When World War 1 began in 1914, until it ended in 1918, the role of women underwent many significant changes. Before the war women were confined to their domestic enclosure and quite frankly, unnecessary in the workforce. They were expected to belong in the house while men did the hard labour. There are three key areas where the war inflicted women’s role the most; socially, on the battlefront and assisting the war effort. The way these areas had changed varied, from women holding more power and many women becoming employed. All of these changes were driven from the women’s passion to support the war effort.
Once WWI began, Australian women became much more important in society, due to a number of reasons. Throughout WW1, women became much …show more content…
However this wasn’t to fight, but to nurse the injured men. Women travelled overseas to the battlefront, and stayed there just like the troops who were fighting. Nurses were highly praised for their efforts overseas, which is shown on the screen in a photograph taken during 1917. It shows Australian nurses parading around Government House in Sydney. Even though women were able to nurse overseas, they could not do any higher task. Shown on an Australian War Memorial Site, ‘Female doctors were not permitted to join the medical services, because it was thought women would be too “delicate” for war medical work’ (Australian War Memorial, 2014, pg.1). This shows that women were still perceived as ‘unable’ to do the work men could during World War I. Nursing overseas was a tremendous way to help the war effort, hence why many women were eager to help. According to J. Mason, ‘During the war over 2500 nurses served overseas in the Australian Medical Service’ (Mason, 2007, pg.95). This explicitly shows how many women were eager to support the war effort. That is why the role of women changed on the battlefront, specifically women being able to nurse
Once WWI began, Australian women became much more important in society, due to a number of reasons. Throughout WW1, women became much …show more content…
However this wasn’t to fight, but to nurse the injured men. Women travelled overseas to the battlefront, and stayed there just like the troops who were fighting. Nurses were highly praised for their efforts overseas, which is shown on the screen in a photograph taken during 1917. It shows Australian nurses parading around Government House in Sydney. Even though women were able to nurse overseas, they could not do any higher task. Shown on an Australian War Memorial Site, ‘Female doctors were not permitted to join the medical services, because it was thought women would be too “delicate” for war medical work’ (Australian War Memorial, 2014, pg.1). This shows that women were still perceived as ‘unable’ to do the work men could during World War I. Nursing overseas was a tremendous way to help the war effort, hence why many women were eager to help. According to J. Mason, ‘During the war over 2500 nurses served overseas in the Australian Medical Service’ (Mason, 2007, pg.95). This explicitly shows how many women were eager to support the war effort. That is why the role of women changed on the battlefront, specifically women being able to nurse