Gays During Ww2

War is dreaded by most societies, but it presents opportunities for groups of people to change the society around them. Any threat to the status quo during peace time can be dealt with by the establishment, and put up a tougher fight. However, during times of total war, all effort is put towards winning the war. Domestic struggles and issues are put on the back-burner by the government. This allows groups that want change in their country to attack at the core of societal norms. Sometimes the changes come naturally as there is a vacuum to fill when certain elements are neglected. For instance, during WW2, more women went to work in factories to build war supplies. Normally this would have been left for men, but since a sizeable amount was elsewhere …show more content…
Anyone who was suspected of being gay would quickly be imprisoned in a military prison for sodomy. (Berube 128) The penalties for sodomy in the military were pretty steep. Forfeiture of all pay, dishonorable discharge, 5-15 years in the penitentiary depending if you were in the Navy or Army, and could be subjected to hard labor. (Berube 129) This was putting a strain on resources on an already encumbered military prison system, the military devised a new course of action. They would claim that homosexuality was a mental disorder, it bypassed the need for a trail because it was seen as an imbalance in mental chemistry. Gays would know be discharged instead of being put into military prisons. (Berube 128) There was also a shift from calling them “sodomists” to “homosexuals” during WW2. Many United States officers looked at the cruel treatment of gays in the military and shifted their view they should be discharged before they could even serve so they didn 't go through the prison system. (Berube 131) Homosexuals were still persecuted by their fellow soldiers for being discharged, but at least they weren 't forced to do hard labor. (Berube 130) “Wardens of the federal penitentiaries and Army disciplinary barracks worked together with commanding officers and psychiatrists. . .” to push for reform. (Berube 132) The psychiatrists were used to conduct …show more content…
A choice was being presented to middle class women in America at this juncture. “...the lower draft age in World War II forced upon adolescent girls the burden of choice between individualistic self-gratification – both sexual and vocational-economic – and the assumption of family and child-bearing responsibilities.” (Nottingham 672) This compounded with the fact that there was no national draft for women in America presented a cross-roads for women 's roles for future 's to come. World War 2 also offered vocational training for women. During World War I, “...nursing was the socially preferred war time activity for middle-class women.” (Nottingham 673) As opposed to a woman who worked as an ordnance photographer in the WAC (Women 's Army Corps), who needed more technical training. This also shifted working roles of women away from family-oriented like nursing was, to being more individualistic. These jobs provided better salaries for women as well. The author describes that women working as teachers in the Southern States were attracted to certain positions. “The WAVES, which more markedly than the WAC tended to recruit from the middle- class group, drew heavily from the teaching profession, especially in the Southern States where salaries were notably low.” (Nottingham 673) The article was written just after World War 2, and makes some prognostications about the