Women In the US Army Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Women In the US Army - Research Paper ExampleOpposing the traditional socio-religious barriers to and prejudices that women are best suited for interior activities due to their psychophysical fragility, womens position in outdoor activities was reinforced by their participation in the Womens Army Auxiliary Corp. Indeed the root of the Womens Army Auxiliary Corp lies in the womens unarmed services with the Army under contract and as volunteers during origination War I as communications specialists and dietitians (Bellafiare 4). Subsequently, a bill regarding womens inclusion into the US Army as regular force with equal pay, equal legal protection, disability benefits, pensions and aesculapian care was proposed by Edith Nourse Rogers, the Congresswoman of Massachusetts. But Rogers propositions did not go unchallenged since both the Army and the American public initially had difficulty accepting the opinion of women in uniform (Moore 34). Finally, Rogers committee and the US Milita ry authority came to a compromise regarding the womens legal rights in the army and the Womens 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 genteelness of the women of the nation. (Bellafaire 7). Later, the WAAC gained the full status of an army branch, being converted to Womens Army Corp (WAC) in 1943. About 150,000 American women served in the Womens 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).Though Rogerss 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 womens participation in armed activities, the WAAC members did not have the full rights that their manlike counterpart had