Women first entered the design world through the iconography of pre-perlite painters. Victorian attitudes portrayed women in the decorative arts as they were believed to be the delicate and refined kind. Of course, the ambitious and strong fine arts could only be tackled by men (eye-roll). In fact, London's Royal Academy of Art only opened its doors to women in 1860 when one Laura Herford was accidentally admitted after submitting her work through her initials LH. I will be touching more on this in my blog post on the Bauhaus and Idris Bohent, keep your eyes peeled!
Visiting The Glasgow People's Museum
I made a trip to the People's Palace in Glasgow to hopefully gain insight and inspiration into how the perception of roles for women changed throughout history. It seemed that the upheaval of WW1 opened up space for women to put their traditional skills into commercial use. Posters advertising for preconceived 'male roles' sparked an interest in me to do more research as to when and why this switch occurred.
"Oh a nice little girl was a very feminine little girl. You see it was a man's world, totally and completley. Women were not supposed to have much in their brains and we were not brought up to careers at all. Our one and only career was a good marriage."
In December of 1916, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was created as a response to a War Office inquiry that revealed that numerous non-combat duties were being carried out by soldiers in France. The investigation concluded that women were well-suited for many of these roles, potentially releasing 12,000 men for front-line duty. On March 31, 1917, the initial team of 14 women arrived on the Western Front, and by the end of their service in France, around 9,000 women had joined the unit.
On April 1, 1918, the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was established alongside the Royal Air Force. With a membership of 32,000, which included personnel from both the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), the WRAF provided support both domestically and abroad in Germany and France. In addition to performing mechanical, technical, administrative, and driving roles, members of the WRAF were also responsible for cooking. Although the WRAF and WRNS were dissolved in 1920, all three women's services were reconstituted just prior to the onset of World War II.
My Thoughts - Perception of Female Roles Post WWI
Although I am sure that attitudes towards women's capabilities remained mixed, the war did represent a turning point in the struggle for gender equality. On one hand, women who had served in the war were recognized for their contributions and many had gained newfound independence and a sense of purpose. Women had proven that they could handle roles that had previously been reserved for men, and they had gained a level of respect that was previously unheard of. However, with the return of men from the front lines, many women were pressured to return to their traditional roles as homemakers and caregivers. This resulted in a sense of disillusionment among women who had enjoyed newfound freedoms during the war. Despite these setbacks, the war had set in motion changes that could not be undone. Women had gained the right to vote in many countries, and they had demonstrated that they were capable of contributing to society in ways that had previously been unimaginable. The post-war period marked the beginning of a new era of gender relations, and the progress that had been made during the war paved the way for further advancements in women's rights in the decades to come.
What's Next?
Albeit WWI being a starting point for women to become more recognised in the field of design and manufacturing (see my post on the Bauhaus linked below), I was determined to find more before and after the time who do not get the recognition they should for their work! I am making it my mission for the next week or so to reinstate female inventors, engineers and designers throughout history who have been forgotten.
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