This week is my week to prune our fruit trees. One of my daughters came outside and gave me a hand for a couple of hours today, which was much appreciated. Two pairs of hands when tackling this work makes the work go quicker and makes the whole job a lot more pleasant. As we were taking off the last large branch I commented to my daughter that she could have been a Land Girl. (She beamed.)
Land Girls were the name for the members of the Women's Land Army in England during WWI and WWII. During the Great War, farmers found themselves shorthanded, as their usual laborers joined in the military efforts. The WLA put able-bodied young women to work in capacities previously reserved for men, such as helping with farm chores and harvests. When England became involved in WWII, the WLA was resumed and a forestry division was added, where young women felled trees and cleared wooded areas.
It would be my guess that many young women who were raised in farming communities had performed their share of farm chores. However, it is unlikely that they would have worked as paid laborers prior to the creation of the Women's Land Army. To be a woman, then, and paid for doing a man's job must have been thrilling for the Land Girls, even if they were paid less than men doing the same work. Throughout both wars, women proved their ability to perform strenuous tasks that had previously been in the domain of men. Unfortunately, when wartime ended, and men returned home, women lost this "new" place in public life and were most often shuttled back into traditional female roles.
I tend to do a large portion of the heavy physical labor in our household. It's just how the division of labor has settled for my family. I do take some pride in being able to successfully use saws and axes. It's not easy work for me, as I'm not very tall or muscular. But I can do my share. Both of my daughters find the same pride and enjoyment in helping with this work. When the tree fell on our roof a year ago, both daughters were eager to use both saw and ax to cut up the wood. And this week when I was trimming several fruit trees, they both offered to come out and help. They are both very petite. But they are both so proud of themselves when they successfully chop wood or saw branches. I asked both of them what type of work they would have preferred during WWII, if they'd been alive then and there -- Land Girls or work in a factory. I pointed out that some of the factory work must have been equally thrilling (think Rosie the Riveter). They both still thought they would have preferred working in the countryside, either on farms or clearing land, my Land Girls.
