Introduction
The 20th century was a period between 1 January 1901 and 31st December 2000. During the 20th century discrimination in terms of sex and race was common in the society. Gender roles in Europe were clearly stated during the 20th century. Men and women played varied roles.The traditions, beliefs and norms in the society determined roles that were fit for men and men. Women performed roles tat were considered feminist and men roles that were considered masculine. The European society was a patriarchal during the 20th century.
Women were considered a weaker sex compared to men and hence performed different duties. Women had limited participation in politics and were not supposed to work outside home. They were encouraged to perform household responsibilities like child bearing, caring for children etc. In addition, were expected to be submissive to men. This affected their freedom, independence and success in life. Thesis: Women and men played different roles in Europe during the 20th century based on the norms, traditions and beliefs of the society. Women performed feminine chores and men masculine chores and this affected women independence and freedom forcing feminist movements to advocate for women rights and equality.
Discussion
Many things happened in Europe during the 20th century and caused changes in many countries in the continent. For example, the Second World War and First World War happened during this period. The century saw a major change in the way many people lived due to political chances, economic changes, culture and social changes. The changes had effect on the role played by different sexes in the society. Women played an essential role during the First World War. The First World War had a major effect on women as it led to creation of new jobs for them. As men left to fight in the war, women took their place in the industries and factories. Though women were an important part of the work force in many industries, they were only allowed to perform limited roles.
Women were the main source of labour in factories in Europe during the First World War. They worked in factories to provide labor that was needed to develop weapons and other equipments that were needed during the war. They manufactured bullets, shells etc. Women were required to take the jobs men left behind as they went to fight. Women worked in the railway and performed various tasks like collection of tickets and clerks. Men were supposed to fight and were forced to leave their jobs (Charlie, 2004).
In Britain more than 2 million women took up jobs that were performed by men. Women were expected to work in different areas in Britain during the war. Some worked as clerical officers and others worked in the transport industry. In addition, women worked in hospitals and industries. Women in Britain worked in important munitions factories, build ships and loaded and unloaded coal. Only few jobs were not filled by women by the end of war. The number of women who worked in Germany was lower than the number of women who worked in industries in Britain. The low number of women in the workforce was an attributed to pressure from trade unions. Trade unions feared that women would take over jobs that were made for men.
The trade unions forced the government to prevent women from working in industries. The auxiliary service for the fatherland law was made to move employees from the civilian industry to military industry and only concentrated on men who were aged 17 years to 60 years. The Germany high command wanted women to be included in the workforce, but this was impossible. This in resulted to the low number of women in the workforce. Women were forced to perform manual work during the war and this contributed to Germany losing in the war. The country did not take advantage of the women like other countries in Europe (Charlie, 2004).
The jobs performed by women in Europe especially Britain and Germany differed in terms of state and location. Women in urban areas had a greater chance of working in factories compared to women in rural areas. Women in rural areas replaced men in the farms. The level of education also determined the kinds of jobs women performed middle class women and upper class women worked in factories. Before the war, women worked as domestic servants for upper and middle class people in the society.
However, this changed as women took up jobs that were left by men and the new ones created by the war. Though the war created jobs for women, women were still underpaid. Employers reduced the wages paid to women during the war. Instead of paying women the wages they paid to men they halved it and this resulted to strikes (Stephanie, 2000).
In addition, fascist regimes like Nazi argued that women were supposed to reproduce. Women lost their jobs after the war and they were forced to go back to their domestic roles and service roles. Women were the main focus of the Nazi policy. The Nazi objected the feminist movement during the 20th century. The Nazi argued that the feminist movement had a bad effect on women and men in the society. They also claimed that the feminist movement had “a left wing agenda” like the communism. The Nazi regime encouraged a patriarchal society in Germany. Women were considered inferior than men in the society. Women were supposed to respect men as their husbands. They also recognized the family, children and home as their world.
Hitler argued that women were taking away important jobs from men during the great depression and this affected the family institution negatively. This is because women were paid less than men during the great depression. They were paid only 66% of what men in the society were paid. The Nazi regime encouraged women to perform household roles instead of working in the factories. Moreover, the Nazi regime encouraged women to support the government in women activities. As a result, Hitler appointed Getrud scholtz-Klink to lead the National socialist women’s league. The national socialist women’s’ league informed women about their roles in the society. The main role of women in the society was to reproduce. Also, women were supposed to be submissive to men (Stephanie, 2000).
Women in the early 20th century had limited roles in politics and education. They were not allowed to be seen in public like men and instead performed their household roles. They were required to care for their families and provide for them. Women were not allowed to attend school and the level of illiteracy in women was higher compared to men. The low level of education had a negative impact on their lives as they were not able to compete equally with men in the society. Women were viewed the weaker sex and had no say or little say about politics and were not allowed to work outside home. This was evidenced in Germany during the Nazi regime. Women were not allowed to get any form of education. They were not allowed to attend colleges, universities and secondary schools.
The number of women joining universities and other higher learning institutions in Germanydropped during the Nazi rule. A total of 128,000 women joined university in 1933, but the figure dropped to 51,000 in 1938. The number of females who enrolled in secondary schools dropped from 437,000 to 205, 000 between 1926 and 1937. However , the number of women enrolling in secondary , universities and colleges increased greatly by 1944 as men were being recruited to fight in the war (Stephanie, 2000).
In addition, women in Europe played minimal role in voting. They were not allowed to vote and were not supposed to engage in political activities. This affected their right to vote and led to unequal representation in the government. Women were less represented in the government as they did not have an education and social norms and traditions that restricted their roles to household roles ad reproduction. Movements were formed to fight for the rights of women in the society and expand their role.
The movement encouraged participation of women in politics. In majority of the European countries women were ale to vote during the last decades of the 20th century. Women in Finland, Norway, England, France and Switzerland started voting in 1906, 1928, 1928, 1946 and 1971 respectively. Several European countries had enacted laws that permitted women to vote and hold public offices. For instance, Norway passed a law to promote women to vote and hold public offices in 1912.
Women had access to education. Despite the changes, women played a minimal role in political activities. Women were invisible in political activities for many years. They were permitted to vote, but were not dominant in political parties and they did not hold important positions. For example, the Norwegian government did not include many women in parliament, but only included one. The representation of women in parliament in Norway increased in 19934 from 10% to almost 39% (Simonto, 2006).
The number of women who worked outside home in most of the European countries was minimal. This was evidenced in Norway. The number of women who worked outside home in Norway was smaller than the number of men. 35% of women in the country worked outside home compared to 90% of men. The traditions and beliefs in the society made it hard for women to work outside home. People in the society believed that married women were not supposed to work.
The number of married women increased in 1900 and this led to reduction in number of women working outside home. The number of married women increased between 1930 and 1950 from 45.4% to 56.8%.The 1950s is known as the period of housewife as many women in Europe especially Norway worked as housewives.Though the family model implemented in Norway during this period advocated for equal rights, men and woman still performed different roles that were inline with the social norms and traditions. Men were considered the head of the house and provided economically for the families (Stradling, 2001).
The campaigns by different feminist movements in various countries in Europe changed the lives of women in the society. The campaigns brought changes in the political rights of women and in the family. The feminist movement’s educated women about issues that could help them fight gender inequality in the society. The feminist o movement wanted to change the patriarchal society in most of the European countries.
The feminists in different countries in Europe focused on empowering women and freeing them from the traditions, beliefs and norms in the society that made them unequal to men (Pingel& Boitsev, 2000). The feminists altered the way the political s [here was seen as different and unique from the personal private sphere. The feminists argued that the persona; was also political and various issues in the society like sexuality and personal empowerment were connected to the political system. The feminists movements were diverse and covered different areas including childcare, contraception etc.
The feminist movements challenged the attitudes that people in the society had towards the family and also brought social and economic changes. The feminists campaigned a wide range of issues in the society that affected women such as lack of contraception, abortion, provision of food and caring for the children. Such issues affected the freedom and independence of women in the society. The campaigns gave women within the family institution freedom and independence. Women were able to take control of their lives. The campaigns were influenced by the suffragette movements or movements that campaigned for women votes (Stradling, 2001).
However, the role of men and women has changed as women do not perform only household chores, but also work outside home to provide for their families. The changes are attributed to the changes brought by the feminist movements. The feminist movements led to freedom of women and gave women an opportunity to participate in various activities in the society. It gave women an opportunity to access education in the society and get employment. Many women started enrolling in secondary schools and universities at the end of the 20th century. This enabled them to acquire knowledge like men and compete with them. This in turn led to increase in number of women working in various industries and holding vital public positions (Schjorring &Kunter, 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the political changes, economic changes and social changes that occurred during this period changed how women and other people in the society lived. It changed the responsibilities of women in the society. Women had a minimal role in the society during the 20thc century. Women did not participate equally with men in politics, social and economic activities. Women did not participate in political activities including voting. They were not allowed to hold public positions and were less represented in political parties and the parliament.
In addition, women did not participate in economic activities like men as they were not allowed to work. Though the First World War changed the role of women in the society positively by creating employment, women were only restricted to certain professions. Women were only allowed to replace men in the industries as they went to fight during the First World War. They worked in factories and manufactured weapons that were used during the war. They also worked as clerical officers and ticket collectors. The social traditions and norms affected the role of women in politics and industries.
Women were supposed to perform household duties instead of working outside home. They were supposed to reproduce, care for children and family. They were also expected to provide for the families by doing unskilled works as they did not have education. The feminist movements changed the lives of women in Europe in the 20th century greatly as they advocated for the rights, freedom and independence of the women. This gave women an opportunity to get education, work and, participate in politics and appears in public places. Today women and men have equal rights in the society and perform similar roles in the family, politics and economic development.
Reference
Charlie,F.(2004).WOMEN & WAR.Geographical (Campion Interactive Publishing),Vol. 76 Issue 1, p46-51
Pingel,F.,Boitsev,M.,&.(2000).The European Home: Representations of 20th Century Europe in History Textbooks. Council of Europe
Schjorring,J.H.,&Kunter,K.(2011).European and Global Christianity: Challenges and Transformations in the 20th Century. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Stradling,R.(2001).Teaching 20th-Century European History, Volume 257. Council of Europe
Simonto,D.(2006).The Routledge History of Women in Europe Since 1700.Taylor & Francis
Stephanie,P.(2000).Women’s dilemmas in postwar Britain: career stories for adolescent girls in the 1950s. History of Education,Vol. 29 Issue 4, p329-342
