canadian women in wwi
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CANADIAN WOMEN IN WWI
HOW THE WAR AFFECTED THEIR POSITION IN
CANADIAN SOCIETY
Adapted from
www.scheuernet.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=98
Women = too frail, emotional, should stay at home,
support from the home front, be nurses + ambulance
drivers.
Aboriginal peoples, Chinese, Japanese, East Indian,
Blacks = not real Canadians, racist attitudes, yet did
not prevent them from serving their nation!
Enemy aliens = Germans, Italian, Austrian-
Hungarians.
DO NOT ENTER
This did not prevent them from
serving Canada.
WE WILL SERVE! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!
Over 1,000 Canadian women were
employed by the Royal Air Force (RAF)
as truck drivers, mechanics and
ambulance drivers.
Over 2,000 women enlisted in the
Canadian Armed Forces as nurses.
CANADIAN WOMEN
OVERSEAS
CANADIAN WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION
ON THE HOME FRONT
In 1915, with men fighting overseas,
there was a shortage of labour/workers.
So 30,000 women gained employment in
machine shops, metal factories, and
shipyards.• They worked in factories making guns, bullets,
bombs uniforms, ships, tanks and planes; they were also employed as welders, fitters, machinists, riveters and numerous other jobs that, before the war, were considered men's jobs.
WE CAN DO IT!
Women working proved that they could
indeed do a “man’s job.”
There was much opposition of women
moving into the public sphere of work
especially from the labour unions = they
were against hiring women.• If they did employ women they were paid 50% of a man’s
wage.
On top of being involved in the world
of paid employment, women also held
positions in:• Social work• Journalism• Public health
WOMEN’S PAID INVOLVEMENT
There were many successes
including:• The Alberta’s Married Women Relief Act (Emily Murphy) which permitted widows to a portion of her deceased husband’s estate.• Unions were organized to improve working conditions in the factories (Helena Gutteridge)
WOMEN’S SUCCESSES
Women also volunteered for the Red
Cross and organized committees to send
food and letters overseas.
Thousands of Canadian women spent
their time raising money for the war effort
(concerts, tag days, teas, card parties, lectures,
and bazaars).
TIME WELL SPENT
The women who couldn't work in
factories or other jobs spent much of their
time knitting heavy scarves, balaclavas and
socks to be sent to the soldiers who were
fighting overseas.
They also made pillows, sheets, and
flannel shirts for the soldiers.
TIME WELL SPENT
On September 20, 1917, women whose
husbands, sons and brothers served in the
war were given the right to vote = Military
Service Act/War-time Elections Act.
All women in Canada, thanks to the
Suffragists, received enfranchisement (the
right to vote) federally in 1918.
THE VOTE!
Women on the home front were as valuable
to the war
effort as soldiers because they kept the
Canadian economy going and took over men's
jobs so the men could enlist to fight.
INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION
S