Year 9 NSW » History » Australia and World War I » Women and the war

Topic : Women and the war

In this topic you will learn...

Chapter 1 : The roles of women in the war

The government believed that women belonged at home, not in the war effort
While the men were away fighting, women had to deal with the emotional burden of waiting for their loved ones to return
Although Australia had granted female suffrage there was still not equality of pay for women
Women in Britain were authorised to work in factories, however Australian women were not
Some women took up positions in areas such as bookkeeping and banking that had been left vacant by the men who had gone to war
Voluntary organisations like the Red Cross and the Australian Comforts Fund raised money and made parcels to send overseas to the soldiers
During the war children were required to participate in fundraising efforts, and were shaped into gendered roles which imitated the roles of the adults at the time
The working class did not have the time or the money to manage a large contribution, causing many to believe that their inadequate efforts were an indication of disloyalty
Propaganda targeted women in two ways: by evoking emotive reponses from them towards recruitment and conscription; and by depicting them in campaigns designed to receive sympathetic responses from men

Chapter 2 : Nursing

Chapter 3 : The domestic effects on women

Chapter 4 : The economic effects on women

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