, 2008).
While Weatherford’s book provides a great read on a historical matter, one cannot help but note several shortcomings. There is no doubt that the authors starts off the book quite well. However, she comprises her objectivity by adopting a rather stance on the whole account. She employs too many personal entries that point the general frustration of the American woman with her world and role in society. Weatherford declares her personal feeling on every fact that she communicates. So much so that she literally transitions into one of the various diarists’ entries at every instance. For instance, the author gets too comfortable with making use of petulant phrases such as “unfortunately,” “finally,” “sadly,” “once again,” among others to beat the dead horse.
Weatherford also summarizes situations with rather apocalyptic assertions on most of her topic or data, e.g. in (p.187) she writes “the government ultimately could have saved itself billions of dollars in welfare costs if it had undertaken then to see that women’s wages were raised to a reasonable level”. Similarly in (p.272) she reckons “Like millions of bright women before and after the war who were forced by their husbands’ careers into military and college towns too small for their abilities. . .” (Weatherford, 2008). In so doing, the author comes across as someone who is alluding that every single woman involved in the World War II gave more than enough only to be not appreciated, walked a couple of miles to and fro her place of work, handled every task thrown at her without any complaints whatsoever, earned peanuts at day’s end, and retired to bed tired as hell but still proud she contributed significantly to the course or war. In the same light, the author paints every man in the book as a thoughtless bureaucrat lacking the ability to match a woman to a suitable role or place, a chauvinist or unfaithful husband. Weatherford makes sure to editorialize every single point and reach exaggerated conclusions. In a nutshell, while the book tells a good relatable historical story, it is by no means an objective account rather an exhausting narration championing the theme of just how much the world would be a better place if women ruled while men followed orders without question.
Reference:
Weatherford, D. (2008). American Women and World War II. United States: Castle Books.
