1
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25c275dd46548db2fe906b21443d78f7
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Domesticity
Subject
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Domesticity, 2016
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
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<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
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Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-1945
Contributor
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William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Dan
Subject
The topic of the resource
letters, sweetheart, darling, love, marriage
Description
An account of the resource
This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Merrill Dan, a lieutenant in the U.S. Military, writes a letter to his new wife, Hope Dan, a college student at the University of Wisconsin. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. This letter is typed by Dan and is on very thin almost see through paper. In this letter he repeatedly says how much he loves Hope and he uses all sorts of name for her. He uses sweet heart, darling and love. He speaks of being very busy and the fact that he can barely write back to her or anyone else who has been writing to him.
Creator
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Dan, Merrill
Source
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Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 1 Folder 33 MSS 274
Publisher
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University of Memphis Libraries
Date
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July 4, 1945
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Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/82b555555a4d0171bd322e70340693dd.JPG?Expires=1712793600&Signature=BxjaWeU3M2dYBNMy1oPFiR8wsJu50A4FD7uw3rhXrBeAglloGOjLLM4CGOvGqaLuJkrUgt0LOPcpjtgkJQl3fmCsEgyYPQ9Y-IrF45YaHtUIePmZmLLQGdW2qonEbRvgwL%7EvARX0m%7EkSXXDVXymlibEbqlt8GC0SafabR-U1bAuDocfauOu9ieVYtKh5wFoBqPCCeZw7-BAL26-zr3K%7E-nJunKKPN35J-SEmmN573cHB9NoDRhLx7%7Ek%7EnG4on6Bbn2n9camPq9fAp9%7Es972We%7E1b4ZWxDGhfzRZAndF4XY-YjKQ5RJ9Dr9xCSZ3RTXZ%7EI-9QuyEW-0xKVzp0OELfQQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
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https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/8c8818cadd3a502b5ce072e1a5ce64ec.JPG?Expires=1712793600&Signature=G7T5BbmUJyoqDs-9ofkZxLZddLQ1j4uQuEnITSeV5C5%7EJm8JsGVEwNpDWUsc1tENhfULt8Dq0k6AkdcRFRycoJ-XniHdZpyGtgyfY5VZSxuRcJ8wBaCRy2OV9gwkSpslZSXdcshaKvp04Bpsw3YCgcOGXQ1UBFLi64zhzQZU2WYSlMG8l4EBSxJYBYXCFFp0cCnaO-dR94q3MgRzazoShR2fXJdoJ5Gu7ylQGGYVJf9t14v2k9m37vVuTCYiCQsZl%7E7mYPD4wmIdzMjpd52liOGAtvESRj5X0oae19ANJHe6u8grJOA0Gn9am8woLs8wF6U9ogwDveTXXSteU3Ow7A__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
c9dec949b7d1d1959222ed9cd460c9a4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Domesticity
Subject
The topic of the resource
Domesticity, 2016
Publisher
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The University of Memphis Libraries
Rights
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
Description
An account of the resource
<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
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Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
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1943-1945
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William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
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Title
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June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan
Subject
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infidelity, wives, marriage
Description
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This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Hope Bespalow writes a letter to Lieutenant Merrill Dan. Hope is a college student at the University of Wisconsin. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. The letter is handwritten and written on June 19, 1945. It is written on thin, white paper and in cursive. The letter describes Hope’s disgusted feelings toward infidelity, specifically infidelity by the wives of soldiers who are overseas fighting in World War II.
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Bespalow, Hope
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Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 2, Folder 61, MSS 274
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The University of Memphis Libraries
Date
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June 19, 1945
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Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/4d685ba49bdbeddc91ab922be033f99a.jpg?Expires=1712793600&Signature=v3qJcxrSaiYXyziWEOcguhNLGUXJKHubBPqzTo4dvdy099eaSj3SQHQ16C6uWuqYORmEub9uiGqzzxTGjFUGWa2kXIZl014%7ELXplg2-uODdgasFYHzV3TcfEibbxizYH2S022qmeVHlNGqPHrmS3sZhKkfEVwnZYj1AFj7u9h51NY0IE25efQPC3ACd%7EiRKOgRequVUXBT3AssVYMHqUT3EaTOZmjuIX5PDyOVKwZk3oRKGE4ysI%7EPG7Gd3c4W6TJad3MObJmTihiHJ93K2RumFWjwnEwd-2DFY7Jr3ZlHsDuUYS8seQSRYeZ69kJeYdt36XUdp3evvnWqmaBSy2tQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
ce24e5ec928bdb3fe678a26530e50a16
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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Domesticity
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Domesticity, 2016
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
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<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
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Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
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1943-1945
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William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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March 2, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow
Subject
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education; equality; marriage
Description
An account of the resource
This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Lieutenant Merrill Dan writes a letter to Hope Bespalow, who is a college student at the University of Wisconsin. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. The letter is handwritten and written on March 2nd, 1945. The paper is written on white, see through paper in cursive. The issue of Hopes parents, specifically her mother, concern with her getting a higher education is brought up and Dan lets Hope know that he supports her in whatever she decides to do. Dan mentions how much he loves her and misses her multiple times throughout the letter, attributing an entire paragraph to it at one point. He also tells her that it is important to him that their future marriage be on equal ground. He refers to it as a 50-50 basis. He does not want one dominating the other and cares about her opinion on the matter. He also tells her about the purple ink that she was using in her previous letters.
Creator
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Dan, Merrill
Source
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Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 1, Folder 44, MSS 274
Publisher
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The University of Memphis Libraries
Date
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March 2, 1945
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Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/8620e47e887d72a8fd5ab6843b03b48f.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=dZN-r2OKT6g40A0ybx%7EtW82gWLu3iNrztCnVMcejRkkKNpsoIIPNlhXTdDcKjaUwwpULV-yZzuyzRjJ9oOS%7E3eKduBsSVu7TX6C0HK3myrYuh62ZTQj17LKcAJCntf3N-Gp4czJJRjIPpAjfq3bK31K0Jx0RucS0yr%7E0SCXnupy7gtqCOzwEG8yzm28V8J0ujZhTnopyFNNMHluxVRW6z3WdFiGP9uUGVlOn4XOFV70u49ivD6X8I2cFBKY9KMh363EpC9sqxhnNpwhMeZ6hZSZllBWlF71icIL1kumTGm7EUqNxHwpLu3xv8ReHnvGM62x3PXHKzXERVaCuh4oI5Q__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
05ccdb5d850b2c3e9c23803b44526093
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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Domesticity
Subject
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Domesticity, 2016
Publisher
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
Description
An account of the resource
<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-1945
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan
Subject
The topic of the resource
infidelity; French women
Description
An account of the resource
This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Hope Bespalow writes a letter to Merrill Dan, a lieutenant in the United States army. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. The letter is handwritten and written on August 30, 1944. It’s written on thin, white paper and in cursive. The letter covers Hope’s visit to a hotel. During her stay she ran into a few friends of hers and described a bit of their conversation. Hope also mentions rumors that she had heard of French women and how promiscuous they could be. She informs Dan to beware of them.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bespalow, Hope
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 2, Folder 44, MSS 274
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Memphis Libraries
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
August 30, 1944
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/6d7b8fd6fd9bf8976f9e58396028cf5c.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=Bumq7IpwRT8PMhUxqUN2hrxRrvwF0-GvpU7ADeKVBfuof3WZnlZLZEs-KPM6JacGIzoFWmAiUg5auIfjcNQF%7Em%7E4n6gxLF7Y-szEBldJ8KqEbXKF9vIvaB9xaj3snYlb3dj4%7EDKrONcF8aEr479i4NDdYfLr%7EGpjbX5KxajNYN2iqUa4bi-ThyzakA4tzcY5AgzqMXQZ6y6Ia4WCoSYaDPm1AsFkY6GRr7lc9rTXFzfv7pJeNhYBRcdkMSnKTHf7FRfT11wju4Qq2ebiw%7EBfX784%7E1NAp5dbW8pjr1IirHA%7Ee5U8B3vsSkkItdg2itdzctW7IcWJPr3JHryqWa2Ptw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
55165fd721e266a14886edff7cd916a8
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Domesticity
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Domesticity, 2016
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
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<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-1945
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan
Subject
The topic of the resource
war widows; old maids; wwii
Description
An account of the resource
This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Hope Bespalow writes a letter to Merrill Dan, a lieutenant in the United States army. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. The letter is handwritten and written on April 21, 1944. It is written on white paper and in cursive. The letter addresses Hope’s concerns with finding a husband who might die in the war and making her a war widow. Hope tells Merrill that she would rather die an old maid than become a war widow.
Creator
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Bespalow, Hope
Source
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Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 2 Folder 44 MSS 274
Publisher
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The University of Memphis Libraries
Date
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April 21, 1944
Rights
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Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/11767952ce0c0ec814227d33ad7b05e3.JPG?Expires=1712793600&Signature=livogVMoMbjB6kIf05V0QNMj30Pys8hSJ1Gk1UUbYLGMn1JzvqPdmQXGRZ9ZtxXBFXSiOWzgkucHUs1OGh5ClHMO1g0rorbxnv8R2Q1lSfJbt1Ya2tvcXGViAQrRJomGJVt4yGRx-ycMAwSwLsNMwNEXIuW8FY3wOpo0TM%7E-wl8KrRaHo1LRd-lnX%7EEfvcwWNboIWu3Pf2%7EkfLH7-dJ9Go9hF0%7E6VZrZrltDQILxOTYW8AjROnX4sio8bCTI4%7EIwAZbUs72vEzNnMWcjL%7EGh0z9AdtyWyYf77eLsq1h15U6nc6dwrjltQ-x%7EXj7Xi98RyiAY1jtT4e4CTf2PyTpssQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
aa65aadbcd28edeb2c68b4ca4f8e8e6a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Domesticity
Subject
The topic of the resource
Domesticity, 2016
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Memphis Libraries
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
Description
An account of the resource
<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
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Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
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1943-1945
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William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
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Title
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November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan
Subject
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maids; dishes
Description
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This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Hope Bespalow, a college student at the University of Wisconsin, writes a letter to Lieutenant Merrill Dan, who is a lieutenant for the U.S. Military. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. This letter is handwritten by Hope Bespalow. In this letter Hope speaks of how glad she is that her family has finally found a maid to work for them. She says that dishes are horrible for a girl’s beauty. This is an example of the common everyday things that Merrill and Hope wrote about to each other.
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Hope Bespalow
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Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 2, Folder 46 MSS 274
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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November 15, 1944
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Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/15376/archive/files/be8403ccee5318cfc9889a1bcb224e05.JPG?Expires=1712793600&Signature=u4dDoa03oWlNTjdnqY8-ylcm2rvgIKgmyLEn61R4L-%7Enz-atkM8IMOP83QtjfnUgOr3AUhZT2hkbVK5gm2-Q6UOrRi67TscwB9r93QAiN8R8kgvMJCytIMqs3C0lXIM3Uy0VWfztGkVhUXEYTw4Q6Xd%7E3X6dR5QPK1YYuTFW83o-pgR1oslKNFyUbIUVp8fGxN5%7EjbdmFjXJI4nWMt08OaPSXaZv7v0LQ87vwWqCq-fOZ4bVoRxBjuwLH7OTVLvuOMjuP9XBuVQkbSYF5ekQdJ4iPQIkMgX97SMa5xUj%7EXr-yXyYFZll8P8I0K2iZl74rxq5veZ3jcwajl8nkWR3dg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
891b554ced991c2412852553ca683ab3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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Domesticity
Subject
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Domesticity, 2016
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
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<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
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Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-1945
Contributor
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William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan
Subject
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letters, censorship
Description
An account of the resource
This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Hope Bespalow, a student at the University of Wisconsin, writes a letter to Merrill Dan, a lieutenant in the United States army. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. The letter is handwritten and written on November 15, 1944. It is written on white paper and in cursive. Hope writes mostly on the subject of the time delay of Merrill’s letters getting to her and her own letters getting to Merrill. She spends a large portion of the letter telling of her aggravation with the delay of delivery.
Creator
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Bespalow, Hope
Publisher
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The University of Memphis Libraries
Date
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November 15, 1944
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Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
Source
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Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 2, Folder 46 MSS 274
domesticity
Spring 2016
-
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611d7b4abf1ce0e2db8e56186bb96023
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Domesticity
Subject
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Domesticity, 2016
Publisher
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The University of Memphis Libraries
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© 2016, Gloss, Morgan; Houston, William; Johnson, Breanna; Williams, Bernadette.
Description
An account of the resource
<p align="center">Disruption of the Ideals of Domesticity During WWII</p>
<p> WWII caused dramatic and rapid shifts to take place within the realm of traditional domestic ideals and values in society for both men and women. The war had thrust many women into early marriage and into the workforce, which sometimes caused an uprising in tensions at home. This shift in the traditional belief that a woman’s true place was at home or at a low paying, menial job challenged gender relations in many complex ways, which opened up the door to new found sexuality and sexual freedoms for women. <a title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> The war left a long standing impact on many different aspects of American lives during this time, including the institution of marriage and the sexuality of many women.</p>
<p> A preoccupation with marriage and sexual identity are apparent in letters written by two Memphis, Tennessee residents that courted each other during WWII. These two people were Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow. Merrill was a Lieutenant in the US Army and was shipped out and stationed overseas (mainly in Europe) for the better part of their courtship years. Hope Bespalow was a college student during this time at the University of Wisconsin. The letters contain many of the traditional ideals and values believed in during this time frame and can allow a reader to see firsthand how they were used and applied. Some of these included the common fears of infidelity, fears of becoming a war widow, and some ideas surrounding marriage. Unlike many couples, Hope and Merrill did not get married immediately before Merrill was shipped out for combat. They courted each other through letters that span years during the war. This proved to be very hard with problems of delayed letters that could take months to arrive and government overbearingness with their censorship practices. But their love and dedication for each other can clearly be seen in every single letter.</p>
<p> Within the realm of courtship and marriage before the turn of the century, traditions were often set aside for many different reasons. Men typically looked for four values instilled in a woman that they wanted to see in their future wife: piety, submissiveness, purity and domesticity. Often times, women felt that they could not fully live up to these standards and felt discouraged. Their insecurities were reinforced within certain areas of everyday life, like religion and literature. The expectations put on women left them feeling rather guilty even if they had the opportunity to be courted for marriage. This, however, did not mean that women did not try to redefine and defy the ideals set before them. The number of women who rebelled against these ideals only increased as time went on.<a title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p>
<p> By the early 1900s, a new form of womanhood had begun to gain popularity simply known as “the new woman.” It had allowed for femininity to take on a different shape that caused change between both the public and private spheres of their everyday lives. Women who had taken on and embraced these ideals of the “new woman” participated in suffrage rights and reform, pursued a higher education, and made their way into the workforce with moderate gains. These ideals, however, were met with staunch criticism. Those opposed to it “insisted that voting, higher education, and athletic endeavors would damage women’s health and undermine their femininity and that professional women’s work and increased personal freedoms would harm the […] middle class family ideal.”<a title="" href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But as was seen during WWII, this new ideal was more refined, fully embraced, and practiced.</p>
<p> By the 1940s, courtship still relied heavily on the men. Women on the other hand had no specific set of rules to follow as they did in previous decades. This is evident in the Merrill Dan and Hope Bespalow letters. As opposed to the traditional ideals of “true womanhood,” Dan was more interested in letting Hope be herself. In one letter in particular, he believed that their marriage should “be on a 50/50 basis. Not with one dominating the other.”<a title="" href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> Dan continued his support of Hope within her own life choices like furthering her education. This may not be a solid indication of how every potential marriage was viewed at this time but it is at least a fair example as to how far women had come within the realm of marriage. This is also an interesting example of how women could chose whom and how they lived their life instead of living their life indicated by an antiquated set of values laid out and enforced by men.</p>
<p> During WWII, marriage was on the rise. Researchers, Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton state, “these later cohorts [couples in the 1930s and ‘40s] have married at younger ages and fewer have remained single.”<a title="" href="#_ftn5">[5]</a> One might assume that this upswing was because men were leaving for the battlefields and therefore married quickly. But, these couples had many reasons for marrying so young and so rapidly. Some women married quickly so that they could receive the pension checks from soldiers, while some soldiers married quickly so that they knew that they had someone missing them at home. Other women married quickly for fear that all of the men being sent off to war would perish and they did not want to remain single forever. Regardless of their motives, young women all across America were getting married fast.</p>
<p> With the quickness of their marriages, couples often found themselves married to almost complete strangers. Others found it better to use different methods of courtship to get to know their future spouse. These methods included physically going out on dates just like before the war began or by writing letters almost daily, like Merrill and Hope Dan. Letter writing during WWII was very popular among soldiers and their loved ones. It was also very problematic when it came to courtship and marriage. Sometimes, more often than not, letters could take months to arrive to either party. Even with this unfortunate issue, many still wrote their loved ones every single day. The contents of these letters varied in substance. Most were very mundane and spoke of common daily activities. For example, Hope wrote in one letter that her family was in need of a new maid and Merrill wrote in one of his that he had a stomach ache and was going to see a doctor. <a title="" href="#_ftn6">[6]</a> In this format, it would seem that couples during WWII were forced to communicate more through letter-writing than most couples before and after them. This helped them to really get to know one another.</p>
<p> The difficulties of consistent deliveries and censorship made correspondence tough on those waiting for their letters to arrive. Censorship by the government meant that the person writing the letter was very careful about what they wrote in case their letters were intercepted and contained material deemed inappropriate by the federal government. If a letter contained that type of information it was received with black stripes through certain parts of the letter or it would not arrive at all in some instances.<a title="" href="#_ftn7">[7]</a> Censorship affected a variety of couples’ letters that functioned primarily as their only way of communication.</p>
<p> When Hope and Merrill began their correspondence they were barely close acquaintances but when the letters came to an end they were married to each other.<a title="" href="#_ftn8">[8]</a> In some instances though, the Dan couple were very different in comparison to other couples of their age. While many women were scrambling to secure their husbands before all the men were shipped off to war, Hope was furthering her education and preparing for her own future. Yet around her, many of her friends were getting excited at the prospect of their impending marriage, as evident in the letters, when she wrote to Merrill about the many engagement parties and weddings that she had attended.</p>
<p> Unlike her friends, Hope was not ready to throw herself into marriage. In one letter dated April 21, 1944, she wrote to Merrill about visiting her hometown and seeing “all my happy and married friends.”<a title="" href="#_ftn9">[9]</a> She continued, “I’m very glad that I haven’t found the person I want to marry yet, it’s hell when there’s a war on and the future is so uncertain.”<a title="" href="#_ftn10">[10]</a> She differed from the normal attitude of young women of her time when she wrote, “I may end up an old maid, at least that’s what everybody tries to tell me when I am home, but I’d rather that than take the chance of being a war widow with children.”<a title="" href="#_ftn11">[11]</a> These candid excerpts show that not every woman was so keen on entering into marriage for many valid reasons. Hope, however, did end up marrying Merrill, but not until the conclusion of the war in 1945.</p>
<p> Women during WWII saw many new freedoms and opportunities they never had before. They seized the opportunity to leave their home fronts and daily unskilled tasks to enter into the workforce. Some women would take on different roles like being nurses, joining the military, and taking on male dominated professions that would test their intellect, skill and physical power. This opportunity for women was enlightening and empowering in regards to dispelling the typical stereotypes given, quite unfairly, to women. This all was possible when America finally entered into the war and began drafting thousands of eligible men into service leaving these positions vacant. Women felt it was their duty to step in and fill the gap. They helped to shape the country during this time, not just within the political system, but also in the home life. <a title="" href="#_ftn12">[12]</a></p>
<p> Also during this time, many women adopted a more liberal attitude in regards to their sexuality during the war. This caused yet another sexual double standard between the sexes and it would even go as far as involving the U.S. government campaigning and facilitating a “war against women who transgressed [sexual] boundaries.”<a title="" href="#_ftn13">[13]</a> Initially, it began as a government effort to eradicate sexually transmitted diseases among soldiers caused by prostitution in and around military bases but quickly snowballed into an attack against women who were perceived as immoral or “loose”. Women, whether guilty of those behaviors or perhaps just exercising their sexual independence, were detained and forcibly tested for STDs and sometimes forced to enter into a rehabilitation program depending on the results. Men, both enlisted and not, were never forced to follow any form of the strict regulations placed on women.<a title="" href="#_ftn14">[14]</a> Military culture had a strong correlation to sexual assertiveness and the men were expected to be sexually active.<a title="" href="#_ftn15">[15]</a> This attitude towards women’s new found sexuality caused more issues for women.</p>
<p> This same belief extended into attitudes towards the issue of infidelity. Hope and Merrill discussed infidelity in passing in their letters. In one letter during their courtship years, Hope writes to Merrill and expresses concern about faithfulness. She writes almost as a warning, “But watch those French women! Have you seen any yet?”<a title="" href="#_ftn16">[16]</a> This warning stems from the belief that French women were enthralled with American soldiers for a multitude of reasons. “GIs were known as Amerilots”: they had lots of everything and they signified abundance” and in return the soldiers had “preconceived sexual fantasies and an ingrained belief in the decadence of French women.”<a title="" href="#_ftn17">[17]</a> As for what the women back home were doing while their soldiers were away, Hope again writes to Merrill, that the “unfaithfulness of wives of boys overseas […] is disgusting.”<a title="" href="#_ftn18">[18]</a> Between the sexes both at home and overseas infidelity was rampant and condemned, yet still a common occurrence for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p> WWII both disrupted and reformed the ideals of traditional domesticity and true womanhood. It gave rise to new and improved ideals of the popularized “new woman” who had previously only pushed for suffrage and reform, and a higher education along with meager equal opportunities in the workplace. The war gave more women opportunities to enter the workforce and prove their worth outside the home and they were able to create their own sexual identities and exercise their own sexual freedoms. These changes, however, did not come without difficulties. Women often had to endure sexism, resentment and many other problematic attitudes when it came to their new found opportunities and freedoms within both the home front and the workplace and even sexually. But these women did so much for both the war effort and for their men serving overseas. They gave their time, their energy and some even gave their lives. Some would say that the women of this time period helped blaze the trail to a better tomorrow for all women in America.</p>
<p align="center">Works Cited</p>
<p>Anderson, Karen. "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005.</p>
<p>Baker, Paula. “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89 (1984): 620–47.</p>
<p>DuBois, Ellen C., and Lynn Dumenil. <em>Through Women's Eyes</em>. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.</p>
<p>Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of <br />Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department at the McWherter Libary.</p>
<p>Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
<p>Pfau, Ann. "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: the </em><em>Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
<p>Roberts, Mary Louise. "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education, May 2013). <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/what-soldiers-do-sex-and-the-american-gi-in-world-war-ii-france-by-mary-louise-roberts/2003931</a>.</p>
<p>Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
<p>Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985). .</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD, 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”. <em>American Quarterly</em> 18. (1966): 151–74.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Ellen C. DuBois, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes. Boston, MA: (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> Merrill Dan, “March 2, 1945. Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 2 March 1945. Box 1, Folder 24, Hope and Merrill Dan Papers 1943-1945. Hope and Merrill Dan Papers, 1943-1945. The University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department, The University of Memphis Libraries.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> Willard Rodgers and Arland Thornton, “Changing Patterns of First Marriage in the United States,” <em>Demography </em>22, NO. 2 (1985).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> Bespalow, Hope. “November 15, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 15 November 1944. Box 2, Folder 46; Dan, Merrill. “Saturday - April 27, 1944 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 27 April 1944. Box 1, Folder 2.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> Macleod, Robert B., R. M. Williams, R. M. Williams, and L. S. Cottrell. Review of <em>Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Vol. II: The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath: Measurement and Prediction</em>. <em>Science & Society</em> 15. (Guilford Press, 1951): 64–68.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref8">[8]</a> Merrill Dan, “July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 1 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33; Dan, Merrill. “July 4, 1945 Letter to Hope Bespalow”. 4 July 1945. Box 1, Folder 33.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref9">[9]</a> Hope Bespalow, “April 21, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 21 April 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref10">[10]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref11">[11]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref12">[12]</a> Paula Baker, “The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920”.<em> The American Historical </em>Review 89. (Oxford University Press, American Historical Association, 1984): 620–47.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref13">[13]</a> Ann Pfau, "Review of Hegarty, Marilyn E., <em>Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies, and Patriotutes: The Regulation of Female Sexuality During World War II</em>." (H-War, H-Net Reviews, November 2008).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref14">[14]</a> Ibid.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref15">[15]</a> Karen Anderson, "The Great Depression and World War II." In <em>A Companion to American Women's History</em>, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (Blackwell Publishing LTD., 2005).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref16">[16]</a> Hope Bespalow, “August 30, 1944 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 30 August 1944. Box 2, Folder 44.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref17">[17]</a> Mary Louise Roberts, "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France." (Times Higher Education. May 2013).</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ftnref18">[18]</a> Hope, Bespalow, “June 19, 1945 Letter to Merrill Dan”. 19 June 1945. Box 2, Folder 61.</p>
</div>
</div>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Gloss, Morgan; Johnson, Breanna.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943-1945
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
William Houston, Bernadette Willams, Morgan Gloss, Breanna Johnson
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
July 1, 1945 Letter to Hope Dan
Subject
The topic of the resource
wife
Description
An account of the resource
This is a PDF of a letter from the Special Collections section of the University of Memphis Library. Lieutenant Merrill Dan writes a letter to Hope Bespalow, who is a college student at the University of Wisconsin. They were both natives of Memphis, Tennessee. This letter is typed by Dan and was written on July 1, 1945. The letter is on a very thin see through piece of paper. The letter is typed. In the letter, Dan refers to Hope as his wife and he says how hard it is to keep their marriage a secret. He also speaks of how hard it is to keep the secret that she is now his wife. He also refers to her as ‘honey’ many times and there is an obvious change in his references that he uses towards her compared to when they first began writing letters.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Dan, Merrill
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The University of Memphis Libraries
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
July 1, 1945
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Digital Image © 2016, University of Memphis Libraries Preservation and Special Collections Department. All Rights Reserved.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Hope and Merrill Dan Papers Box 1, Folder 33 MSS 274
domesticity
Spring 2016