The Second World War: Shaping the Cultural, Economic, and Political Lives of Women - Essay Example

no. The Second World War: shaping the cultural, economic, and political lives of women and African-Americans The Second World War represents a pivotal period in the history of African-Americans and women, as it saw the status of these two groups change drastically. Prior to the Second World War, women and African-Americans were the most underrepresented groups of American citizens. However, the dynamism of the war challenged the status quo of the American social, economic, and political spheres. The economic effects brought about by the World War II era affected not only the financial status of women and African Americans, but also their social and political lives. The emergence of a “consumer republic” led to the alteration of political and social statuses in both the public and private sphere. In order for America to finance the war, there was need to exercise a lot of caution in domestic spending patterns. Consequently, various controls had to be instituted to help regulate prices. As a result of these controls, all Americans were required to adhere to certain price regulatory measures that were neither gender nor racially discriminative. These measures, coupled with other cultural and political factors ended up favoring women and African Americans, causing them to attain equality with other Americans. Starting from the progressive era to the end of the Second World War, women and African-Americans were unable to take part in political policies concerning equality. However, with a majority of the men joining the army and leaving the country, opportunities that had, hitherto, been denied to women came up and the women embraced them. Women joined the working force, thus shifting from their traditional roles as homemakers to chief providers for their families. In Cohen’s opinion, joining the workforce and becoming family providers was a reinforcement of the gender roles traditionally played by women (83). Most of these women either joined in the war or got employed as clerks or shop floor attendants. These jobs were traditionally held by men, thus the Second World War brought about a cultural shift in the lives of all Americans. Consequently, women were able to find some sort of financial independence from men, the latter who had customarily been the sole providers for their families. This new found liberation gave women the spirit to form movements and lobby groups to champion for gender equality. As a result, Cohen writes that women were encouraged, in their traditional role as consumers, to be the pillars behind good citizenship and responsible consumerism (77-83). The consumer republic was born during and in the aftermath of the Second World War when Americans learnt that responsible consumerism was the only way to survive the effects of the war. Despite being discriminated against, African-Americans and women groups actively participated in issues concerning consumerism and the price of commodities. Women and African-Americans fought to keep the prices from sky-rocketing during the war. As for the African Americans, their main concern was being charged inflated prices by some racist merchants. On the other hand, responsible consumerism meant that women entered the public scene and became the chief consumers, and engaged in labor. As a result, women and African-Americans formed advocacy groups to address consumer issues. Prior to the war, the opinions of women never counted, until Uncle Sam asked for their opinion concerning the shortages caused by the war and the depression. This is because the customary role of women was to manage households, thus they knew more about the pricing of basic commodities than the men. If America was to survive economically after the war, then women had to be actively involved in the production of commodities and in the management of consumerism. In order to achieve this, as Cohen states, tasks that had traditionally been viewed as private became common practice in the public arena (67). Particularly, the role of women shifted from being just homemakers, to becoming breadwinners for their families. In their new role as the guardians of the production and consumer systems, women were actively involved in implementing the price controls and leading consumer movements. In essence, women had transformed their customary role of shopping for the household into a political opportunity that made the government regulate prices (83). In response to the advocacy by the women, the government subsidized the prices of products as a way of shielding the consumer from economic threats. On the economic front, the Office of Price Administration (OPA) was set up in order to standardize the prices of goods, such that people could not pay more than the maximum price set for specific commodities (97-100). However, for African Americans, consumer citizenship was still denied to them, as most of them missed out on the protection offered under OPA. According to Cohen, the call for mass consumption gave the African-Americans the chance to gain equal citizenship and consumerism status as their white counterparts (97-100). Despite this call, most merchants continued charging higher prices to African-Americans for commodities. However, with time, African-Americans also benefited from this new strategy, as they came up with ways of fighting racial-based discrimination. The African-Americans started boycotting and protesting against those shops that discriminated against black people and charged them higher prices. After the First World War, although African-Americans participated in the war, they did not get the recognition that they deserved as equal citizens. According to Cohen, African-Americans were fighting for consumer and social equality, as well as equal job opportunities and access to loans (166-167). The only way for African-Americans to achieve equal citizenship status with other Americans was to ensure that they had the necessary skills, as well as capital to start and run businesses. People like Dubois were at the forefront in the fight for black equality, as he made trips around the country calling for the creation of cooperatives that would increase the buying power of the African-Americans (Cohen 65). The formation of cooperatives combined with boycotts raised the consumption power of African Americans. Black women were particularly active in the formation of cooperatives which sustained the economy, particularly for black merchants. These women also formed leagues that supported businesses owned by blacks, bought products produced by blacks, and trained black youths for business-related careers. The black community wanted recognition as producers of essential commodities, a factor that would lead to the augmentation of their economic status. African-Americans started migrating to the north in search of jobs which were available at the production centers. Most of the leagues and advocacy groups formed by women and African Americans were instrumental in the fight for civil rights later on in America. By the time the war ended, the employment rates among African-Americans had gone up, and they were earning better pay. Essentially, the poverty gap between whites and blacks had slightly narrowed. For example, African-Americans were able to get defense jobs, which allowed them to further their education and gain other important skills. This means that African-Americans were able attain economic and political liberation, considering that the prices of commodities ceased to be racially discriminative and they were able to equal citizenship status as other Americans. For the women, their cultural role as homemakers had changed and most were in employment. Economically, women joined the working force and were able to provide for their families in the absence of their husbands. The importance of women was also recognized by the government as the various movements and advocacy groups later on became important vehicle sin the fight for civil rights. Responsible consumerism did not only benefit the underrepresented groups; rather it benefited all Americans. As Cohen writes, the size of the middle class doubled between 1941 and 1944, with an increase in family income (69). Work cited Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group,2008. 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