Women in Army: Then + Now.

This weeks post, is obviously about the representations of women and women in the work place. Obviously this leads to gender inequalities in the work place and Feminism in its first and second wave and even post - Feminism.

This first picture to the right, is of women working in manufacturing factory, that dealt with the construction of planes for the war effort during World War 2. This obviously was a huge leap forward for equality for women in the work place. Seeing as most of the men in the country were in the armed forces, or away in foreign countries fighting the Nazis. This ideal of women in the work place, doing what the masculine jobs was quite a distinct part of the fight for equality. Women seemed to show that they were capable of doing what men could do. This is quite clear in this picture, seeing as one

of the women is using a powertool, which is more often than not, associated with men. The power tool itself is quite symbolic of masculinity as it empowers the man's skill and his usefullness. Seeing this women use equally as well, shows that during the war, it really didn't matter if it was women or men creating planes or tanks, women were equally as dedicated to the job as men.

This second picture shows women currently in the United States army. This is quite significant seeing as it is only recently that they have been allowed to serve along with men in the armed forces. Women are trained alongside men and it can be said that they are treated equally among the men in the forces, yet there are still restrictions for women in the military. This is an example of the glass ceiling, if it can be called that in this instance, where women soldiers cannot be placed on the frontline as armed infantry. This does stop women from going to the frontlines, as they can be assigned to support line, and help deliver rations/ammunition etc to the frontlines which is still very dangerous. It is a major breakthrough for women to be allowed in the army, and not be given directly supporting roles but actually training and serving among the men.