Role of Women in Europe

Role of Women in Europe After 1945

The role of women in the European society after 1945

In the past century the women had experienced more changes and revolutions than it did in the entire history of men. Women progressed and gained power in economics, politics, education, health and other domains. The "feminist movement," started in the Western World, passed through three phases, and the top issues referred to equal pay, the right to vote, maternity leave, domestic violence, sexual harassment and sexual violence. This paper discusses in regard to important business women, women in politics, women scientists, but mostly the role of women in the European society after 1945.

In the wake of WWII, Europeans had to deal with a reconstruction period, considering that most countries on the continent had been severely affected as a result of their involvement in the war. Women were particularly affected by the war, as they were provided with the task of controlling most communities while their husbands, brothers, and sons had to fight on fronts throughout Europe. The suffering that they went through as a result of having to care for the homes actually taught them to be less vulnerable to society's problems and more willing to get engaged in fighting for their families and for rights.

It rapidly became obvious that women were no longer the weak individuals that they were before the war. War changes people and it changes women even more, as they are practically forced to abandon their previous convictions in order to survive.

Although men and women have lived together for centuries, men are typically recognized to have used physical power with the purpose of imposing themselves over women, while women were disrespected, disdained, and left with little to no rights. The "feminist movement" played a crucial part in the emancipation of women from all around the globe. The movement was founded in the United Kingdom and was called "The first-wave" -- this was the feminist activity during the nineteenth and early twentieth century that focused primarily making it possible for women to vote.

The efforts involved in making female emancipation possible brought women equal political and legal rights, the access to education, and the chance to work jobs that were previously available only to men. It also got them the freedom to personal choice, including the freedom to express themselves sexually, even with the fact that the real limits were material and not legal. Women did not have access to birth-control devices, considering that economies were mainly directed at reconstructing countries and establishing their political preferences.

Women's lives changed severely during the Second World War, as they found their roles and opportunities expanded. Husbands went to war or moved in other parts of the country to work in factories and the wives had to take their husbands' responsibilities. Women filled a series of jobs traditionally occupied by men because there were fewer men available in workforces.

Women everywhere had won the right to vote by the 1960s, with the only exceptions being Switzerland and several Islamic states. This is particularly worrying, when considering that Switzerland was a developed country at the time. However, it is explainable through the fact that the country was neutral during the war, and, thus, the men there were involved in most fights that the rest of Europe was involved in. However, these changes did not have immediate significant repercussions on women's situation, not even in the countries where voting had political effects. From the 1960s we find a striking revival of feminism: firstly in wealthy western countries, into the elites of educated women, and, more slowly, in the socialist world.

Married women generally found themselves responsible with old household work and new wage-earning work without any changes in public or private relations between sexes. The reasons why women plunged into paid work are not necessarily because of their view on women rights or social position, but because of the poverty or due to employers' preference for female over male workers as being cheaper and more relying. In fact, because of the income and status of the feminized professions (mostly in USSR), married women dreamed of the luxury of staying home and taking care of children.