I've been reading about the civil rights movement and I have come to understand that a lot of feminists movements were also actively taking part in it. However, I'm quite intrigued that women after taking part in the World War II and playing a crucial role in WWII did not immediately ask for their rights after WWII. I mean, for the role they played in WWII, they should have had greater bargaining power to get more rights. Instead, many women returned back to their home. I think I read somewhere that the estimate was that almost half the women who worked during the WWII went back to homemaking after WWII. According to what I have read so far, there wasn't any prominent women's rights cause after WWII. I have tried to find information online but I got a few books.google.com that I could not access because of my region. It would be great if anyone could just give me sources that are accessible. Thanks.
Since Germany is my speciality, I can't give alot of info on the situaion in the USA or the UK, I can however give you an in-sight on Germany.
They had to. Really, the time after WW2 was not the right time for them to start caring about their rights. Alot of men were dead, had severe psychological disorders, or were simply not able to do anything on their own, therefore the women had to do their job without asking any questions if they wanted to see their country healthy again.
The so called "Trümmerfrauen" (ruin women? I don't know how I can perfectly translate this.) were the main reason why Germany prospered again after two world wars, and why we had a (comparative) easy time doing so. They were the ones who got rid of all the ruins. They were the ones rebuilding homes. They were the ones giving medical assistance, and they were the ones who had to care about their scarred soldier-husbands.
So that's why women didn't instantly try to get the right they deserved, but luckily after a while, when Germany recovered, they did. And nowadays equality is assured, atleast here in Germany.
Hope that helped you a bit. :)