IWM Photo Archive A 34008
Fashion in the forces.

Here are some suggestions for activities related to this theme. We have provided a range from you to choose from, and adapt to suit the age and needs of your pupils.

1. Images, Stereotypes and Propaganda

Ask the class to make a list of words that represent the meaning of 'Masculine' and 'Feminine'.

• As a class, discuss the words that have been used. How similar/different are they?
  

In groups look at the Second World War recruitment posters for women in the image gallery.

• Using the criteria of what is 'feminine' put them in order of 'femininity'. Discuss the order selected.
  
• What makes one poster more feminine than another?
• What sorts of jobs are being 'advertised' in the posters?
  

List the jobs that are available to women from these posters.

• Are they traditionally male or female roles?
  
• Are the jobs heavy manual work or office based/clerical?
  
• Are they leading or supporting roles?

Imagery

• What kind of image has been used?
  
• Is there a connection between how feminine the poster is and the type of job it is advertising?
  
• Why perhaps is the Nursing poster seen as the most feminine?
• Why do you think the government supported poster campaigns that depicted idealized women?
  
• Why do you think they avoided showing them doing any hard manual work?
  
• All the posters show young, white, attractive women - why do you think this is?

Right Image, Wrong Image?

• One of these posters was banned. Can you think which one it was and why?

The ATS was regarded as the least desirable service for women to join. There were genuine fears of immorality and promiscuity within the mobile female wartime population. The ATS poster, PST 2832 'blonde bombshell', by the artist Abram Games, was banned in 1941 because it made the ATS seem too glamorous; Churchill was concerned that it gave out the wrong message.

Propaganda

• Which poster out of all of the ones looked at so far appeals to you?
  
• Which poster would recruit you?
  
• Which job would you prefer and why?
  
• What do the poster say about attitudes towards women and their work during the Second World War?

Recruitment Posters for Men and Women

Use these websites to look at modern day posters and recruitment images:

www.mod.uk/careers.htm
www.wkac.ac.uk/poster

How different are they to the Second World War women posters? Consider:

• Gender
  
• Jobs
  
• Ethnicity
  
• Image/Dress/Action

Why were there specific recruitment posters for men and women during the Second World War?

2. Gender and Identity

Give each pupil a copy of the photograph, without the accompanying original caption. Ask them to suggest answers to the following questions. The pupils should be encouraged to justify their views by referring to the image as evidence.

• What period of history do you think this image comes from?
  
• What is this person's gender and how can you identify this?
  
• What nationality do you think the person is?
  
• What type of role/job do you think this person has?

Now lead a discussion where the pupils are encouraged to feedback their ideas regarding each of the above questions.

At the conclusion of the discussion, reveal that the picture depicts a Russian woman soldier in 1917.

Ask your pupils for their reaction to this information and ask what they now think about the portrayal of the woman in the image and what light that sheds on the stereotypes that we have.

Does it also tell them something about the nature of Russia in 1917 or their impressions of Russia?

There are two other images of Russian women soldiers, IWM Q106 250 and IWM Q106 252, in the image gallery and these could be introduced during the discussion.

The class could now compare these images with the images of women used in British publications during the Second World War, for example:

Divide your class into groups to discuss the portrayal of the women in, and their reactions to, this image.

It may be interesting here to explore whether certain stereotypes of women remain by dividing the class along gender lines with two female, and two male groups. The pupils should discuss the emphasis that the poster places on the women's appearance and the assumptions made about woman engaged in work. Ideas should then be reported back in a class discussion, or group presentation*.

• How have the women been portrayed in the photograph?
  
• Is the emphasis on the women's job or appearance?
  
• What is the photograph saying about the role of women in the work place?
  
• What is the photograph saying about the desired appearance of women?
  
• Why is this view of women being promoted?
  
• Why aren't the dangers/physical labours involved in the job being emphasized in this photograph?
  
• What is your reaction to the photograph?

*As an alternative to 'now we will discuss this as a class' you could try a 'jigsaw'. This involves one person from each group moving on to a new group. Once there, they should express the views of their previous group from and discuss the views of the group he/she has just joined. This is an effective way of sharing views.

3. Is this proper propaganda?

Women at the time were finding themselves in contrasting situations of sometimes unprecedented liberty and discipline, often combined with sexual ignorance. Having to stay faithful while the men were away fighting, in charge of the household for the first time, freed from the presence of a male in their family household for perhaps the first time. There was limited information available to them on bodily functions ('natural disabilities'), sex or birth control.

Myths abounded, such as:

• Never use the bath water after a male relative
  
• Don't sit on a man's lap
  
• Menstruating women should not churn butter or touch meat, should not take baths or exercise.
  
• Women were denied a Pilot's certificate for flying on the grounds that 'they would be too incompetent to be entrusted with the lives of passengers' .

Using the VD poster (PST 0800) and the other VD posters in the image gallery discuss the meaning of:

• 'Easy girlfriend' (Prostitutes)
  
• Female skull as a symbol representing the kiss of death
  
• The artist Reginald Mount chose an orchid to depict 'fleshly unhealthiness'
  
• The veil for a 'feeling of furtiveness'
  
• "Hello boy friend, coming my way?"

• Where do think this poster would have been advertised?
  
• How would you compare today's health warnings about sexually transmitted diseases with this poster?
  
• Do all of these images suggest that women are either good girls that follow rules or wicked women who lead men astray?
• Or are men the ones with bad habits?
  

Discuss why the issues of sexual health and behaviour are difficult for the government then, or today's health service, to raise in public.

4. Fashion in the Forces

Why do you think there were rules on how you should look in the forces?

Photo prompts:
A 34009 WRENS uniform changes 1958
A 34008 New shoes and stockings 1958
RUS 5179 Soviet Union Senior Lt. Post 1941

See the image gallery

Points for discussion:

• Was wearing trousers seen as unfeminine?
  
• Uniform styles (WRENS were seen as the elitist service and had the most glamorous uniforms)
  
• Polishing buttons, badges and shoes
  
• Mending stockings
  
• Subtle make-up
  
• Jewellry and nail polish
  
• Demure hairstyles
  
• Coupons for clothes - 'fashion rations'

• Why do you think these photographs were taken? What was their purpose?
• Can you imagine similar photographs being taken of men in similar poses? Why not?
• Compare with rules on school uniforms and the pressures of being fashionable today?
• Are women expected to be trendier than men?

Further media/ICT opportunities

From research on the web do any famous glamorous female icons from the 1940's reinforce or ridicule the above images and myths?

Ask someone at home who can help you with famous pinups - e.g. Mrs Beaton, Vera Lynn, Doris Day, Betty Grable, the cartoon character Jane from the airforce magazines

Can you think of celebrities today who are good girls or wicked women?

e.g. James Bond girls, Charlie's Angels, Brittany Spears, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Nigella Lawson, Victoria Beckham, Lara Croft, Margaret Thatcher, Cherie Blair...

Key words in this section:

Citizenship - Remembrance links

• How are women memorialized?
• Can your pupils find images of any statues of famous women to compare with those of men?
  
• What are the differences in the ways that men and women are memorialized, depicted in public monuments?
  
• Do those differences matter?
  
• Would it be 'better or worse' if we tried to portray men and women in the same ways?
  

These and other activities are available to download as pdfs in the Classroom Resources section.