slacks and calluses Essay - 921 Words

Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory Women had different perspectives during World War 2. Many served in different branches of armed forces. Some labored in war productions plants. Most women stayed at home and had other responsibilities to raise children, balance check books, and some labored in war-related office jobs, while the men went to war. In addition to factory work and other front jobs about 350,000 women joined the Armed services, serving at home and abroad. â€Å"Rosie the Riveter,† later became a popular propaganda for women. While women worked in a variety of positions closed to them the industry saw the greatest increase in female’s workers. More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943,†¦show more content†¦The only time women were treated like ladies were when they wore skirts. People looked at these women as â€Å"working class,† and they were always being ignored and disrespected. Women were not t aken seriously or given much attention. Employers denied women positions of power excluding them from the decision-making process of the company. Women wanted to be treated like the male workers and not given special consideration just because they were women. The country had no choice but to have the women in the factories. They needed their help and were not going to complain about it. They knew with extra hands that, that was going to be an easier way to win the war. The government called on to the women and without hesitation, they went. They answered to whatever work that needed to be done. They worked a 52 hour week at 68 cents per hour. They were all prepared and knew that their â€Å"summer jobs† would end soon. There work dominated their nights and days. Most of their work was outdoors as well. Even though some women would much rather be at home helping there families other ways they still managed to get their other job complete as well. Many people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,Show MoreRelatedEssay On Slacks And Calluses742 Words   |  3 Pages Slacks and Calluses, presents the summer of 1943 from the perspective of Constance Bowman and Clara Marie Allen, two school teachers, who set aside summer vacation to help with war efforts in a bomber factory. Coming into the air craft industry, they had no idea what to expect, â€Å"We were the kind of girls who knew nothing about airplanes except that they had wings and they fly.† (p.1). Obstacles they faced included an unjust work place and harassment. Women who wore skirts and rings on their fingersRead MoreEssay On Slacks And Calluses884 Words   |  4 PagesThe novel Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory is a story written about two women’s summer in an airplane factory during World War II. Constance Bowman Reid and Clara Marie Allen describe what life was like for women who worked in factories during this time. They explain how women’s apparel determined their social class and how they were treated; factories welcomed them into the workforce , but the world could not accept women being away from home; and some women worked out of patriotismRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Our Summer A Bomber Factory By Constance Bowman Reid1094 Words   |  5 PagesSlacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory, written by Constance Bowman Reid, tells the true story of herself and her friend, Clara Marie Allen and their summer spent working in an airplane factory in order to help out during World War II. These two women portray the bravery that women during wartime displayed, while unknowingly changing the way society would view women forever. The story of Bowman Reid and Allen gives an inside look on what it is really like to be a factory working femaleRead MoreThe Work Study Job Of Transcribe Oral History Tapes From Richland Center, Wisconsin5921 Words   |  24 Pagesbettered the United States by educating our veterans. When women went to work in the factories during the war, it was an opportunity for them to leave their small towns and experience big city life. Like Constance Bowman Reid said in her book Slacks Calluses, â€Å"helping to build the bombers that are leading the invasion is exciting† . In the 1950s, small towns like Richland Center, WI were affected by â€Å"the rapid disappearance of small farms.† This mirrored the systematic organization of agricultureRead MoreThe Men on the Ridge1961 Words   |  8 Pagesdid and being we were only there a half-dozen times a year, that wasn’t likely. Papa had a way of picking the good ones — the ones he knew would respect his family and follow his lead without question. I was fourteen when Papa’s choice of men fell slack. Mama had passed in the winter and so had the baby boy she had tried so hard to deliver. I look back now and I wonder how Papa ever made it through such a tragedy being a man so deep in the love of family. I put his picture to my chest and cry when