Nice girls and rude girls : women workers in World War 1

Drawing on official records, contemporary writing and oral history, Deborah Thom examines the myth and reality of women's ""experience of war."" She shows that before 1914 they were often supporting dependants who had acquired considerable industrial experience and that women's trade activity was growing. The war showed that women were capable of a variety of tasks and they made great sacrifices and contributions massively to the war effort. The effect of war-work has underlined women's positions by their gender; they had changed but not improved their working lives. "Drawing on official records, contemporary writing and oral history, the author examines the myth and reality of women's "experience of war" and shows that before 1914 they were often supporting dependants, had acquired considerble industrial experience, and how women's trade acitivity was growing. She studies the effect of "dilution and substitution" in making good the loss of industrial workers, the effect of "patriotic fervour", the industrial roles of women, wages, the effect on health and family life and demobilization in 1918-19. The war showed that women were capable of a variety of tasks and they made great sacrifices and contributions massively to the war effort. The effect of war-work has underlined women's posistions by their gender; they had changed but not improved their working lives."--Bloomsbury Publishing Women And Work In Wartime Britain -- A Revolution In The Workplace'? Women's Work In Munitions Factories And Technological Change 1914-1918 -- Free From Chains? The Image Of Women's Labour In London 1900-1920 -- The Bundle Of Sticks: Women Trade Unionists And Collective Organisation Before 1918 -- Tnt Poisoning And The Employment Of Women Workers In The First World War -- Tommy's Sister: Women In World War I -- The Mother Heart: Welfare And The Underpinning Of Domesticity -- Passengers For The War -- Conclusion: The History Of The History Of Women And The War. Deborah Thom. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 209-218) And Index. In 1916, Jennie Randolph Churchill wrote in her book Women's War Work, 'It is one of the virtues of war that it puts the light which in peacetime is hid under a bushel in such prominence that all can see it'. Onderzoek naar het effect van arbeid verricht door vrouwen in Groot Brittanië tijdens de eerste wereldoorlog