1940s: (The Simultaneity of War and Women’s Economic Vulnerability as Opportunity — The Simultaneity of War Women’s Economic Vulnerability and the Political …

1940s: (The Simultaneity of War and Women’s Economic Vulnerability as Opportunity — The Simultaneity of War Women’s Economic Vulnerability and the Political Volatility of the Mid-1940s Presenting an Opportunity for the Women to Hone a Political Agenda That Was Intelligible to More Women’s Needs, Including Cultivating a Clear Political Outline Greater Institutional Power and a Strong Working Group of Members — Women’s Paid Underpaid and Unpaid Labor Taking Center Stage as a Political Focus and Rhetorical Tool): The simultaneity of war, women’s economic vulnerability, and the political volatility of the mid-1940s presented an opportunity for the women to hone a political agenda that was intelligible to more women’s needs. This included cultivating a clear political outline that was reflected in the theories and practices of the organization, greater institutional power, and a strong working group of members. In particular, women’s paid, underpaid, and unpaid labor took center stage as a political focus and rhetorical tool — the abstract feminism of the first decade was giving way to a labor politics grounded in the material reality of what women actually did with their hands and hours.