Army Museum Collection-Uniforms

Women in a mans world:
How uniforms and their insignia show rank- and how some women have used uniforms and insignia to state their strong position in society.

My collection is about the role of women, and how they have wanted equality.

During Remembrance Day, serving soldiers add crosses outside Westminster Abbey to mark their fallen comrades. Men still form the majority of fighting servicemen, but women nowadays are also able to enter into fighting roles once entirely reserved for men. I was surprised that here on a day celebrating those who died fighting for their country, how few women were represented at this ceremony.

King William IV in the full dress uniform of an Admiral. He spent much of his life as a naval officer. This is a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. It is an oil painting, with rich and bright colours. It is rich in detail and shows the king in front of wild natural scenery.However, he is quietly confident and royal in his appearance. You can see the superiority of his uniform, which is flamboyant and covered in marks of rank- epaulettes, gold braid, medals and a great sash.
King William IV 1765-1837 ruled from 1830-1837. He left no legitimate heir, so on his death his niece Victoria became queen.

The Queen, wearing the uniform of one of her many Royal roles, is an exception to the rule that women are usually in a subordinate role in our society.

I want to show how women wanted to have the same rank as men in society.

A uniform of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry- Army Museum 7806-37.

As the (Second World) war progressed large numbers of women were recruited. The FANY were formed into 'convoys'. They were employed primarily as drivers but also served as trained nurses, clerks and catering staff.

In Women in Uniform through the centuries by Elizabeth Ewing; "Florence Nightingale and the start of the modern age" chapter 4, she says "With Florence Nightingale begins not only the real story of modern women but also the modern story of women in uniform" p37

"The need of a uniform was great, not only for hygenic reasons but also as a protection for the nurses working with the disorderly Scutari army, and it was respected by the soldieriery" ibid p40

Women's roles in both world wars, where they carried out many roles previously reserved for men, meant many were unwilling to return to a subservient role after the war. Women proved themselves brave, capable, and willing to dowhat was necessary when called upon.

This monument is a trubute to the roles women played in uniform during the Second World War.

In Women in Uniform through the centuries by Elizabeth Ewing; chapter 3: Women in a man's world, talks about how women "invaded the man's world of uniforms and lived a considerable part of their lives as soldiers and sailors.... disguised as men". p 28

An interesting case is "the Salvation Army, in which from the start, men and women ranked as equals in every respect" ibid p57-58

But, by the Second world War, women did not need to disguise themselves as men, though they were largely kept out of directly facing gunfire.

"In an egalitarian society where social distinctions have little, if any, built in prestige, the uniforms of service have largely disappeared...." ibid p152

But not entirely disappeared. Nowadays, uniform and uniform motifs  can be worn as a statement- not just a fashion statement, but also as a statement of how we feel about our role in society. This woman told me that she is from Italy and has been in London for three months looking for work. She wears a uniform to feel strong and confident.
"London is a really competetive city so I like to wear something strong to show ****"

This woman from Portugal is married, but her husband will not let her get a job, and she has to stay at home looking after her two children. She decided to go to college, studying travel and tourism, and wears a uniform to show her strength and independence, in spite of her circumstances as a woman limited by in her expected role in society.


Many women have struggled to improve the position of women in society.
You could say that women were trying to improve the rank of women in society.
A uniform is not an example of equality, but shows your rank- with separate uniforms for different ranks of soldiers, and every rank of officer.
Some women try to make a statement that women can do what men can do- and to them a uniforn is a sign of strength.

Women for generation after generation tried to be treated equally as a man. They wanted to show that they could be as strong as men.



So far the main thread of continuity weaving its way through the story of women's uniforms has been that, except for those of servants and charity girls all of them have in some way been indicative of of a new and wider participation of women in the community, usually openly but occasionally, as in the case of of early women soldiers and sailors, disguised as men. Today, with the equality of opportunity accepted at least in theory, and anti-discrimination campaigns pressing forward into actuality, women no longer need to be uniformed aggressively in order to proclaim their presence or uniformed like men to demonstrate they have a place in a man's world.. The new social picture of shared responsibilities is, however, not yet quite clearly defined; it is a multi-layered affair and this pattern is reflected in the various new trends in women's uniforms.
Women in Uniform through out the centuries; Elizabeth Ewing 1975