Why women were constantly reminded of the need to maintain their Essay

Why women were constantly reminded of the need to maintain their femininity even as they deviated from traditional gender roles in the Second World War (UK) - Essay Example hild-bearing, about motherhood, home keeping, sex life, inner and outer beauty. Many Writers construed feminism to mean differently. There are those who said it is a term that belongs to a specific movement in US and Europe and is linked to activism, and there are those who refer to the term as injustices to women. But did these things mattered to women as they deviated from their traditional roles in the Second World War, particularly in UK? Our goal here is to sketch feminisms as they deviated from their traditional roles during WWII. Femininity classification and definition Before 1800s feminism refers to the qualities of women. The term begins to take new meaning with the beginning of feminist’s movement who asked for equal rights, so it was called the first wave of feminism. The movement was briefly forgotten during the war upon which, feminism took a new meaning for them, that of leaving the patriarchal society to become members of the men’s world. ... They can learn to protect themselves by learning techniques for fighting .Feminity is also defined by Brownmiller, Susan, as â€Å"making oneself as harmless, and that the feminine principle is composed of compliance and conflict†. Brownmiller argues that femininity merges female weaknesses with conflict avoidance and good will. Brownmiller is a controversial writer because of her assertion that â€Å"rape is a process of intimidation in which all men keep women in a state of fear† She said rape is a tool used by men ever since as a form of oppression to women. She said that femininity pleases men because it makes them appear to be more masculine, and by behavior, female expresses femininity by tearful expression of sentiments and fear as one way of establishing route to success. Femininity did not vanish when women became workers. It is alive and well in the workplace. The Second World War changed everything in the British way of life. Their work, family, governmentâ⠂¬â„¢s policies all changed because of war. It practically altered the roles of women and almost challenged the roles of gender relations as women were called on to work on men’s field. The war had changed the contours of society, erased the division of class, had challenged the existence of gender (Swanson, Gillian and Gledhill, Christine, 28 February 2012). .In all of these work changes, their femininity allows them to move in the work places away from their traditional roles. In a way, women used femininity as a competitive edge in getting and keeping their jobs. In a sense, this also pleased businessmen and even the government because women were paid less for the same man’s work In Chapter 10 â€Å"Mothers as wives in an individualistic society†, â€Å"feminity†