More handpicked essays just for you.
Rosie the riveter and the role of women
What contributions did Rosie The Riveter make to ww2
Rosie the riveter and the role of women
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Sambridhi Ghimire
Professor MacLellan
English 201
October 26, 2014
Just Do It
In 1943, during World War II, J. Howard Miller created an American wartime poster. It featured a rather strong looking woman, who is believed to have been modeled after a black and white picture taken of a Michigan factory worker named Geraldine Hoff Doyle, flexing her bicep with the words "We Can Do It!" written above her. The poster came to be known as “Rosie the Riveter.” Its main purpose was to inspire a boost in worker morale in the Westinghouse Electric Company, an American manufacturer; however, over the years it has come to be known as a feminist icon.
When this poster was actually produced, the United States, as well as the rest of the Allied powers, were
…show more content…
engaged and in the midst of the Second World War against Germany and the Axis powers. Due to the magnitude at which the war was being fought, about 50 million males were shipped out via a draft to go fight. This left several jobs that were normally done by males, vacant. This poster was part of a larger campaign, which included more posters such as Rosie the Riveter, to promote hard work, American patriotism, promote everyone’s necessary part in the war effort, and to bring in more women who had never actually done work outside of their homes to fill in male positions. In doing so, they'd become part of the war effort. Many men of this time were uneasy with the idea of women working and needed some convincing to let them partake in these jobs in order to support the war effort. Rosie the Riveter is actually one of many factors, which shattered the world’s mindset, which regarded women as people whose only role to be played was in their respective household, while men were the only ones who could hold “real” jobs in the outside world. It also regarded women as being weaker, lower beings than men. When Rosie the Riveter was created, and when it caused women to cover for men’s “real” jobs while they were out fighting in the war, the world saw that women were capable of doing the same things that men were. They came in and helped support the war effort at a crucial time. It was quite a valiant effort on women’s part as they built tanks, ships, and bombers for the men to use in the war. They contributed to the eventual victory of the Allied Forces in World War II. Rosie the Riveter, as well as other posters, broke the previous ideology and established a new one; one that recognized women as being stronger and more capable of doing things previously thought to be out of their reach. This is one of the main reasons why it is so widely used in feminist campaigns today. The success of the Rosie the Riveter advertisement campaign has been covered in the past in wide detail, and among the discussed subjects were why it was so successful.
One of the aspects, which made it so successful, was its color scheme; the iconic red, white, and blue represented American nationalism and patriotism. That paired along with a strong housewife, signified by her red with white polka dots handkerchief, which ties back her hair, and bold white words, “We Can Do It!” made for a striking and attracting visual to housewives and motivated them to want to do something for their country. This advertisement was also successful because it shattered the belief that a housewife was this soft and light human being by illustrating Rosie as a housewife with a stern look, and muscular, although not too muscular, arms, which was the complete opposite of societal norms established for housewives at the time. Despite that, Rosie is still shown to have maintained her feminine looks with the added red lipstick, blush, and mascara. Miller also threw in a bright yellow background to catch viewers’ eyes. Everything was done specifically to promote American patriotism, and to get women to support the war effort by joining the …show more content…
workforce. Today, Rosie the Riveter is still relevant, though not in quite the same way as it was when it was originally created.
Far after World War II came to a conclusion, the Rosie the Riveter poster was rediscovered during the second-wave of feminism in1980 and became famous as a feminist icon. Before then, the poster was not known as “Rosie the Riveter” nor was the name “Rosie” associated with it. It was mistakenly called that and it stuck with it over the years. It has been used several times in recent campaigns. One such example is during Sarah Palin’s 2008 campaign running to be the Vice President of the United States. Famous singer Beyoncé also recreated it recently by dressing up as Rosie and striking the same iconic pose in front of a bright yellow background for Instagram. Her fans reacted by calling it “the ultimate feminist picture.” Rosie the Riveter is a timeless piece of rhetoric as it has survived being influential back in the 1940’s, 1980’s, as well as all the way into present day in the 21st century. It was successful 70 years ago, and is still successful today, albeit in slightly different
ways. Grade: A-, Rosie the Riveter is an ad that contributed to victory of the Allied Forces in World War II by persuading women to take on jobs which were left vacant, such as building tanks, ships, and bombers in a crucial time and spearheaded the campaign which shattered the stay-at-home mindset that people had regarding housewives and established a new one which portrayed women as being equal to men and being strong as opposed to being soft, weak, and unable to work outside of the house. It also became part of the second-wave of feminism in the 1980’s and is frequently used in feminist movements in present day, meaning it has withstood the test of time and has remained a successful icon. The only setback in present times is that feminism has evolved into being something that promotes women over men, and has lost is essence which was all about equality between the two genders, and sometimes, Rosie the Riveter can be used in campaigns for this new, evolved version, of feminism.
Rosie the riveter was the face of recruiting women into the Armed Forces during WWII. The increasing demand for soldiers was not being filled fast enough by just males. As a result, between the years 1940 and 1945, the percentage of female service members increased from 27% to 37%. Even on the civilian side of things, the ratio of married working women outside of their homes increased to one out of every four. The population of women that did not join the war was prompted by Rosie the Riveter’s iconic image of working in one of the many munitions industries throughout the US.
Even though the real-life munitions worker was one of the basis of the Rosie campaign it took on a persona of its own. This persona was a fictitious character that was strong and bandanna-clad (“American Women in World War II”). Rosie was one of the most success recruitment tools in American history, and one of the most iconic images of working women during World War II. The most prominent image of Rosie the Riveter popularized in American culture was the version featured on the “We Can Do It!” posters created by the United States government (Hawkes). The Rosie the government made has a resemblance to Rockwell’s Rosie, but she is less masculine. This propaganda poster of Rosie the Riveter employed by the United States government was popular because she appealed to the sense of patriotism and common goal of the Second World War. Upgraded Rosie also showed that women could retain their femininity and womanhood in their service. Every Rosie the Riveter image played to this prevailing sense of patriotism that abounded in America during World War II. Patriotism was used as a primary motivator to recruit women for war work. Most American women had husbands, brothers, sons, and fiancés fighting on the frontlines of the war, so the women felt compelled to provide to make a contribution as citizens at home. Most of the time woman had to take care of their children and household while
One such propaganda poster that was spread across Great Britain features a female factory worker with her arms spread wide that reads: “Women of Britain come into the factories”. This particular poster targeted an audience of women and was used to persuade woman to become more involved in the workforce. By showing the young woman wearing a factory uniform while posing in a victorious manner, the poster has the effect of giving future female factory workers the impression that woman participating in factory work will lead to a victory for Great Britain and its Allies in the war.
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States whom represented the women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom produced military equipment and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military. The symbol of feminism and women's economic power was often amplified through Rosie the Riveter. "Rosie the Riveter" was a popular phrase first used in 1942 in a song of the same name written by Redd Evans. Auto factories were converted to build airplanes, shipyards were expanded, and new factories were built, and all these facilities needed workers. While the men were busy fighting in war, women were dominant in assistance. Companies took the idea of hiring women seriously. Eventually, women were needed because companies were signing large, lucrative contracts with the government just as all the men were leaving for the service. The various elements or figures of Rosie was based on a group of women, most of whom were named Rose. Many of these women named "Rose" varied in class, ethnicity, geography, and background diversity. One specially, who's had the biggest impact of all Rosie's was Rose Will Monroe. Rose Will Monroe, the most influential "Rosie" at the time, represented women during World War II by working most of her time in a Michigan factory.
The role of women in American history has evolved a great deal over the past few centuries. In less than a hundred years, the role of women has moved from housewife to highly paid corporate executive to political leader. As events in history have shaped the present world, one can find hidden in such moments, pivotal points that catapult destiny into an unforeseen direction. This paper will examine one such pivotal moment, fashioned from the fictitious character known as ‘Rosie the Riveter’ who represented the powerful working class women during World War II and how her personification has helped shape the future lives of women.
The goal of Hillary’s speech is to persuade her audience that her ideas are valid, by using ethos, pathos, and logos. Hillary is the First Lady and Senator, she shows credibility as an influential activist for woman rights. “Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my country and around the world” (Clinton 2).
The 1970s was a progressive period of time for feminism and feminist movements. With fewer marriages, smaller families, and more single men and women living alone, the idea of a strong, independent woman was becoming a widely accepted idea. Politically, 1975 marks the International Women’s Year, created by the United Nations, and later is considered the start of the National Decade of Women. Visuals like the Virginia Slims cigarette advertisements and the international symbol of women’s equality continued to push feminism to the forefront of the mind during this decade. Even with push-back from anti-feminists like Phyllis Schlafly and the Pro-Family Rally, feminism stood tall during the decade of transition known as the “second wave” of feminism (Bondi
During the war, men were off fighting for America, and the women were left behind to take over their jobs in the factories. Women proved that they can do almost all of the same jobs as men. Rosie the Riveter, a picture of a woman flexing with a caption of “We Can Do It,” became the symbol for women all across the nation. After the war, years later, women began to receive equal pay for the same jobs that the men were doing. Many other minority groups, such as African Americans, played a huge
These questions are still being studied and debated by historians today. Several books have been written on the subject, including "Rosie the Riveter Revisited" by Sherna Berger Gluck, "The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s" by Susan M. Hartmann, and "Creating Rosie the Riveter" by Maureen Honey. Additionally, scholarly articles such as "Working Class Rosies: Women Industrial Workers During World War II" by Sherrie A. Koussoudji and Laura J. Dresser and "Beyond the Feminine Mystique: A Reassessment of Postwar Mass Culture, 1946-1958" by Joanne Meyerowitz have contributed to the ongoing discussion.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a well-recognized woman in the United States. Her great contribution as Secretary of State impacted people’s lives. One of many remarkable speeches Clinton gave was the “The Women Rights Speech” at the 4th World Conference on Women Plenary Session, where she used strong words and emotions to appeal to the audience. Even though the speech talked about women's rights, she wanted everyone, including men and children, to listen and take action. Her use of ethos, logos and pathos throughout the speech helped people understand women live in a world where they suffer discrimination, and she proposes solutions to solve the issue.
Zoe Leonard, an AID’s activist and founder of feminist collectives “Fierce Pussy”, is the original creator of the impactful poem “I Want A Dyke For President”. Through her piece, Leonard expresses her desire for a presidential candidate who has gone through the same struggles as the people he/she hopes to lead. Leonard not only expresses the need for a candidate who understands struggle, but she also is addressing the injustice that goes on in our country. Her overall goal she hoped to establish when writing this poem is to create awareness of the consistent stereotypical “leader” that always runs for office. Although the poem is recreated by an actor, Leonard’s tone in the poem directed to everyday citizens and voters is not necessarily
It is obvious that this advertisement reflects the stereotypical depictions of women as “Happy Homemakers”, apron-clad and committed mothers portrayed in self-promotional ads. According to Nancy Woloch, author of Women and the American Experience: A Concise History, the women during the 1900’s were at home as a kind of cultural hostage and took responsibility primarily for housekeeping, child rearing, moral and spiritual life.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Chevrolet.
World War II affected the workforce of men and women in different ways, men were drafted to war while women took their place in factories and workyards. Patriotism influenced women into working while the men were at war. Once at work, women were convinced to go to work by the economic incentives, the women learned about the nonmaterial benefits that come with working such as learning new skills, contributing to the public good, and proving that women can do the jobs meant for men just as good as the men could do the work (1940s.org). Women in the 1940s were hesitant to join the workforce, that was until Norman Rockwell’s fictional character “Rosie the Riveter” inspired multiple women to join the workforce to help dedicate their services to the war. The creation of “Rosie the Riveter”lead to, many other images of “Rosie” to help bring forth volunteers for the
For over 60 years, Wonder Woman has filled the pages of her magazine with adventures ranging from battling Nazis, to declawing human-like Cheetahs. Her exploits thrilled and inspired many young girls, including Gloria Steinem. Through all of this, she has had to pilot her invisible jet through territories that her male counterparts have never had to. She is constantly pulled in two directions; her stories must be entertaining and non threatening to the male status quo, while simultaneously furthering her as the original symbol of 'Girl Power.' She is praised for being an icon of strength to women everywhere, but chastised for wearing a skimpy costume and tying men up, as if she were no more than a male fantasy. No comic book character has had to endure as much scrutiny as Wonder Woman. That's because Wonder Woman represents an entire gender, at a time of important social flux. Although she was created by a man to influence a male audience, Wonder Woman has evolved into an important symbol of the feminist movement.