The original documentation in this guide provides clear evidence of the discrimination American women faced in their efforts to serve the United States, as previously described (see Jul II, Aug I and II, Sep I and II, and Oct I columns).   The guide mirrored the male-dominated Army view of women as a distinct group of human beings who, unlike males, required all sorts of special consideration. The active bias against women, as contained in this guide, included such perceptions as female endangerment of workplace health and efficiency; female dispositional traits forcing job rearrangement and rescheduling at the expense of production; training and classification difficulties due to unfavorable feminine qualities; inability of most women to understand wartime emergency; female shortcomings in personal attitude leading to turnover and absenteeism; endurance problems, burdensome safety concerns, and the female requirement for differential treatment compared to men. 

The final three pages of the guide deal with Retention. Transportation for civilian female workers is addressed on Page 18.  Many of these recommendations deal with ordinary commuting considerations such as bus schedules, car pooling, gas rationing and staggering of work shifts where congested areas existed. Others reinforce the segregation of women into supervised quarters, “where women live in dormitories on the installation grounds, adequate and frequent transportation to the work place and to shopping and recreational facilities must be provided.”  In the latter case, an additional employment burden is inferred, “if women employees are housed in dormitories which are located at a distance either from the work or from the shopping or recreational centers, means of transportation should be arranged for. If local transportation provisions are inadequate after all of the foregoing arrangements have been considered, War Department busses can be supplied.”

Another large transportation concern involves perceived female vulnerability: “arrange for schedules which will reduce waiting time, particularly at dark isolated bus stops” and “stops should be convenient to installation to avoid too long walks, particularly on odd shifts.”  This admonishment is repetitively emphasized, “bus operation should be arranged to prevent unduly long waiting periods by women employees, particularly in isolated places and at night. There should be adequate lighting at all stops. Terminal stops should be close to, or within, the installation wherever possible.” 

Housing and Child Care are addressed on Page 19. Supervisors were advised to “give preference in employment to wives, sisters, and daughters of men employees to reduce housing shortage.” This is further explained, “where there is a housing shortage, it is advisable to give preference in employment to members of present employees' families. It is also helpful to list in appropriate places available rooms and housing facilities, including those in homes of present employees.”

If not collocated with relatives, the government recommended that women be placed in accommodations where they could be supervised: “Dormitories should be provided in the installation area if no other housing solution is possible. Such dormitories should be supervised by mature women who are tactful, patient, and understanding. Experience in handling problems connected with women's dormitories is most desirable.” The Army distrust of single women, living outside the supervision of relatives or mature matrons, is reminiscent of official suspicion regarding unsupervised female washrooms (see Sep II column).

Child care concerns are mentioned as another impediment to female employment, and supervisors are urged to “cooperate with existing community agencies on child care. Federal funds are available to every community where there is a problem of child care.  The U. S. Employment Service can expedite Information clearance with the Children's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor and can also serve in an advisory capacity in setting up adequate community facilities”. 

Special Services, addressed on Page 20, involved employee counseling; pre-exit interviews (see below); recreation programs; postal and banking facilities; credit unions, group health and hospital insurance; ration card service and PX (post exchange) shopping service for qualified and properly certified employees. Unfortunately, the guide continues to subjectively treat women as requiring extra and delicately-administered assistance: “A wise and sympathetic counselor can assist women employees in helping them to adjust to new work, and assist with problems of housing, transportation, health, family care, and financial responsibilities.”

The alleged tendency of women to create disruptive workplace turnover is again repeated (see Aug I and II, Sep II and Oct I columns) in this portion of the guide, “Pre-exit interviews are an aid in reducing turnover. These interviews not only disclose unsuitable working conditions and improper selection and placement techniques but also the changing needs of women workers for improved child-care centers, better housing, and better transportation facilities. Reports of exit interviews should be carefully studied by placement section heads as well as by civilian personnel chiefs themselves.”

In summary, the guide demonstrates the detrimental and prejudicial official hostility implicit in substituting women as workers within war plants and other industrial facilities.  The guide contains many examples of arbitrary stereotyping of females on the basis of their gender. The US Government’s quoted aims (see July II column) deliberately limit female employment as a necessary but temporary emergency measure to alleviate the manpower shortage.  The guide then details how, in contravention to the war effort, supposed adverse female characteristics tended to block or hinder productivity, and necessitated job reorganization and other inconvenient adjustments required to accommodate them.  A critical analysis of the actual documentation thus highlights the tremendous odds that American women had to overcome as wartime laborers on the American home-front of World War II.
.

Page 18: Transportation click to enlarge

Page 19: Housing and Child Care click to enlarge

Page 20: Special Services click to enlarge