The integration of women into the military establishment during World War II
evoked a multitude of reactions from the American public. As over 500,000 women joined
the military, they were met with support, skepticism, and condemnation. The attitudes of the
civilian populace and the military establishment challenged women to expand social
constructs of acceptable female behavior. As women gained a foothold in the military
establishment, they proved to be a valuable asset to the war effort. Military planners initially
envisioned women working in traditionally gendered occupations. As American males
deployed to the European or Pacific Theaters, women frequently assumed unorthodox roles.
Their experiences changed their perception of themselves and their environment. This study
will explore the roles women assumed within the military establishment. In addition, this
study will examine the impact of the military experience upon the lives of female veterans.
Women entering the military enlisted in the WAAC/WAC, SPARS, WASP, WAVES,
or the Marine Corps. Each branch of the military approached integration of females into the
service in different ways and adopted varied requirements for enlistees. As a result, the
choice of organization often reflected the educational and social background of the recruit.
This study will explore the role of social class within the branches of the military.
2
Finally, this study will include a brief synthesis of female enlistment in each branch
of the service. Each branch of the military has published an official synthesis of female
participation in the war effort. Collections of autobiographical histories have been published.
Nevertheless, the historiographical record lacks an academic synthesis of women in the
military during World War II.
The research conducted for this study includes primary and secondary source
materials. In addition, interviews with female veterans and collection of oral histories shed
valuable insight into the subsequent impact of the military experience in the lives of
American veterans.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-04292009-155533 |
| Date | 29 April 2009 |
| Creators | Kirkland, Melanie Anne |
| Contributors | Mark Gilderhus |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/msword |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-04292009-155533/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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