World War 1 Women Essay

World War I was a pivotal moment in history, as the first global conflict that involved major world powers, but it quickly became a catalyst for change. One of the notable changes was the changing role of women. As men were going off to fight in the war, women began to fill the important roles they left behind. Women started to be seen holistically and were able to pursue other avenues, rather than just motherhood and marriage. For Marie Curie, she was winning Nobel Peace prizes for her work in physics, but too often her contributions to World War 1 are overlooked. Curie created mobile radiography units, trained hundreds of women to use them, and saved millions of lives on the battlefield. For Mabel St. Clair Stobart, she became the first

Aileen Cole Stewart was one of the first African-American women to serve in the Army Nursing Corps, and despite the demand for nurses, women of color had to fight for their roles and faced discrimination, lower pay, and had no chance for promotion. While these are just three women whose contributions impacted the war, their stories are representative of many women at that time.
Before the war, women's roles were primarily limited to home and domestic duties. They were expected to get married and have children; educational and career opportunities weren’t even a part of the equation. Women’s rights were limited, and they weren’t even allowed to vote in many countries. Still, there was a demand for workers once the war started, so laborious jobs became available to women. However, there were still limitations, as women were only allowed to work as nurses, clerks, and telephone operators, but with the sheer number of casualties from the war, the most notable was the role of

Not only was Stewart a female nurse, but she was a Black female nurse. Despite the nursing shortages at the time, it was not easy for Black nurses to be accepted or respected in the profession. However, with the significant war casualties and the outbreak of the Spanish flu, there was an increase in the shortage, which allowed 18 Black nurses to be inducted into the ANC. These nurses used this moment to garner further support in their long-standing campaign to integrate the ANC, but it took 20 years for it to become fully