The Legacy Of The First World War Is Also Touched Upon In An Exchange

The legacy of the First World War is also touched upon in an exchange between the blonde ATS member, Anne, and an older woman, the mother of the latter's sweetheart. The upshot of this exchange being that the earlier generation of women did not achieve the social recognition that their role merited, but that that will not be true of Anne's generation. Comparisons between the disappointments experienced in the interwar years and what might happen when the current war ended were part of the common currency of wartime political debate, and propagandists had to work hard to tackle this concern.15
The film is clearly committed to tackling male prejudice. In one scene a male administrator, awaiting the arrival of the convoy already referred to, remarks that the women have probably stopped to 'wave their hair'. This piece of chauvinism is undermined by the fact that the audience knows that the women have sacrificed their night's rest to drive through the dark to meet their deadline. Such representations clearly struck a chord with wartime audiences for The Gentle Sex was the third most popular film of 1943, according to a Mass Observation survey.16 However the film's progressive features are undermined by the presence of a male voice-over shaping the narrative. This voice has a God-like patriarchal quality, implying that whatever freedoms the women achieve, authority and power are ultimately male in character. This is further underscored by the film's concluding comments:
Well, there they are - the women. Our sweethearts, sisters, mothers, daughters. Let's give in at last and admit that we're really proud of youThe world you're helping to shape is going to be a better one because you're helping to shape it.17
This really points to the limited perspectives of the film, because, while it acknowledges the contribution made by women, it defines all women in male-dependent roles, as 'sweethearts, sisters, mothers, daughters.'
Two Thousand Women (1944) was set in an internment camp for British women nationals captured by the Germans when they occupied France. Many of these women appear to be estranged in some way from their native land. One young woman, the leading character indeed, fled England after a high profile affair with a married man, who subsequently murdered his wife. Another young woman, Bridie, is presented as a 'good-time girl', with a string of marriages behind her. She also obtains special treatment, like extra rations, by offering sexual favours to the German guards.. A pair of middle aged women may well be lesbians. This, of course is never stated, but their unmarried state combined with their ages and their evident coupledom would certainly give those kind of signals to a 1940s audience.
Into this world come three fugitive RAF crewmen.