Women in war

The experiences of women in war have been diverse. Historically women have played a major role on the home front. By the 18th century, some women accompanied armies assigned combat missions, usually handling roles such as cooking and laundry. They sewed bandages, rubbed cow pat as 'medicine' and other medical equipment for the soldiers. Women worked in munitions factories. Nursing became a major role starting in the middle 19th century. The main role in World War I (1914-1918) was employment in munitions factories, farming, and other roles to replace men drafted for the army. Women played an important role in making the system of food rationing work. World War II (1939-1945) marked a decisive turning point, with millions of women handling important homefront roles, such as working in munitions factories and otherwise replacing drafted men. Volunteer roles expanded. The most romantic new change was millions of women in regular military units. Typically they handled clerical roles so that men could be released for combat. Some women (especially in the Soviet Union, Germany, and Britain) were assigned limited combat roles, especially in anti-aircraft units, where they shot down enemy bombers while at the same time being safe from capture. Underground and resistance movements made extensive use of women in support roles. Reaction set in after 1945, and the roles allowed to women was sharply reduced in all major armies. Restarting in the 1970s, women played an increasing role in the military of major nations, including by 2005 roles as combat pilots. The new combat roles were highly controversial for many reasons including differences in physical capabilities of the sexes [1] and issues of gender identity for both women and men.[2]

History

History of women in the military
Women in warfare and the military in the ancient era
Women in warfare and the military in the medieval era
- Women in the Crusades
- Roles of women, children, and class
Women in warfare and the military in the early modern era
Timeline of women in early modern warfare
Women in warfare and the military (1750–1799)
Women in warfare and the military in the 19th century
Timeline of women in 19th century warfare
Women in warfare and the military (1900–1939)
Women in warfare and the military (1945–1999)

World War I

Women's roles in the World Wars
Women in the First World War
Home front during World War I
Australian women during World War I
Belgium in World War I
British home front during the First World War
Canadian women during the World Wars
History of Germany during World War I
United States home front during World War I

World War II

Women's roles in the World Wars
- Home front during World War II
- United States home front during World War II
  - Canadian women during the World Wars
- Soviet women in World War II

21st century conflicts

Women in the Mexican Drug War

Contemporary

gollark: I'm sure everyone wants 12905712591 forked packages to manage.

gollark: Shipping important functionality via patches means it's really hard to get useful precompiled things in distro repos, and you can't easily stick things in separate programs without compromises.

gollark: I think the tabs thing is an example of not integrating things enough, though.

gollark: You dislike webkit, I assume?

gollark: I see.

Notes

Brad Knickerbocker (January 4, 2014). "Just three pull-ups: Too many for women in the Marine Corps?". CS Monitor. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
Barton C. Hacker and Margaret Vining, eds. A Companion to Women's Military History (2012)