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Book ReviewsOur Mothers' War: American Women At Home And At The Front During World War Ii (Thorndike Press Large Print American History Series) |
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Book: Our Mothers' War: American Women At Home And At The Front During World War Ii (Thorndike Press Large Print American History Series)
Written by: Emily Yellin |
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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Great personal in-depth look
Rating:
5 / 5
This isn't meant to be some exhaustive encyclopedia, but it's nevertheless a very solid thorough detailed account of what the women of the WWII generation went through, in many facets and fields. Besides just writing about the women in the military, in the factories, on the general homefront, and in the Japanese-American internment camps, there is also interesting insightful information on areas little covered, such as the women who worked at or who had husbands working at Los Alamos, prostitutes, women in right-wing pro-Fascist groups agitating against the American government, and spies. It's stunning to read about all the women of my grandmothers' generation had to struggle against to be accepted into the military, in factories, as professionals, in any capacity in fact besides that of wife, mother, sister, and girlfriend. Particularly horrifying was the section on the Victory Girls; the sexual double standard sent women (many of them proven innocent) suspected of passing VD to soldiers to jail, while giving these soldiers no punishment for cavorting with prostitutes and giving them the best care instead of forcing them to languish in dank unhygienic jail cells without medical attention. Blame the women and treat the men as innocent victims. Also shocking in modern times is how women believed to be lesbians in the military were treated, like they had a mental disorder and were deranged unnatural deviants, as well as how many women who had loyally punctually worked in the factories were handed their discharge slips on the day the boys came home. Still, even restrained by the double standard and beliefs of the era, these women had tasted freedom and greater possibilities, and thanks to everything they did, their knowledge of greater possibilities, they raised daughters who would help to bring about the womens' liberation movement in the next generation, knowing they could never go back to the limited world and possibilities that had existed prior to WWII.
from homemakers to movie stars....
Rating:
5 / 5
Very informative book on the roles that American women took on during WWII. It showed the beginning of women becoming more empowered by having to work outside of the home. This book should be required reading in all U.S. History classes.
Astonishing
Rating:
5 / 5
This is a unique compilation of astonishing research and
personal history that takes the crust off our mothers' wartime persona. Even the high profile women of WWII ? Dietrich, Lombard,
Davis, et al ? are illuminated in thoroughly surprising ways. I read slowly and savored each page, and by the end I knew my mother and grandmothers and the human spirit, better. Kudos to Emily Yellin.
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