Time Moves On Assessment - Breakthrough Women

Amelia Earhart: A Breakthrough Woman

Throughout time, women have faced gender barriers in a variety of roles that were ideally suited for “men”, one of those being a pilot. Amelia Earhart fought hard for the right to be able to fly a plane; showing society that women were and are just as capable as men.

Focus Question 1:

What was Amelia Earhart’s background?

Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897) grew up in the town of Atchison, Kansas, (America).  Being a tomboy at heart, she loved climbing trees and “belly slamming” her sled downhill.

When she found out about the bubonic plague that was spread by rats, she used her.22 calibre Hamilton rifle that her father had bought for her 9^th birthday, and starting getting rid of all the rats in her grandparent’s barn. “Even as a child, as a little girl, she said she should be allowed to do anything a boy would be allowed to do,” said her mother Amy.

Amelia’s mother Amy, was raised in a wealthy family, therefore her father tended to struggle with providing Amy with the type of lifestyle she was used to. He slowly started to spiral down and became an alcoholic, spending money loosely. This then led to their divorce in 1935.

Amelia was not very fond of the idea of traditional marriage. Her lover, George Palmer, proposed many times, and when she finally said yes she was still unsure. The night before her wedding ceremony she wrote a letter to George outlining her feelings about their future relationship. “You must know again my reluctance to marry … I feel the move just now as foolish as anything I could do. I know there may be compensations, but have no heart to look ahead … I must exact a cruel promise… [that] you will let me go in a year if we find no happiness together. I will try to do my best in every way.” Many wonder if Amelia and George ever got married, but it was obvious she wouldn’t let their “marriage” stand in the way of her hopes and dream for the future.

One of Amelia’s most famous feats was being the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean in a multi-person plane, in 1928, the pilot being Wilmer Stultz.

Fourteen hours and fifteen minutes into her final flight, in which she wanted to fly around the world, Itasca received the first radio communication from Amelia. Filled with much static, her voice calmly said “cloudy and overcast”. The rest of the message was filled with static.

After a few short messages, communication was lost. Then started the most expensive sea and air searches in history. To this day, more than 56 million dollars has been spent on trying to find Amelia, and the ruins of the plane.

On January 5, 1939, Amelia Earhart was declared legally dead. There have been many conspiracy theories on how she died, some of them being crazy. Such as being eaten by giant sea turtles. However, the most widely accepted belief, was that due to an error in navigation, the Electra flew off course, ran out of fuel, and was forced to go down.

One of Amelia’s most famous feats was being the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean in a multi-person plane, in 1928, the pilot being Wilmer Stultz.

Fourteen hours and fifteen minutes into her final flight, in which she wanted to fly around the world, Itasca received the first radio communication from Amelia. Filled with much static, her voice calmly said “cloudy and overcast”. The rest of the message was filled with static.

After a few short messages, communication was lost. Then started the most expensive sea and air searches in history. To this day, more than 56 million dollars has been spent on trying to find Amelia, and the ruins of the plane.

On January 5, 1939, Amelia Earhart was declared legally dead. There have been many 

conspiracy theories on how she died, some of them being crazy. Such as being eaten by giant sea turtles. However, the most widely accepted belief, was that due to an error in navigation, the Electra flew off course, ran out of fuel, and was forced to go down.

Focus Question 2:

What was Amelia Earhart’s experience when she decided to become an aviatrix? How did she feel? Who tried to stop her and why?

Pilot Frank Hawks was actually the person who took Amelia on her first plane ride on December 28, 1920. However, she did not want to take riding lessons from him due to the fact that he was less than enthusiastic about women flying.

Due to her fame, many people’s opinions on how women shouldn't be able to fly planes led to her believing even more that she should fight for her rights. The values of those people tended to include being slightly pessimistic and close minded on changes, sometimes within society.

After her parent’s divorce around 1935, she stopped pursuing her dream of flying, and moved back to Boston with her mum and sister. She felt the immense need to help provide and handle the finances, since her father usually produced the most income, (out of his ex-wife and him).

Even though Amelia Earhart went on very risky flights, she always made it clear that she was aware of the consequences and dangers of what could happen. She was a very brave and daring woman who loved flying a plane.

Focus Question 3:

How did Amelia Earhart break through the gender barriers in aviation? Did anyone help her?

Edwin, (her father), was at first quite reluctant to help Amelia find a female pilot instructor, but he later on agreed. Amelia later met Amelia Snook, a female pilot that was just a year older than her. Anita agreed to become her instructor, not realising how iconic Amelia would become.

She set out to break as many records as possible, and also handled considerable amounts of physically challenging work to show people that women could do just as much as men could. She believed women were just as capable as men. Amelia always supported other female pilots; she never saw them as competition.

Focus Question 4:

How has Amelia Earhart changed things for women? What can we do to make sure women don’t face those kind of gender barriers in the future?

As Amelia Earhart became more and more famous, word of her feats and the fact that she was a woman spread around. Her actions inspired many women to go out there and follow their dreams. There weren’t many other female pilots back then, but she was very set on earning the respect of male pilots. Earhart has inspired generations of women to do and achieve things that had never been done before by women, and even men.

However, today people tend to still recognise pilots as being men. Think about it. Have you ever been on a plane and heard the voice of a women as the pilot? Most people would say never or only once or twice. A lot of women barely ever think of becoming a pilot, or having a career in aviation. We need to do something, spread the word about how piloting isn’t just for men.  A reason that women might not become a pilot is that men don’t have as many commitments as women do. Women have to think about their future, family, and/or children before they do anything major. This forces women to cross off becoming a pilot, due to the fact that there are major things to consider. Money for example, it can cost up to $200,000 to become a pilot. There’s no difference in the capability of women and men in the industry of aviation, it’s just the fact that it is very hard for women to pursue that type of dream.