Gender Conflict and its Effect on Women before and after the World War II

Abstract

Purpose: Women and men are completing each other, this is nature, and the conflict of women and men is historical, they both have the right in living, enjoying and producing, humans love power naturally and always seek for their rights. Both men and women are struggling to stand and make remarkable things to show their abilities to each other and to take a role in life.

The purpose of this article is to discuss this historical conflict between the two genders and show the effect of this conflict on women before and after World War II by discussing the A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf and The Homecoming by Harold Pinter. There are many faces of this conflict but this article will discuss two of them, the educational and the sexual ones as they are the main two faces of this gender conflict.

Methodology: The problem that has no name is in fact the rights of women, the role of women in society, and the conflict between gender equality. Women were killed, raped, left without education, abused only because of their gender, from birth her parents teach her not to ask about her rights or think of herself but to obey her husband, father and brother, just like a salve, educated women present threaten to the patriarchal society for this reason they insisted not to educate women to keep the power in men’s hand. Although women conditions were very hard and they needed a long time but they also could make some change (Doolittle n.p)

After the end of the Second World War there were emerging issues concerning the role of women in the society, whether they should be part of the small society inside their homes or start working and engage with the large society outside. Such significant issues of women's role in the society escalated conventional notions of male and female roles and responsibilities in the society.         The identity of women started developing and emerging as a topic started taking its role in the society. The role-played by women themselves in constructing these identities and the insights gained into the ambivalence of the female role in the 1950s, lead her to urge a re-evaluation of 'consensus' politics and a redefinition of what we mean by work (Shaw).

Findings: After a long struggle through decades asking about their rights women had a great role in the civil society in the 1950s. In the Second World War they found themselves in front of a big challenge, either they survive and defend their homes, country and families, or they lose them. Women start filling the missing part of men who went to war. They involved in different sectors, Industry, Agriculture, Army and others to stand up for the country. After the war ends women tried hard to keep their jobs but many of them were forced by men to leave their jobs and go back home that the society did not give the role of woman the value it deserves (History At a Glance: Women in World War II).

Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study presented a highly negative image of the society and ignored the presence of virtue and ethics in both American and English societies, which resulted in an unrealistic and flawed depiction of both men, and women in that era. Therefore its recommended that more studies should be done to resolve the conflict of gender roles and dominance in the society.