Voluntary Women's Work and Modern Qualified Work

Despite the Federation of Women Social Democrats’ active encouragement of their members volunteering for war work, a dilemma about the recogni­tion women received for participating in this work remained unsolved.

When the Social Democrat and vice president of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women Alva Myrdal discussed the issue of women performing public defense work in Morgonbris in January 1940, in an article entitled “Peace Service During Wartimes,” her disap­pointment was tangible. It is true that she felt that women should make their contribution and support their country. However, she advocated that rather than women’s contributions being framed within the spirit of volun­tarism, the work of women, like the work of men, should be treated as work, not charity, and remunerated accordingly. Despite the fact that women were incorporated in society’s wartime production, they had not been asked to contribute either in act or in word on those committees “that make decisions about our consumption and the evacuation of our homes.” She interpreted this as implying that women were not “seriously counted as citizens.”⁴¹ Women with qualifications should not volunteer to do work that just anybody could do. She wrote:

However, none of us profits from imagining that a skilled career woman, who could perhaps be hired to follow the foreign press or to be a supervisor in a textile factory, does more for her country by sacrificing her special knowledge and voluntarily performing the same civil defense duties as all of the others.⁴²

The case for female exceptionalism in time of war was seriously flawed, so Myrdal argued.

Myrdal wanted to point out that educated and skilled women were needed in all positions in public life, particularly at this time when Sweden's national well-being was under threat. Morgonbris became the medium through which the issue of increased female participation in the war was loudly voiced. On the eve of war, in 1939, the question of which duties women could take responsibility for during a mobilization from a medical point of view had already been discussed. At the time, the news­paper focused on whether women could tackle heavy jobs or whether they had enough technical expertise to undertake certain tasks.⁴³ Dr. Andreen, who wanted to encourage women to become more interested in technical trades, wrote:

Our country is completely electrified, but no woman—with the exception of one or two engineers—can run a power plant or repair electrical wires. No woman has ever been taught to repair a leak in water pipelines or drains. Nor are there any women employed in the gasworks—other than as typists—and there are no women fire fighters.⁴⁴

Changes in gender patterns were discussed in connection with the female body and the education of women and positions in public life. Another contribution to Morgonbris dealt with the fact that in industry women performed the simpler tasks, while men were responsible for the more quali­fied tasks. Training, however, could change that situation. Certainly, heavy tasks could be simplified by using means of technology, but since women did not have enough technical knowledge, men ended up performing those tasks anyway.⁴⁵ Gulli Pauli, also a doctor, continued the debate. She asserted that there were no occupations that were “unsuitable for women” from the health point of view. On the other hand, she claimed that it was not unusual for women to be overworked since they often did all the housework in addition to having an occupation.⁴⁶ From a medical point of view, there were no obstacles for women to accomplish work that had been strongly gender signed.

As well as encouraging women to transgress traditional boundaries in their choice of career, Morgonbris pursued Myrdal's line that the authorities should make use of women's experience and qualifications on those com­mittees that dealt with economics and evacuation, two areas from which women had traditionally largely been excluded. When the Social Democrat Signe Hojer, the chairman of the Evacuation Committee of the Women's Federation's Emergency Committee, was appointed as expert adviser to the Civil Defense Inspectorate, Morgonbris applauded: “A female expert adviser to the Civil Defense Inspectorate has to work with key issues. Women have long been waiting for a woman to be appointed to the Inspectorate. Questions regarding evacuation and air-raid precautions largely concern women and children.”⁴⁷ In this position, Hojer became a pioneer. Her role on this committee changed the Social Democratic government's position on the role of women as well. From late 1940 on, the government urged everyone in Sweden to work for neutrality and Sweden's security. With the words “Put aside your diffidence, overcome your prejudice and take respon­sibility,” the Federation of Women Socialists further encouraged its women to not only knit socks but also to demand leading posts within civil defense.⁴⁸ While the focus on pacifism may have receded from the forefront of the political aims of the Federation during the war, women's involvement in Sweden's defense efforts highlighted another way the Federation could push to increase the prominence and importance of women in Sweden, issues that were ongoing for a society not only at war but also at work.