Originally published at: How did World War I impact women? | Boing Boing
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Interesting enough topic, I guess.
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But look out for those leering mortal tolls!
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Now a days, we just impact Women by putting them into combat, as a species we are really evolving.
For the record: Best C.O. I ever had was a Women, competent, smart, great leader, and had a wicked sense of humor. Capt. Macky, I salute you where ever you are.
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It’s almost like you regard women as actual people, rather than just a means to an end.
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I just repeated that/your post to my Dear Wife whilst she is reclining on the sofa, she barked at me to get her some more coffee, Chop Chop Mister. My day will come, I just know it…
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There were women officers in WWI, though:
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Welp… Quark is getting a work out today… and I’m wearing my new “Quark’s Bar” shirt today, too!
I’d love for none of us to go to war to make some assholes richer, personally. I suspect you agree!
And let’s not forget that there is a long history of women going to war well prior to the modern age, at times dressing as men…
Anyways, everyone should read Sir Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment… quite possibly one of my faves of Sir Terry (RIP!):
And of course let’s not forget our Soviet sisters in World War 2, who made up about 3% of the army:
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ah, yes 
“Gentlemen, I am 25 years old and I have already managed to kill 309 of the fascist invaders. Do you not think, gentlemen, that you have now been hiding behind my back for rather too long?” — Lyudmila Pavlichenko
History on Fire podcast, episode 52
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And everyone should watch Come and See, one of the best WW2 movies ever…
If you want to see a teen boy age in real time, this is the film to watch…
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I kept thinking about the long history of women who worked outside the home before WWI. The comment in the video about viewing women in history based on class and social status is too true! Sure for some it was a novelty or an adventure. For others, work was the activity that protected them (and possibly their families) from starvation, becoming homeless, etc.
ETA
The impact of the war on those always-working women is that some of TPTB paid attention to their contributions before going back to ignoring them.
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Oh yeah… the whole 1950s “traditional” family is literally an aberration from the historical norm, especially for working class women of any race, and for women of color. This is an excellent book about the so-called “nuclear family” ideal that came out of the Cold War era:
But even in the 1950s, as that expanded as the “norm”, it was largely restricted to the (mostly) white growing middle class… Yet, we’re told that this way of constructing a home and family was the norm for centuries when really that’s a fucking lie of the postwar patriarchy who were keen to push women out of jobs…
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We can go back even further, to “The Great War”
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One of the most harrowing WWII dramas I’ve ever seen. For serious viewing, newbies should set aside a guaranteed time for zero interruptions.
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Yes. It is NOT an easy watch. It’s like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan, but it does NOT let up for the length of the film. But it gets the point across of how horrific war is, and how it’s not a glorious thing to create more manly men, but something grim that you have to sometimes undertake to keep others safe.
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Absolutely.
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That movie and Grave of the Fireflies are the best WWII films that I can watch only once. They are both way too much to get through a second viewing.
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Same here. GotF is incredibly sad and we haven’t dared watch it again, but likely will at some point. (I think we’re shifting into a different thread, so I’ll part with this. For an excellent Japanese period drama (sad/exciting/subtle/poetic/hopeful), I recommend “The Hidden Blade”; a wonderful double entendre for the title.)
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