Rosie The Riveter Analysis

Where did the name “Rosie the Riveter” come from? Rosie the Riveter came from a song known as “Rosie the Riveter” written in 1942 by Redd Evans, inspired by Rosalind P. Walter, who worked in a factory making fighter jets. “Rosie's got a boyfriend, Charlie/ Charlie, he's a Marine/Rosie is protecting Charlie/Workin' overtime on the riveting machine”. The song applauded and inspired women supporting the war effort. A commonly known slogan for Rosie the Riveter is the saying “We can do it!” which really encouraged women to get out and make a change. Over the course of the war, Rosie the Riveter became a symbol of feminism, and an encouragement for women to make a difference in society. Rosie the Riveter became one of the most famous and successful recruitment tools in American history. Many people started to believe that hardworking and successful woman, was a real life representation of Rosie the

‘Rosie the Riveter’ is the name of a fictional character which was created to represent and symbolize the millions of real women who were encouraged by the North American government to join the work force in factories, munition plants and shipyards during World War II, while most men were called to duty to serve in the army during the war.

Many women worked in domestic and clerical service as secretaries, telephone operators, and other “gender appropriate” jobs. Women even entered the workforce at a faster rate than men, due to employers willing to hire them at lower wages than most men would accept. Consequently, working women were criticized because they were said to be taking away jobs meant for men. Once the United States entered World War II, most men enlisted as soldiers, creating labor shortages. This increased demand for employees, caused women to replace men in the workforce. The persona of “Rosie the Riveter” inspired millions of females to work in defense industries and support services. Despite this surge in working women, many employers still would not hire African Americans, leading to a push for equal opportunity among union organizers. In 1941, Roosevelt made a step towards equality by issuing Executive Order 8802 which banned racial discrimination in

The poster Rosie the Riveter was created for the Saturday Evening Post May 29, 1943 for the Memorial Day issue. The artist J. Howard Miller created one of the most iconic posters of all time. The Rosie the Riveter poster was made as propaganda to encourage women to join the workforce, as the men fought in World War 2. The meaning behind the poster Rosie the Riveter has stayed the same throughout time, giving women a sense of entitlement. It intentionally made women motivated to do their part and to support the war and join the workforce. The poster did wonders as women headed to the factories. They were needed, so women put their work boots on and went to work, as the men went off to war. Rosie the Riveter was the face if a new generation of women by giving them the chance to be independent. This helped create mass social change. As men headed back to work they were

Suddenly women were being called from their kitchens to work in the factories, being told that it was their patriotic duty. The famous "Rosie the Riveter" image arose from this movement. Rosie became a new image for women, being portrayed as strong, tough, and attractive. It was from this very image that the idea for the league was born.

Even though Rosie the Riveter is an image frequently synonymous with the contemporary women’s movement, she was not designed to promote social change or improve the role of women in the workplace during World War II. In reality, she was promoted as the ideal female worker and was patriotic, confident, capable, and beautiful in a large propaganda campaign by the United States government. Since the war caused many men to answer the call to serve in the military, both at home and abroad, the United States was faced with the urgent challenge of recruiting women into the workforce. Rosie the Riveter was their solution to this problem.

Rosie the Riveter represented the millions actual women who occupied American factories throughout World War II. In later years, Rosie would become an American symbol for the women’s movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Not long after Rosie became popular, women

about 350,000 women worked in newly formed female army positions, such as women pilots, or WASPs, and women marine corps. Men were hesitant to let the women help out, but as stated by womensmemorial.org, “Commanders who had once stated that they would except women ‘over my dead body’ soon welcomed them and asked for more” (World War II:Women and the War). What this shows is that men were not accepting of the women, but once they realized what great workers they were, they were happy to hire them for uniformed positions. Women took jobs as cooks, nurses, factory workers, and mechanics, all of which were necessary for America to win the war. They didn’t need to draft as many men due to the increase in

Gilderlehrman.org announced, “The number of working women rose from 14,600,000 in 1941 to 19,370,000 in 1944. In the later year, 37 percent of all adult women were in the labor force. At the peak of the industrial effort, women constituted 36 percent of the civilian work force.” ("The World War II Home Front"). The total population of women workers were growing majorly. Women were making movements across the country due to working in factories. More women actually enjoyed working in factories rather than their housewife job. More women started expanding their culture due to it. A major impact to women was Rosie the Riveter. Rosie the Riveter was a woman figure who was all over articles to encourage women of any age to step out of their comfort zone, and encouraged them to take a part in helping out with the war. Gilderlehrman.org states “But then the

A girl who was 17 years old, became the motivation the 1940’s for women. She would later become known as Rosie the Riveter. This girls’ name is Geraldine Hoff Doyle. She was a hardworking woman and she had a job at a metal manufacturing plant in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her poster was exhibited all over the U.S. The poster was of Geraldine Hoff Doyle pulling her sleeve back to show that she is strong while wearing a red polka dot bandana headband. Her shout of “We Can Do It!” is over her in bold letters.

Rosie was supposed to resemble and model a real life woman, she was a model to the female citizens of the U.S. It was basically the U.S. government’s propaganda to help encourage women to work hard while most of the men went to war. Most jobs were actually not available to women for the most part but since lots of men went to war women were encouraged to help any way the can.

During the war more than six million women joined the workforce. In August of 1943 Newsweek Magazine reported: “They [women] are in the shipyards, lumber mills, steel mills, foundries. They are welders, electricians, mechanics, and even boiler makers. They operate street cars, buses, cranes, and tractors. Women engineers are working in the drafting rooms and women physicists and chemists in the great industrial laboratories.”

Many women began “to fill industrial jobs vacated by men,” proving women could perform jobs done by men (Foner 867). Women had “new opportunities suddenly opened in industrial, professional, and government positions” that were “previously restricted to men” (Foner 867). This newfound independence of women influenced the creation of “Rosie the Riveter,” created by J. Howard Miller. In the poster, Rosie is depicted as a strong, independent, industrial worker with the famous catchphrase “We Can Do it!”. However, when the war ended, men returned to their pre-war occupations and women were pushed out out their temporary industrial jobs.

The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter The movie begins with many photos of women working, with a song about Rosie the Riveter playing. The first woman to be interviewed is named Lola Weixel, who recalls working in a factory that made party products. She was in high school working during bad times, and found it ironic how everyone was sad making products that were meant to make people happy. She describes the job being very repetitive, and for 144 products you would only make a dime.

Before the majority of women who worked young and unmarried and now the amount of married women in the workforce has doubled and surpassed the amount of unmarried women. These women are working industrial jobs in factories and serving in the U.S. military, which were positions formerly filled by males. Women are being encouraged to these jobs through publications, films, and advertising tactics such as Rosie the Riveter and these same platforms are falsely glorified. Although it is great that the mount of women in the workplace has increased, females continue to be regarded lower than men. There is also the issue that many of these women would like to continue to be employed after the war, but federal agencies are insisting that these jobs are only temporary. One the war is over, these women will be left unemployed and in search for other