assymbolic of the new physical mobility and freedom, not only in their dress, but also in the worldabout them. The war opened up a lot of new opportunities for the American women and thedirect result of the war for women was liberation and the fashion was “a visual language ofliberation.” (Roberts 73)When World War II broke out the government once again teamed up with industry, themedia, and women’s organizations in an effort to urge them to once again join the labor forcebecause once again it was a patriotic duty to do so. This feeling of nationalism once againswooped America much the same as it swooped through Germany. Both men and women wereaffected by this sense of nationalism. The men went off to fight for their country in bothGermany and America. The women not only tended to their wife and motherly roles, but theyalso became the breadwinners of the family because their sons and husbands went off to war.In Germany, the women would help the war not only by going to work, but also byspreading Hitler’s propaganda. While the men joined the army, the women joined theirorganizations that dealt with home economy and child care. The women in Germanyparticipated in the war in many ways they were “recruited into the military as scouts, saboteurs,medics, communications aides, and messengers.” (Koonz 108) Women who opposed the Nazi’sin Germany also participated in roles the Nazi soldier’s would not have guessed they would. Thewomen used their womanly charms to conceal illegal pamphlets hidden either on their bodies orin something they were carrying and also to harbor Jews and others who were hunted by theNazi’s.In America the women were also participating in the war efforts not only by going out towork and performing some of the jobs men used to do, but also as nurses alongside the men inbattle. They also participated as administrators, clerical worker’s, driver’s, an...
