The world has become an exceptionally different place since America joined the First World War almost exactly a century ago, shortly before the bloody conflict came to an end. Only one hundred years ago, racial segregation was permitted and women had yet to attain their right to vote. However, while the social landscape was remarkably different, there are a multitude of social psychology concepts that still plague our society, albeit to a lesser degree than at that time. Hostile and benevolent sexism mark two of these that are still alive and well today, though not nearly as severe as at that time period. Going through the museum proved to be an illuminating experience as to how World War I marked a profound shift on the role of women
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In the early 1900’s both played a key role in preventing women from working “male” jobs before the war (i.e., working at all) and limiting their involvement on the battlefield. Around the world, the vast number of men who became soldiers left worker shortages behind, allowing women to assume jobs on a larger scale than had occurred before. One factoid presented in the museum was that one German armaments company, Krup, employed next to no women before the war, only for women to make up thirty percent of its employees in only three years. On the war front itself, 25,000 women served overseas, but in roles such as nurses, telephone operators, and ambulance drivers, women soldiers were still unheard of. In one flier on display from this time period, 23 pictures of women in different uniforms are presented to demonstrate how many roles women took on in the War. In the Navy, women only became able to enlist for clerical duties in 1917 with 100 doing so the same day the Naval Reserve Act was passed, by the Armistice there were 11,000 women who served as female Yeoman. One of the most iconic posters on display at the museum is that of a woman in a naval uniform, with the text “Gee!! I wish I were a man, I’d join the navy. Be a man and do it. United States Recruiting Station,” underneath …show more content…
Hostile sexism is prejudice directed toward women that expresses negativity and hostility toward them based on their sex; benevolent sexism is also directed toward women, but is more reliant on patronization and protection of women. The reason as to why women were not permitted into combat positions came down to a mix of hostile and benevolent sexism; chiefly, that men viewed all women as physically and mentally incapable of handling the duties of war and also wanted to protect them from becoming injured and subjected to the horrors of war. The aforementioned naval recruitment poster is a mild example of hostile sexism from the time, it tried to guilt men who didn’t want to enlist by questioning their masculinity, “if a mere woman would enlist if she could, why don’t you?” Similarly, they were not viewed as being nearly as competent as men were and were expected to raise children or stick to “womanly” work like nursing and teaching, which limited their prospects as far as work went. When companies were forced to take on women due to a shortage of men, this was able to provide a wide scale refutation of this prejudice. Unsurprisingly, women were able to do the work just fine and got a taste of independence in the process, helping to bolster the push for women’s rights. It became harder for men to enforce the prejudiced act of barring
In the early 1900’s both played a key role in preventing women from working “male” jobs before the war (i.e., working at all) and limiting their involvement on the battlefield. Around the world, the vast number of men who became soldiers left worker shortages behind, allowing women to assume jobs on a larger scale than had occurred before. One factoid presented in the museum was that one German armaments company, Krup, employed next to no women before the war, only for women to make up thirty percent of its employees in only three years. On the war front itself, 25,000 women served overseas, but in roles such as nurses, telephone operators, and ambulance drivers, women soldiers were still unheard of. In one flier on display from this time period, 23 pictures of women in different uniforms are presented to demonstrate how many roles women took on in the War. In the Navy, women only became able to enlist for clerical duties in 1917 with 100 doing so the same day the Naval Reserve Act was passed, by the Armistice there were 11,000 women who served as female Yeoman. One of the most iconic posters on display at the museum is that of a woman in a naval uniform, with the text “Gee!! I wish I were a man, I’d join the navy. Be a man and do it. United States Recruiting Station,” underneath …show more content…
Hostile sexism is prejudice directed toward women that expresses negativity and hostility toward them based on their sex; benevolent sexism is also directed toward women, but is more reliant on patronization and protection of women. The reason as to why women were not permitted into combat positions came down to a mix of hostile and benevolent sexism; chiefly, that men viewed all women as physically and mentally incapable of handling the duties of war and also wanted to protect them from becoming injured and subjected to the horrors of war. The aforementioned naval recruitment poster is a mild example of hostile sexism from the time, it tried to guilt men who didn’t want to enlist by questioning their masculinity, “if a mere woman would enlist if she could, why don’t you?” Similarly, they were not viewed as being nearly as competent as men were and were expected to raise children or stick to “womanly” work like nursing and teaching, which limited their prospects as far as work went. When companies were forced to take on women due to a shortage of men, this was able to provide a wide scale refutation of this prejudice. Unsurprisingly, women were able to do the work just fine and got a taste of independence in the process, helping to bolster the push for women’s rights. It became harder for men to enforce the prejudiced act of barring