Representations of women during WWII

The Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA), established in mid-1942 and reporting to the Director-General of Manpower was not an enlisted service, but rather a voluntary group whose members were paid by the farmer, rather than the government or military forces. Women could join the AWLA in two capacities, as a permanent member, or a part-time auxiliary member working and designed to assist with peak agricultural seasonal periods of increased demand. By the end of 1943 enrolments totalled 2,382 permanent members and 1,039 auxiliary members. The government propaganda promoted this new form of labour to rural employees, who were initially resistant to female labour. “Sceptical attitudes, however, generally came to be characterised by praise and respect after farmers gained experience in working with AWLA women.”

The pressure to resist the change in female roles in society came from governments, unions private employers and from both men and women. This created interesting social divisions in the way the change unfolded. Some men opposed women undertaking paid employment. There was a fear that employers would no longer want to hire men - who were more expensive - once they realised women were capable of the same jobs. Trade Unions were also concerned that women were more attractive to employers as they were less likely to take industrial action, and that returning servicemen would not be able to find jobs that were now taken by women. Working class women were more accepting of new opportunities and were more greatly accepted into jobs, most likely given their long association with working roles. Conversely middle and upper class women were confused and affronted by the changes that were available and for which they were now being encouraged to apply.

There was also a definite expression of reluctance from women to take up work. To some extent this was due to the poor working conditions and the dull, monotonous nature of their work but most significantly the inequality of pay for women compared with men. This led to the creation of the Women's Employment Board (WEB) in 1942 as the Curtin government looked to regulate the wages and conditions of women undertaking 'men's jobs', for the duration of the war only. These women, unlike those who remained in traditional female dominated roles within the clothing and textile industries and earning on average 60% of men's wages, experienced a new sense of autonomy, self-worth and independence.

Women were faced with conflicting messages of supporting the war effort by working whilst maintaining a high degree of femininity. This dichotomy was fostered by ingrained social traditions and a reluctance of both men and women to accept the changing roles of women. The propaganda campaign was extensive, including film, radio, posters, books, newspapers and public forums. The government produced highly propagandist newsreels for theatre audiences and large newspaper inserts outlining how individuals could contribute to the war effort. This was aided by the private sector press, such as the Australian Woman's Weekly which outlined many ways women could help and pictured hard-working women in uniforms, who maintained a strong image of femininity: wearing lipstick and coiffured hair. Women's uniforms were “portrayed as desirably glamorous” and the Army publication Salt asserted that ex-servicewomen made 'better wives' in an attempt to encourage women into new roles. These images sought to portray women as being able to serve the war effort, whilst maintaining their socially accepted female roles. There was no doubt a reluctance on the part of women to accept employment for fear of jeopardising their social role by taking on 'male jobs'.

The government tried to position women as essential to the war effort, however the reality for many women remained quite different. While some women embraced the new found freedom available with working, others remained reluctant to leave their roles within the home and instead chose to make a voluntary contribution to the war effort. There remained a strong precedent from WWI when women's efforts had been confined to volunteering roles. “Voluntary self-sacrifice continued to be constructed as an essential component of feminine patriotism” and this was very much a focus of the female-oriented propaganda produced by the government; especially upper class women who were least likely to take on paid employment. A prominent illustration of this appeared in Melbourne's Herald newspaper encouraging women to follow the example of the fictional character creation of 'Miss X' in balancing work with extensive volunteering.

Women demystified the difficulty of 'men's jobs' and were praised for their exception skill and proficient work there was a higher rate of absenteeism than their male counterparts, indicating women had a difficulty in balancing work with the ongoing commitments of domesticity. Women who did not join the workforce during the war period were in some cases unable to commit to regular employment, due to domestic restraints and responsibilities such as child rearing. Women lobbied the government to provide childcare arrangements to enable them to work however it was not forthcoming. Therefore women who wanted to work had to rely on family or neighbours.  Nevertheless, women who maintained their roles as home-makers during the war were required to take on new roles of responsibility such as managing financial assets. This again was a form of liberation for many housewives who had previously not been privy to such roles.

While working class women had always worked, although only in female-specific industries, the war years saw a greater number of women become much more visible in the workplace, in a short space of time. By 1944 there were approximately 855,000 women in paid employment representing about 25% of the workforce. While female labour was crucial to the war effort, this number constituted an increase of between only five and seven percent, and is perhaps not as significant as has been suggested.

While historians have documented the increased sense of female independence and liberation which resulted from greater work opportunities, to some extent the pre-war period of the 1930s had seen the emergence of a new type of femininity; one that was focused on sexuality and vibrancy. Femininity was undergoing a cultural reinvention as pre-war cinema and advertising increasingly presented images of a 'sexualisation of women'. It can therefore be seen that women were already moving towards a changing social discourse and reshaping of feminine stereotypes before the interjection of the war. At the onset of war, this new found sexual vitality drew much attention on the home-front, particularly with the arrival of large numbers of American troops. There was a genuine fear surrounding the confident expression of female sexuality that women were adopting, and Australian men were anxious about their behaviour while they were away. Exaggerated reports within the press painted a picture of multitudes of promiscuous and immoral Australian women indulging in casual affairs and prostitution with American men.  This tension between the Australian Diggers and the Yanks, who were better paid, had impressive uniforms and an attractive 'Hollywood glamour', culminated in the Battle of Brisbane in 1942 as the presence of more than 150,000 American troops, flaunting their gifts of chocolates and nylon stockings, clashed with jealous Australian troops.

Women's sexuality became a political and social issue, as this newly emerging sexual romance saw a transformation in discourse and resulted in women being labelled 'public enemy number one'. Military and government officials suggested that the Allied war effort was being jeopardised by the spreading of Venereal Diseases (VD) among troops, by promiscuous Australian women. The 'fraternising' of Australian women with Yanks or 'amateur saboteurs' as they were labelled become such a serious social concern and fear, that legislation was passed in mid-1942 to restrict the consumption of alcohol for women in an attempt to control an apparent tide of rampant sexual promiscuity. It also gave police powers to detain anyone suspected of VD, which meant any young women in the presence of American soldiers. Under a guise of 'supporting the war effort' this allowed the government to subdue a supposed 'degenerate' social discourse developing, in fear of sabotaging the war efforts. The war brought private female behaviour into the public arena and government worked to establish a status quo. The need for social cohesion was framed as patriotism with women's conduct directed to support the war effort.

However, there is limited evidence to indicate the exact numbers of women who contracted VD during the war, or were involved with American soldiers. While some 12,000 – 15,000 Australian women, known as 'war brides', returned to the US to marry American soldiers whom they had met, the mass hysteria which surrounded this is unlikely as widespread as originally reported. There remained a strong social expectation that women would remain virgins until marriage, and women were very conservative and fearful about becoming pregnant. With contraceptive advertising banned, this fear of pregnancy contained much of the rampant sexual promiscuity which government and churches believed would result in a social moral decline. Furthermore, only a small percentage of the female population had close contact with the American troops, and were focused on their work or domestic roles to support the war effort.

Directly following the war there existed a stark dichotomy between women's roles before the war and those they had undertaken during the conflict. The war liberated women, allowing them to undertake roles which had previously only been available to men and in some cases women received the same or near-equal pay as their male counterparts. However, after the war most women were demobilised from their wartime jobs or retrenched to make way for returning service men. This left many women with little choice but to return to their homes. Society “refocussed its attention on the traditions sphere of feminine interests” and reinforced women's pre-war roles. The 1950s saw a dramatic change in the way women's roles were defined, as they surrendered their jobs and returned to their traditional roles as mothers and house keepers. “Females were encouraged back into the home and their traditional roles of wives and mothers reinforced and encouraged.”  Women embraced the opportunity to return to the home and focus their attention on being objects of sexual desire to men. Furthermore, there was still a strong movement supporting the ideology of 'Populate of Perish' which took on greater meaning after the loss of so many young men at war. The importance of motherhood for women again emerged as a dominant discourse.

Notwithstanding this, there was a mixed response between women. While many women were happy to return to these roles, others wanted to retain their newly acquired right to work. However, many returning soldiers felt uncomfortable about their wives or girlfriends working while others claimed that women in the work force would leave no jobs available for men. Some resented the door of opportunity being closed, while others embrace the chance to return to their previous domestic roles. Those women who chose to stay working faced renewed opposition.

The war period and post-war years saw significant changes to women's roles as they accepted roles to support the war effort on the home front. It is evident that many women took on jobs that had previously only been available to men, and socially there was an increased awareness of women's employment. This was however perhaps not as widespread as historical accounts suggest and the reality for many women was that they maintained their domestic duties or took on voluntary jobs. Women were also faced with social discourses that were reluctant to embrace the changes of female roles and opposed women taking on traditional male jobs. To some extent women's roles were undergoing an awakening in the 1930s which during the war become prevalent because of the increased focus on women's responsibilities to the war effort. However the reported female promiscuity was hyperbolised in order to maintain a status quo. Evidently, despite the changes that women's roles underwent during the war, the post-war period saw a quick return to traditional domestic roles. The representations of women's roles during the war years were varied and evidently the constructions of femininity often differed from the reality.

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