Women on the Home Front: Gender Roles and IODE Contributions to the War Effort in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which the Canadian Fliers Chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) contributed to the Second World War effort in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Women on the home front played a vital role in supporting the Canadian war effort by entering the paid workforce and through their volunteer work. In this paper, the activities of the IODE, an imperialist women’s volunteer organization, are situated within the gendered constructs of women and women in the paid workforce during the Second World War, as presented by Ruth Roach Pierson and Jennifer Stephen. Meeting minutes and provincial bulletins are analyzed to understand the ways in which the Canadian Fliers contributed to the war effort, including their fundraising activities, knitting and sewing projects, and care packages. The text examines the ways in which these activities of the IODE fell within the constructed normative gender roles of the time period.