| Author | Subject: Re: how world war 1 affected women |
| Vanda | Posted At 16:43:40 11/04/2003
This message is for Alex who posted a message on 10/25/03. I would recommend you read the book "Not So Quiet" by Helen Zenna Smith. As a preface, I am not a feminist, I would never call myself one because of what they represent now, I tend to be more conservative...., but I am taking a course at NYU that is shedding light on women's involvement in ways I hadn't realized existed. Basically, women in Europe, I am not speaking of Americans, but European women at least, who volunteered for the war effort, drove the ambulances with men from right off the battlefield to the hospital, because of their close proximity to the fighting, they often died in bombings as well. They may not have fought, but they witnessed horrors and were only fed spoiled food because they were merely volunteers, were given often less than 3 hours of rest, and suffered as well. I am not discounting the men that sacrificed their lives for their country, quite the contrary, both my grandfathers fought in the war and I am a very patriotic person, however, one must take into account the fact that there are many circumstances and that both men and women suffered and contributed to the war in different but equally valid ways. I honestly do recommend the book "Not So Quiet" it is pretty short and it will inspire compassion and respect towards all who were involved in the war. I would not place the involvment of women above the men who fought... but they should be given the respect they deserve regardless. |