Female Spies During the World Wars

Women’s participation in espionage efforts during World War I and World War II went beyond gender stereotypes and roles of the time, benefiting contemporary intelligence-gathering efforts and laying foundations for further involvement for women in spy craft. Demographics and gender expectations of the time gave women the ability to complete missions that their male counterparts could not. The methodologies developed created unique technological advancements tailored to women, such as audio and visual technology hidden within women’s makeup products. This project addresses a gap in research on women’s participation in espionage and the methods they employed during the World Wars. Media portrayals of the femme fatale, only women that would use sex and sexuality for espionage, colors understandings of the contributions made. Previous research focuses on the relationship between media representations and female spies’ actions along with expected gender roles and female spies’ societal value. The methodologies used by female spies are overlooked. During this project, I reviewed biographies and official government reports to categorize methods they used and assess the reasoning behind use of the varying methodologies. Due to demographics and psychographics, women’s participation in espionage, though office work and field work, was crucial to the war effort and success of intelligence networks which went beyond the gender stereotypes of the period which push for more inclusion of women in the intelligence field. Female efforts during the World Wars allowed for the establishment and continuation of intelligence networks and office management.