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World War II fell like a hammer on the European continent, shaking the foundation of their principles and cultural values. Declared formally by Britain and France against Germany in 1939, no one knew exactly how this war would change the world. Labor shortage created by the millions of men fighting against the Third Reich led Britain to bend former ideologies. Where once women belonged in the kitchen or tending to children, they were either given the opportunity to enter the "men's sphere" of work, or were conscripted to work in other areas. Leaving their homes to enter war work, they did so for two main reasons: they felt compelled by patriotism to aid the war effort (and simultaneously discovering their identities outside the family unit) or because they were simply conscripted by the government. While the men were fighting abroad, these women worked tirelessly to keep the war effort going by both "typical" women's work, and the "atypical" men's work.

Penny Summerfield describes these two different types of women in her book Reconstructing Women's Wartime Lives. First she discusses female "heroes" who boldly entered the war effort, throwing themselves in the way of gender relations and breaking the mold of society. These were the women who signed up for uniformed jobs, and gladly donned overalls and dungarees. On the other hand she describes what she calls "stoics". Stoics were compelled by the government to fill the labor shortage, bemoaned the interruption to domestic life, and searched for ways to preserve their femininity. Her assessment of "stoics" is unfair, however. Although they were compelled by the government rather than an overwhelming sense of patriotism, they still heeded the call of duty; and occasionally experienced pride in their accomplishments. Many of these stoics simply returned to work similar to what they had done before WWII, versus the heroes who decided to take the new job opportunities provided by war.
Before the war and the labor shortage, several young and unmarried women worked as clerks or secretaries. Such white collar work was regarded as un-skilled and monotonous, and thus was labeled "women's work" (11). Most women who were employed were barely trained. Believing their employment was only temporary, employers thought job training to be a waste of time. It would end as soon as they became settled with a family. Summerfield punctuates this by saying, "It was seen as irrelevant for women to acquire skill, since marriage accompanied

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