Although Congress was willing to discuss Roger’s bill, passing it fomented internal conflict. Many congresspeople believed that women belonged in the home, for women partaking in the Army was too radical to favor.
"Who will then do the cooking, the washing, the mending, the humble homey tasks to which every woman has devoted herself; who will nurture the children?" - Representative Hoffman of Michigan, 1941 The Army was also unwilling to let women join its ranks. “We had a war to fight, and war was a man’s business. Women would only clutter it up.” - Colonel McCoskrie, 1941 “...The army rejected the recruitment of the one segment of society most likely to possess the required skills due to gender discrimination.” - Doctor of Philosophy Melanie Anne Veach Kirkland |
(Courtesy of the U.S. Army Archives)
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Hence, Rogers suggested a compromise. Women could perform non-combatant military roles and free men for combat. This female auxiliary unit, the “Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps” (WAAC), would not be incorporated in the Army but rather supplement it. Members would be called “auxiliaries”/“WAACs”. Still, this proposal was hotly contested, with Congressman Somers one of the greatest voices of opposition. “[I must] take this opportunity to express my definite and sincere opposition to what I consider the silliest piece of legislation that has ever come before my notice in the years I have served here. A woman’s army to defend the United States of America. Think of the humiliation. What has become of the manhood of America, that we have to call on our women to do what has ever been the duty of men? The thing is so revolting to me, to my sense of Americanism, to my sense of decency, that I just cannot discuss it...” - New York Congressman Somers, 1941 |
As the Congressional conflict escalated, the public debate did as well. American men felt their patriarchal position being usurped by this new power women would have. “[Male] opponents characterized the female [auxiliary] as a dire threat... to the privatized gender relationships within [the home], especially to the husband’s status as breadwinner and head of household.... the female [auxiliary] epitomized the wartime antiheroine, a figure whose potential... independence from men subverted the ‘natural order’” - Leisa D. Meyers (Creating GI Jane: Sexuality and Power in the Women’s Army Corps During World War II).
However, the lack of men available to serve was decisive. War Department officials realized women were necessary to win the war. Therefore, Secretary Stimson and General Marshall voiced support for Rogers’ bill. The debate concluded when the House majority passed the compromise. The Senate approved the bill on May 14, 1941, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed it one day later. WAAC was established. |
(Courtesy of the Center of Military History)
(Courtesy of the U.S. Army)
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