The U.S was one of the first countries that had given women the right to vote, with New Zealand being the first, having given this right to women in 1893. A big difference is noted between the late 1700s and mid 1800s in the way women were treated in France. In 1791, French activist Olympia de Gouges published “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen”, in which she argues that women are citizens are much are as men. She went to the guillotine in 1793. By 1871, French women were given full political rights by Paris commune. In 1862, Swedish women who paid taxes won the right to vote in municipal elections, while American women had no rights before Women’s Suffrage. Countries differed in their practice of gender equality in education as well. Since 1872, primary education for girls as well as boys was required by law in Japan, whilst in the early years of American history, women were discouraged from pursuing higher education because it was culturally considered unnatural for a woman to be educated. In Colonial America, girls were taught to read and write, but could only obtain higher education if there was room left in the schools for boys. Generally, that restricted them to being educated in the summer when boys were working. After the United States entered the war, daily life was affected for most as men prepared for battle, women began working, and children and families had less …show more content…
The US Army, however, refused to enlist women officially, relying on them as contract employees and civilian volunteers. Women were limited in their roles - they were allowed to do almost anything except fire the guns. This meant that they never got to capitalize on the training they received. In May, 1942, the Women’s Army Corps gave women full military status, and by 1945, there were more than 100,000 WACs and 6000 female officers. Female members of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVE), were given some status as naval reservists in the navy. During 1942, artist J.Howard Miller was hired by the Westinghouse Company’s War Productino Coordinating Committee to create a series of posters of the war effort. One of the posters later became known as “Rosie The Riveter”, a cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II. Whilst this cultural icon was originally created to keep production up by boosting morale, it caused a wave of new female recruits. Rosie the Riveter is commonly used as a symbol of feminism and women’s economic power. The majority of women unavailable to take part in the war or the workforce, were