Gender Equality in the Military

Disbandment

        The WASP was disbanded in 1944 having been told that “they’d never been more than civilians who did some flying.”  The women had gone from being praised as the vision of patriotism to being critiqued for holding men back.  In 1944 Congress denied legislation that would have given military status to the WASP.  Male pilots publicly opposed this bill saying that women would take flight assignments away from men.  It was not until 1977, 33 years later, that Congress granted the WASP military veteran status.

C. Evaluation of Sources

Parnish, Nancy. “A Brief History of the WASP.” Wings Across America. 24 Apr 2007. WASP.         31 Jan 2008 <http://wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/wasp_articles/script.htm>.

        A Brief History of the WASP written by Nancy Parrish is an overall look at why the WASP existed and what the members of it did.  A Brief History of the WASP was written with the purpose to inform the spread the knowledge about the WASP’s little known existence to society.  The articles values lie in the fact that it was written by an actual WASP who experienced the occurrences firsthand.  Its limitations are that since the WASP was created over 50 years ago, the author could easily have forgotten or confused their memories of the actual occurrence.

        

“Enhanced Transcript.” PBS. 13 Feb 2008.  13 Feb 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/         flygirls.filmmore/transcript/index.htme>.

 

        Where A Brief History of the WASP was an article about the WASP, the Enhanced Transcript of PBS’s Flygirls is an exact written record of the movie.  Flygirls was created with the sole purpose of informing the viewers of what the women pilots experienced and felt during their career as the first women to fly military aircraft.  The main value of the transcript of the PBS film was that it was from the original women who had flown during World War II.  The limitations are the same that they were for A Brief History of the WASP.  Since the film was recorded so long after the actual occurrences, the women could have easily forgotten or confused something.  Another limitation of the transcript of the film was that it was not the actual film and in the process of recording the transcript, something easily could have been documented incorrectly.  

D. Analysis

        To thoroughly analyze the extent of discrimination that the WASP faced one must first examine gender roles before and during the start of World War II.  Women’s role as housewives caused men to believe that they were not their equal and that it was up to the men to provide for the female.  During this time period that belief was most likely grounded on the principles that women were considered weak and did not have the training to take care of themselves.  Once World War II started it was necessary for women to work if the United States wanted to win.  World War II caused a shift in what was socially acceptable of women’s roles.  Even though women were needed to work, they had never received the training that males had.  This caused men to believe that once the war was over, they would be able to go back to the lifestyles that they held before the war started.  Women’s role of filling in for men while they were at war allowed for a women to feel as though they were just as valuable as men were.

        Although women were found useful in the workforce it was believed that they were not needed in the military.  The rejection of having women in the military was one of the first forms of discrimination that the WASP faced.  When Jackie Cochran and Nancy Harkness Love started the WASP, they were expressing their newly found independence.  This independence was caused by the roles that females were fulfilling in the workforce.  Although the Women Airforce Service would be working side by side with men in the military and fulfilling military jobs, the women were not granted military status.  By having to pay their own way to the training camps, it reminded the women that, even though women would be allowed to fly missions for the military, they were still considered unequal to men and not a part of the military.  The criteria for entrance into the training program for the WASP demonstrated how females were considered weaker than men and more at risk for injury.  The fear that women wouldn’t be able to fly the military aircraft was inspired by women’s previous role in society as housewives.  

        During their service as members of the WASP, the women accomplished their goals which proved that they could fly the same military aircraft as men.  Even though this was true, they flew only the small planes.  This was most likely caused by the fact that men did not want to fly the smaller planes, and even though the women were more than capable of flying the large planes that their male counterparts could, men thought that the smaller planes were more fit to the size of their feminine counterparts.  This was not the only time that the WASP faced discrimination when in service.  Some believe that the fact that the WASP flew the dual engine planes to prove to the men that they were safe to fly was not discrimination.  In reality it was extreme discrimination because if the planes were dangerous to fly, women’s lives would be more expendable.  The fact that they had to fly them to prove to the men that they were safe to fly also backed up the thought that anything a woman could do, a man could do.  The suspected sabotage was left uninvestigated for the sole purpose of avoiding disbandment.  The planes that women flew were sabotaged because of the fear that women were capable of doing everything a man could and maybe even better that he would be able to.  This idea caused most of the discrimination that the WASP faced.  

        When the WASP was disbanded in 1944 it was without military recognition.  The disbandment of the WASP was so that female pilots were not taking over positions that males believed that they deserved.  If the WASP had consisted of men, it never would have been disbanded and they would have received military recognition.  The belief that the women of the WASP were holding back men was built off of the belief that women should not be working and that they should be housewives.  The members of the WASP were granted military status in 1977 because it was no longer standard for females to be housewives.  During their service the WASP faced countless experiences of discrimination because of the belief that women belonged at home taking care of the children and because men felt threatened by the females who could do everything that the men could.

E. Conclusion

        The women of the WASP faced several accounts of discrimination.  This occurred because of a belief that had existed in society before World War II even started.  This belief was that women belonged at home, taking care of the children.  This thought caused men to feel threatened when they realized that women were capable of piloting the same aircraft as them, and that they might be able to do it better.  This threat forced an inequality to exist between the women of the WASP and male pilots.  When females proved themselves to be just as capable pilots as men, men believed that they had to take preventative steps so that women wouldn’t be able to be a part of the military permanently.  Even through all the discrimination that they faced, the WASP remained strong.  The women opened numerous opportunities to women today and many female pilots in the military now give credit to the WASP.

Word count: 1928

F. MLA Works Cited

Cornelsen, Katheleen. “Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II: military aviation,         encountering discrimination, and exchanging traditional roles in service to America.”         Journal of Women’s History. 17.4 (Wntr 2005): 111(9). Gale. University of Washington.         14 Mar 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contestSet=IAC-        Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodID=EAIM&docID=A140306494&sourc=        gale&userGroupName=wash_eai&version=1.0>.

“Enhanced Transcript.” PBS. 13 Feb 2008.  13 Feb 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/         flygirls.filmmore/transcript/index.htme>.

Mizrahi, Joe. “The WASP Women Airforce Service Pilots.” Airpower. 31.3 (May 2001): 41.         Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. University of Washington. 14 Mar 2008         <http://find.galegroup.com/itz/infomark.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&type         =retrieve&tabID=T003&prodID=EAIM&docId=A73088512&source=gale&userGroupa        me=wash_eai&version=1.0>.

Parnish, Nancy. “A Brief History of the WASP.” Wings Across America. 24 Apr 2007. WASP.         31 Jan 2008 <http://wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/wasp_articles/script.htm>.

Ryan, Terri Jo. “Exhibit highlights World War II efforts of Women Airforce Service Pilots.”         Waco         Tribune – Herald. Nov 3 2007. Waco, Tex. 14 Mar 2008 <http://proquest.         umi.com/pqdweb?did=1376521411&Fmt=3&clientId=2302&RQT=309&VName=PQD>.

Smith, Rhonda L. “Molly Merryman. Clipped Wings: the Rise and Fall of the Women AIrforce         Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II.” Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the         Military. (Fall-Winter 2001): 61(3). Expander Academic ASAP. Gale. University of         Washington. 14 Mar 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet         =IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=Eaim&docId=A92588789&         source=gale&userGroupName=wash_eai&version=1.0>.

“Women Airforce Service Pilots.” Texas Woman’s University. 15 Dec 2005. 13 Feb 2008.         <http://www.twu.edu/WASP/history.htm>.

“Women and the Home Front During World War II.” Minnesota Historical Society. 31 Jan 2008.          31 Jan 2008 <http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history-topics/131women_         homefront.htm>.

“Women and World War II.” Women and the Home Front During World War II. 13 May 1999.         31 Jan 2008 <http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3/outline.html>.

“Women Remember Piloting in WWII:[WEEKEND Edition]”. Seattle Times. Nov 16, 1986. pg         B.1. Seattle, WA. 14 Mar 2008 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=51969011&Fmt         =3&clientId=2302&RQT=309&VName=PQD>.

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