We Also Serve: American Indian Women's Role In World War II

Another minority little spoken of in its service during World War II are Native American women, who indeed contributed to the war effort while also making great strides in their social transformation. Grace Mary Gouveia examines this period of time in history in the article ""We Also Serve": American Indian Women's Role in World War II,” with sources such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs publications as well as Indian school journals. The thesis of this article, that Native American women “took advantage of this era of opportunity” that the Second World War presented, expands on the changes the women underwent, as manpower became increasingly needed on all fronts. The effect of these needed employees last past the end of the war, as the author describes the gains in work, even movement outside reservations for job opportunities, that began to exist despite the discriminatory disadvantages Native American women still faced. …show more content…
X. Zhao, in the article "Chinese American Women Defense Workers in World War II," focuses on the “unique experience of Chinese American female[s]” employed as “defense workers” in the area around San Francisco. The publication bases itself on newspapers and report written in Chinese-languages, as well as oral history interviews from former workers. Narratively, the article also explores the forced placement into into tightly regulated, isolated ethnic communities could be overcome, as Chinese Americans endured through prejudice in order to use “the wartime opportunity” to insert themselves into the “larger American society;” although discrimination still existed to impede progress after the war ceased. Of course, the racism Chinese-American women faced contrasted greatly from the issues another Asian minority women dealt with during World War