Somewhere in the Middle East
Dublin Core
Title
Somewhere in the Middle East
Subject
WWII Nurse Fixes Hair in Mirror
Description
In this photo, 2nd Lt. Ann Ruth Orrick, an army nurse in the Ninth US Air Force, is fixing her hair in a strangely random outdoor vanity. Orrick, stationed in the Middle East, specifically Bengasi, Cirenaica, Libya, was lucky to have access to a vanity like this one. Most nurses overseas, especially in places like Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific, would not have had this available to them.
Despite troublesome climates, exhausting work, and horrible experiences, American nurses in World War II still managed to present themselves in a way that they felt allowed them to be themselves and get through each day. Orrick, like so many other nurses, was obviously trying to do her best to look her best with the resources available to her. On the desk of the vanity you can see a hair comb, a box of what could be face powder, and what looks like a powder sponge lying next to it.
While the military officially frowned upon makeup and other decorations worn by nurses and other servicewomen, those in charge would often encourage women to do their best to look nice and clean, and put forward a good face for their profession and for those under their care. Some nurses were allowed to and even encouraged to wear red nail polish, red lipstick, and red ribbons in their hair, as a way of boosting not only their own spirits, but also the morale of the soldiers who encountered them.
This picture represents the resourcefulness and pride in personal appearance many nurses had, but it also shows us a strikingly simple, critical way in which morale, both for these women and for the men they cared for, was increased.
While most nurses during the war could not live up to the perfect feminine ideal advertised in propaganda, movies, and recruitment posters, they did not lose their sense of pride in their personal appearance and what it stood for, and many of them still embraced their femininity in various clever ways. Even these small actions made a difference for the soldiers under their care.
Despite troublesome climates, exhausting work, and horrible experiences, American nurses in World War II still managed to present themselves in a way that they felt allowed them to be themselves and get through each day. Orrick, like so many other nurses, was obviously trying to do her best to look her best with the resources available to her. On the desk of the vanity you can see a hair comb, a box of what could be face powder, and what looks like a powder sponge lying next to it.
While the military officially frowned upon makeup and other decorations worn by nurses and other servicewomen, those in charge would often encourage women to do their best to look nice and clean, and put forward a good face for their profession and for those under their care. Some nurses were allowed to and even encouraged to wear red nail polish, red lipstick, and red ribbons in their hair, as a way of boosting not only their own spirits, but also the morale of the soldiers who encountered them.
This picture represents the resourcefulness and pride in personal appearance many nurses had, but it also shows us a strikingly simple, critical way in which morale, both for these women and for the men they cared for, was increased.
While most nurses during the war could not live up to the perfect feminine ideal advertised in propaganda, movies, and recruitment posters, they did not lose their sense of pride in their personal appearance and what it stood for, and many of them still embraced their femininity in various clever ways. Even these small actions made a difference for the soldiers under their care.
Creator
Unknown
Source
Women of World War II: "Army Nurse Fixing Hair in Outdoor Mirror," Margie Bedell-Burke, February 1, 2018:https://www.womenofwwii.com/army/army-nurses/army-nurse-fixing-hair-in-outdoor-mirror/
Publisher
US National Archives
Date
Accessed April 24, 2020
Rights
Public Domain
Format
Photograph (jpg)
Language
English
Type
Still Image
Identifier
Army Nurses Fixes Hair at Mirror, World War II
Coverage
US Army Nurses of World War II
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
black and white photograph
Collection
Citation
Unknown , “Somewhere in the Middle East,” US Nurses in World War II, accessed May 2, 2024, https://usnursesww2.omeka.net/items/show/36.