Documentary News Letter (1942-1943)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER APRIL 1942 WOMEN AND PROPAGANDA By EDITH MANVELL when war was declared women expected to be called up within a few weeks to take an active part in the war effort. While they were waiting for the machinery of organising the conscription " woman power to be set in motion, many women who felt they could spare several hours a week from their home duties, did voluntary work, but they regarded this as only a temry measure. Time passed, the war seemed at a standstill, and the first desire to serve the country for the defence of our homes relapsed into passivity. Eventually the call came — a million volunteers were needed. At last the moment had come for action. It was not quite what was expected, women were not conscripted, they were merely asked to volunteer. No one quite knew what to do. They waited for orders. Nothing seemed to happen, they just had to go on waiting. What irritated people was that after being asked by the Government to volunteer for war work, they were so often told there was nothing they could do. A woman who offered to do part-time work was told, when she arrived at the factory, that there wasn't a job for her, but if she liked she could sweep the place up a bit. Is it a wonder that they feel humiliated and exclaim angrily, "If thej want me, they must come and fetch me next time." Apathy breeds apathy and so the second great opportunity of gaining the willing co-operation of women was lost. Once more the Government had put the cart before the horse — in fact there probably was no horse. The propaganda was there, but there was no clear national policy, no driving power to action, no organisation to give it effect. Those women who were conscious of the urgency of total warfare were prepared for strict control and a temporary suspension of personal mg liberties if it meant greater efficiency. But the Government decided to let us down gently ; they tried through their propaganda to coax us into 01 making sacrifices voluntarily, with the obvious result that only conscientious people took any notice. The methods of appealing to our social sense were sometimes strangely perverted. For instance, in our daily papers there was the photo :alsj graph of a cunning little boy telling his father to jts put his money into Savings Certificates in order to avoid paying income tax! Propaganda if it is to be effective must be foj honest and not resort to tricks or side-tracking from vital issues: any insincerity, patronising or cajoling only provokes resentment or indifference. Women don't expect to be treated like spoiled children. Activity— getting something done — is the only approach which will produce effective results. Often it is woman's practical common sense which cuts through many a tangle of red tape, and male officials have been disconcerted at a woman's complete lack of respect for rules and regulations if they are obsolete or prevent effective action. There are no written iavvs in the home; each problem is handled as it arises and as circumstances alter a case; so each problem receives the appropriate treatment. That does not mean that every home is well rim or free from muddles: however dull the routine may be, there are times when every woman has J to use initiative. If this is guided by a shrewd sense of humour it is certain that all the little trials and troubles in the home will be smoothed away. It is precisely this element in home life which should be taken into account when directing a policy of propaganda for women — something practical and good humoured. If we consider some of the films which have been made about women or for women we can see the good and bad qualities of our propaganda in practice. Fortunately the mediocre films are quickly forgotten. The better documentary films often leave a lasting impression, not in details but of the spirit which is the essence of the film. For instance Land Girl, which has recently been released, is not specifically intended as a recruiting film to persuade girls to join the land army — it has a more human approach, and what impresses many people is the fact that here is a girl who has given up a town job, who undertakes some of the most arduous work a woman can do, who is actuated not by high falutin patriotic principles but by a real love for the job in hand and a realisation of the need for it to be done: and yet she finds herself up against difficulties, not created by the enemy, but by the prejudices of the people for whom she works. A weaker woman would have packed up and gone home, but here is a girl with grit and faith enough to master the difficulties and by sheer ability overcome the opposition which threatened to make her life hard and wretched. The girl is real to the audience, and she wins admiration and respect for those qualities which are essential whatever the job may be. The woman engineer, the woman in the Forces, the woman who works on transport may be up against this kind of prejudice — it may be the sceptical attitude of men, or the scornful pity of women who say, "You look just awful, my dear, in that ghastly uniform." The best propaganda films are those which show men and women doing a really fine job and in which the individual triumphs over difficulties and dangers — the sort of films which show women at their best — not thereby implying that all women are angels, but proving by a concrete and genuine example that they can be very efficient, practical and hardworking people if they appreciate the need for the job they are asked to do. Propaganda by example is therefore the most effective. One of the difficulties which confronts those responsible for propaganda films is to make a universal appeal and avoid the temptation to present a theme from a limited class angle. Most of the films on women up to the present have a middle-class flavour. W.R.N.S. is just such a film; it represents the women in lh*s service as rather self-consciously refined young ladies brought up in the best traditions; to a workingclass girl certain parts of this film might appear just "silly", and as far as she is concerned, the recruiting value of the film is lost. She knows perfectly well that when she is called up she will have a much tougher job to do, and parading smartly in uniform doesn't seem to have much to do with fighting the enemy. It might be interesting to contrast two films about women; the one W.V.S. and the other made in Russia. 100.000 Women. As films they are very simply made, using a nevvsreel technique —a panorama of activity. In the Russian film the women are for the most part tough, working-class types. Though some of the work they do, as for example the digging of tank traps, requires great physical endurance, it is pointed out in the commentary that most of the work they do requires skill and intelligence rather than strength. Several times during the film we are made aware of their indomitable courage, as when the parachute nurse jumps from a 'plane. The man who is going into the army entrusts the gathering of the harvest to his wife: he is seen teaching her to drive a tractor. She will do the job even though the German army may invade and destroy her farm. Those parts of the film which deal with military and defence services are not represented as parades in uniform but show us the grim determination on the women's faces and the arduous nature of their work. There is nothing smart about the physical appearance of these Russian women; they reserve that quality for efficiency in their job. Nevertheless there is little in this film which could not be seen happening everywhere in Britain. The working-class women in this country are just as efficient and tough, but they are handicapped by two things — on the one hand there are the prejudices of the men who have never employed woman labour, and the men who are unwilling to teach them their own skilled work ; and on the other there is the failure of the Government to supply that kind of propaganda which makes people believe in the urgency of their job. People are not yet quite sure whether they are working for a victory that will take us back to 1939, or whether victory will bring an opportunity for righting the social and economic evils of the past. This is the problem that makes so much of our propaganda ineffectual. The film W. V.S. is an example of the varied nature of the work done voluntarily by women referred to as "Maids of all work in green uniforms". Much of the work is uninspiring but necessary to the war effort, such as collecting salvage, and sorting clothes. The more interesting moments in the film are those which show us the women supplying food to demolition workers and dockers and waiting with ambulances and cars to drive shipwrecked casualties to hospital. And yet this film fails to give anything but the most superficial idea of the part women are taking in the war effort. It is not enough to be shown well-meaning, kindly and industrious women : we want to feel something of the faith which inspires them and the dynamic will to put every ounce of effort into freeing this country from the threat of defeat and slavery. It is once more the official propaganda which is at fault, because it is ineffectual and avoids the really vital issues. When we see the women porters at railway stations, women working on the lines, women as builders' labourers, or working machines which men were quite sure they couldn't manage, we know that the material for films is there, but until those responsible for commissioning such films make up their minds to provide something less refined than we have had up to the present, the real hard work done by women in this country will pass unnoticed.