WAC's , WASPS, WAVES and Other Female 'Stuff ' from the Past
During wartime, any war, women have been encouraged to enter male dominated occupations. During the Civil War northern women volunteered, and were accepted, to do administrative work and humanitarian services to aid the Union effort. The Civil War accelerated federal employment of women as the male force was depleted but it was the Civil Service Act 1883 that made it possible for women to compete for jobs and it was the Treasury Department that led the way to hire women.
During WWI women took employment outside the home in greater numbers and in traditionally 'men only' jobs but they were short lived changes. It was WWII that brought significant, lasting changes to women in the workplace. WAVEs: Women Accepted as Volunteer Emergency Serviceworkers, WAC's: Womens Army Corps, and WASP's : Womens Airforce Service Pilots actively served in the military branches and were made a permanent part of our defense system at the end of the war effort.
Every one recognizes the muscled arm poster of ROSY THE RIVETER because it symbolized the growing strength of women in the workplace at home and in uniform. There was a 'hidden army' of women workers in defense plants and at the railroads and in places no women in America had ever worked before. To support the hidden army, many businesses instituted child care and convenience services (like banking) on the job site to ease the burden of America's growing female workers. In 1944 the No Pay Discrimination Act protected women's right to get equal pay, not to be discriminated against, on the basis of sex.
Having been given a dose of economic independence, social freedom and personal responsibility, the march to feminism and liberation was accelerated. The Smithsonian had a long, strong tradition of giving women opportunities in the scientific research and investigation fields. Frances Perkins, the longest serving Secretary of Labor, would be a symbol and advocate of women's rights in the labor movement.
Contrast that progressive trend with the rhetoric we hear today. Instead of celebrating the accomplishments of women and acknowledging that women are a vibrant, important part of the economic life and cultural fabric of American society with MUCH MORE TO GIVE......reactionaries are trying to dismantle the legacy, stifle the progress and repress females with their repeated attempts to diminish the size, scope and power of the federal government where women are assured of fairness; stop the passage of the EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK ; reduce access to female healthcare , probe and poke vaginas, deny birth control ….it is an endless assault instead of steady progress.