US women's army auxiliary corp (WWII) Research Paper

US women's army auxiliary corp (WWII) - Research Paper Example Women’s participation in the US military as auxiliary army corps during the Second World War was essentially a milestone in the women’s development and gender equality that were rooted the Enlightenment in Europe.Though women’s involvement in the US Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was not the direct result of these movements, it can be viewed as the call of the situation that provides the women of the era with a unique opportunity to reinforce their position in outdoor workplace. Also their participation can be viewed as a sequel to the series of remarkable events in the women’s rights in the United States. Though women’s involvement in the US Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was not the direct result of these movements, it can be viewed as the call of the situation that provides the women of the era with a unique opportunity to reinforce their position in outdoor workplace. Opposing the traditional socio-religious barriers to and prejudices that women are best suited for indoor activities due to their psychophysical fragility, women’s position in outdoor activities was reinforced by their participation in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp. Indeed the root of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp lies in the women’s unarmed services â€Å"with the Army under contract and as volunteers during World War I as communications specialists and dietitians† (Bellafiare 4). Subsequently, a bill regarding women’s inclusion into the US Army as regular personnel with equal pay, equal legal protection, disability benefits, pensions and medical care was proposed by Edith Nourse Rogers, the Congresswoman of Massachusetts. But Rogers’ propositions did not go unchallenged since â€Å"both the Army and the American public initially had difficulty accepting the concept of women in uniform† (Moore 34). Finally, Rogers’ committee and the US Military authority came to a compromise regardi ng the women’s legal rights in the army and the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) became existent in 1942 by Public Law 554 () as a branch "for the purpose of making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of the nation." (Bellafaire 7). Later, the WAAC gained the full status of an army branch, being converted to Women’s Army Corp (WAC) in 1943. About 150,000 American women â€Å"served in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during World War 11. Members of the WAC were the first women other than nurses to serve within the ranks of the United States Army† (Bellafiare 5). Rights of the WAAC Members Though Rogers’s idea was to provide the women with full status of army personnel in the US Army, due to the novelty of the idea and social barriers and prejudice towards women’s participation in armed activities, the WAAC members did not have the full rights that their male counterpart had enjoyed so far. Rogers was motivated, to propose the bill, mainly by the volunteer female civilians’ participation in the First World War as unofficial auxiliary force to the US force without â€Å"benefits of official status† such as legal protection, medical care, shelter, food, etc. So Rogers motive was that â€Å"if women were to serve again with the Army in a wartime theater they would receive the same legal protection and benefits as their male counterparts† (Bellafiare 6). Though until 1943, about 150,000 WAAC auxiliaries received the basic provisions of a soldier such as â€Å"food, uniforms, living quarters, pay, and medical care† (), rank and salary discriminations continued. Also women WAAC officers could not command men. Judith A. Bellafaire describes these discriminations as following: â€Å"The Director of the WAAC was assigned the rank of major. WAAC first, second, and third officers served as the equivalents of captains and lieutenants in the Regular Army, but received less pay than their male counterparts of similar rank† (2). Unlike the male soldiers and other officials, the WAAC members did not get â€Å"Government life insurance, veteran’s medical coverage, and death benefits† (Bellafaire 3). Also though the WAAC members, according to the bill, could work oversea, they did not get legal protection of the international prisoner’