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Rosie the Riveter, a symbol of Feminism or Patriotism
We all know the famous Rosie the Riveter but how much do we know? What does she represent? Who was she represent? Why is she so important? In a 2014 survey, 78% of percipients said she was feminism icon. But she didn’t start of that way.
The accuracy of Rosie the Riveter was in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943. The propanga by Norman Rockwell portrays a “muscular Rosie taking a sandwich break, with her feet resting on a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf, while her riveting gun is temporarily idle.” “This image of Rosie was hypothetical, based on Michelangelo's Isaiah from the Sistine Chapel, and the model was not a riveter, but a dental hygienist.”(Strobel,3). At the posting of
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her more version of her portrayed across of the country. The most famous version of Rosie the Riveter was made by J. Howard Miller. In We Can Do It! Miller pictured Geraldine Hoff Doyle. “During her one [first] week on the job, she was spotted and photographed by an unknown wire journalist. Miller transformed this photograph into a poster for the Westinghouse Electric Company, which did not employ riveters… Miller's Rosie poster did not depict a riveter, nor was it seen by many people during the war.” (Strobel,1) It was not until after the war that We Can Do It! became famous. Doyle became a cultural icon of the United States. These women became a symbol of Patriotism during WWII. Rosie, “refer to all women who worked in defense industries and not just riveters.” (Strobel,1) “Rosie the Riveter, star of a government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry, became perhaps the most iconic image of working women during the war.” (History.com Staff, 1). After Roosevelt declared war on Japan majority of men enlisted into the war. And the women were left to fill the shoes of the men. “More than six million female workers helped to build planes, bombs, tanks and other weapons that would eventually win World War II.” (U-S-History.com,1) “Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. work force increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent,” (History.com Staff,1).” …The Rosie the Riveter campaign stressed the patriotic need for women to enter the work force.” (History.com Staff,2). Although, Rosie started as a patriotic campaign she has become a feminism symbol.
But back in 1980’s We Can Do It! was adopted by the Feminist Movement. She images as a model for campaigning women’s right and ignores the original intent. But still today she is an iconic for paterism “The American public was greeted by a familiar figure [We Can Do It!] in September of 2007, on the cover of Time magazine. Rosie the Riveter was standing proudly, just as she had in her original representation by J. Howard Miller in 1942. She had retained her familiar profile, with her muscular arm displayed proudly to viewers, inviting them to remember her as a symbol of American pride, innovation, and of course, the strength of American volunteerism.” “The fact that Rosie was chosen as a symbol for this innovation and preservation of American freedom proves that the spirit of patriotism still radiates from her.” (McGrath,3). Acording to McGrath, “Over the years, however, she has taken on new meanings, as many icons often do. While she still represents patriotism and volunteerism… she also has become a feminist icon despite her patriarchal roots… new life was breathed into Rosie as a symbol of past, present and future women’s liberation.” “Today, we see the poster through a lens shaped by what came later, particularly Second Wave feminism. The women’s rights movement of the 1960s and ‘70s fostered a gender based form of identity politics in which women identified with each another as women and viewed themselves as sisters in a struggle against gender inequality…Within this context, now we look at the “We Can Do It!” poster and take for granted that “we” me[Sharp or Wade] and other women.” (Sharp,2). We Can Do It! is such a popular symbol of feminism, Beyoncé, the famous entertainer, posted a photo of herself dresses as Rosie as an act of
feminism. In conclusion, Rosie started as a famous propaganda poster as an act of feminism now, now she has become a symbol for win. It’s a debatable topic, is she a women of patriotism or feminism? We could of always ask the illustrator but it looks like they’re already dead.
This interpretation of Rosie was firmly entrenched in the concept of women entering the workforce as their patriotic duty. In the painting you can see that Rosie is stomping on a copy of Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler’s 1925 autobiography and political manifesto. The message was clear; although men did the physical fighting on the frontlines, women were also doing their part to defeat the enemy (Hawkes). The war industry during WWII gave women the opportunity to earn their own living and contribute to the war effort. The imagery of “Riveters” we are accustomed to serve as an allegory; the war propaganda used “Rosie” as a metaphorical representation of the millions of women (of all colors and socio-economic classes) who took action during war time when patriarchal order was relaxed. These women joined the work force in order to help their country, to gain the benefits of employment, and to improve their quality of life
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.
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.
PATRIOTISM OR HATE-RIOTISM? Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth, universal brotherhood and good will, and a constant and earnest striving toward the principles and ideals on which this country was founded.” Growing up in one of the most patriotic countries in the world, The United States of America, patriotism is everywhere. Patriotism is defined as devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty. Whether it’s expressed through hanging the U.S flag outside one’s house, a bumper sticker on the back of a car, supporting one of the many sports teams with the American colors, or even serving in the military.
In “What They Fought For”. James McPherson engages the reader with the general themes of what motivated the individual soldier to enter to fight in the Civil War. The book is divided into three chapters, giving the insight of many soldiers being divided by the border between the north and south. The lack of censorship at the time allows the reader to clearly see the insight of what these soldiers were trying to display. Although the soldiers are not equally represented by these few letters. There are still a lot of factors that could ultimately affected the overall believes of the soldiers. For example the opinion of the illiterate soldiers were not disclosed because they lacked the ability to write, the unskilled and farmers were also under
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
Koussoudji, Sherrie A. and Laura J. Dresser. “Working class Rosies: Women Industrial Workers During World War II” The Journal of Economic History 51.2 (June 1992): 431-446
There is much controversy surrounding the idea of patriotism and the iconography of the American flag in today’s society. Some believe patriotism is simply the act of supporting the decisions of the leaders of the country. Others say, to be patriotic, people should be outspoken and voice their oppositions to what is going on in the government. Opinions also differ on the idea of what the American flag represents. One opinion of the flags representation is that the flag represents our history, and the formerly mentioned idea of patriotism. Others believe the flag also represents our history as a nation, but these beliefs focus much more heavily on the negative aspects of our history; such as slavery and other injustices carried out by our nation. These people often believe we should find a new iconography for our country’s ideas of patriotism. As Barbara Kingsolver states in “And Our Flag Was Still There,” “Patriotism seems to be falling to whoever claims it loudest, and we’re left struggling to find a definition in a clamor of reaction” (Pg. 1). Therefore, every American’s duty is to define patriotism amongst the clamor of reaction, recapture the American flag’s representation, and create a new icon for the flag.
"William Marston was an unusual man—a psychologist, a soft-porn pulp novelist, more than a bit of a carny, and the (self-declared) inventor of the lie detector. He was also the creator of Wonder Woman, the comic that he used to express two of his greatest passions: feminism and women in bondage. " (Berlatsky, 2015) 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.
Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States. She represents the American women who took the jobs of the men during world war 2. They sometimes got entirely different jobs because the spot needed filled. Rosie the Riveter is used as a symbol of feminism and women?s economic power. The world wars were total wars that required governments to utilize their entire populations to defeat the enemies. This meant that millions of women were encouraged to work in industry and take over jobs previously done by men. Both world wars were similar in these ways because most of the men went to war. Nearly 19 million women held jobs during world was 2. Many of these women were already working before the war. Only three million new female workers
On September 7, 1968, a group of feminists from the Women’s Liberation Movement protested the Miss America Pageant. To quote their press release, the women were protesting, “The degrading Mindless-Boobie-Girl Symbol,” “Racism with Roses,” and the “irrelevant crown on the throne of mediocrity,” among other issues in an attempt to raise consciousness in the American public. This protest scandalized Americans with its theatrics and radicalism. The downfall of the Miss America Protest was hastened by its own radicalism and exclusivity, as was the Women’s Liberation Movement at large.
Constantly serving as a critical topic of discussion throughout centuries of history, the celebration of women’s rights and the steps taken to achieve this ideal around different regions of the world has set the foundation for the perceptions of females today. In the United States, women’s rights conferences were held as early as the mid-1800s and entirely manifested into a movement in the 1920s when women were officially granted suffrage, or the right to vote in political elections, at a national level. Along with utilizing this newly gained privilege to have their voices be heard in political affairs, women also began to taking steps to be seen in society too, adopting the styles and mannerisms of a flapper – a young, fashionable American
Betty Friedan was tremendously involved in providing a voice for woman all around the world. Betty’s passion for supporting women’s rights began during the 1940’s and 1950’s when she became apart of a group of supporters who campaigned against racism and women’s rights. She also published many articles for newspapers that focused on the issues of women’s rights. Betty Friedan wrote a book titled, The Feminine Mystique, which focused on the roles of women in society. Her book was remarkably successful. In 1966, Friedan took part in creating the National Organization for Women in order to create equality for all females. Betty was president of NOW from 1966 to 1970. Betty established NOW in order to end sex segregated job advertisements, men only bars and clubs, and advocating for affordable childcare. She motivated and encouraged thousands of women to join the movement. In ...
Throughout the 19 century there have been many feminist role models that have come and gone. The work of these great individuals inspired the younger generations to continue the movement and move towards equality. There have been many different things considered to be the icon of feminism from propaganda posters in World War II too female writers and journalists in the 1900s. However as the Second World War was coming to closure a new icon of feminism emerged from the world of comics. This superheroine will go down in history with the likes of Batman and Superman as one of the strongest and most popular comic book characters of all time.
In just a few decades The Women’s Liberation Movement has changed typical gender roles that once were never challenged or questioned. As women, those of us who identified as feminist have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at...