Creating a (gendered?) military identity: the Women's auxiliary air force in Great Gritain in the second world war

Abstract

This article engages with the debate regarding the effect on gender relations of Women's participation in the Second World War. It uses wartime representations of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), and the personal testimony of former members of the service to test the so-called ‘double helix’ model of gender relations. Focusing on two key areas in which wartime gender difference was negotiated – Women's role as workers, and their adoption of military uniform – it considers the ways in which they constructed their self-identity as uniquely integrated members of a military service. The evidence presented suggests that analysis of Women's experiences based purely on their gender is inadequate, and shows that the military context provided a different framework within which Women's identity and status operated.