Rosie The Riveter: Women In The Military

“During the war about half of American women worked outside of their homes,”( Hughes 2). The number of working women rose from fourteen point six million in nineteen forty one to nineteen point four million in nineteen forty four. “Women were not just motivated by wages or patriotism; but buy the feeling of independence that they gained from the work,” (Hughes 2). Without women laborers the US economy would have never been able to produce military hardware to be successful in the war. Even though women played a huge role in the work force during the World War II, they also played an even bigger role in the war itself. Women played several different roles in the actual war. “A few of women’s roles in the actual war of World War II would be army nurses, spies, pilots and entertainers,” (Scott3). Women served as army nurses during World War 11, there were than seven thousand active nurses on duty when the United States entered the war. “Women also served as pilots, on September tenth nineteen forty two, Nancy Harkness Love, with the support of th U.S. Air Transport Command, organized twenty five women pilots into the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (W.A.F.S),” (Scott3). Women pilots were used to serve non- combat flights, to free the men for combat flights. “Women spies of the World WarII , they were often successful and unsuspected since people suspected women that women’s properly roles were solely domestic,” (Scott3). Lastly

‘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 people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,

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.

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.

Many people have never considered what women were doing in WWII when their husbands left to fight. Their lives weren’t easy or normal during the war. Women had to work just as hard as men, sometimes even more so. In this essay, I will discuss the position of American women before World War II, during the war, and at the end of the war.

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

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to

Is there a reason why Rosie the Riveter says, “We Can Do It!”? Well there actually is. In 1939, World War 2 broke out. The United States immediately chose to join it since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and since most of the men left to fight, women were the only ones left. Women however, did not want to stay home and do nothing, they wanted to help. 350,000 women joined and served in uniform. Women were a big deal during World War 2.

Rosie the Riveter was a fictitious character created by the United States Government. She was designed to attract women into the workforce. Many of the individuals that worked in the munitions industry were males. Women were called to patriotic arms by the government to help work in locations such as the aviation industry (www.history.com). History played a major role in my decision to tackle such a task.

The WWII started when Japanese warplanes attacked America's Hickam Field ,Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.The surprise attack left the nation stunned as president Roosevelt called the United States to war.( http://www.u-s-history.com/)American men left their jobs to go to war leaving a gaping hole in the labor force . Rosie the Riveter motivated women to enter the workforce. Rosie the Riveter star of the government campaign her purpose to inspire females to work for the munitions industry. She became the most iconic image of working women during the war. Magazine used titles like “Women, you could hasten victory by working and save your man”.The magazine war guide recommended that all published magazines participate in a “women at work cover’’(www.history.com).

It was also a necessary tool needed to change men’s minds about women entering into this line of work. There was no doubt that industrial jobs, such as riveting or shipbuilding, was dirty, hard and dangerous. The men who continued to work in this field did not agree with women entering this workforce because women were still viewed as the inferior sex. These men were concerned that women would be treated differently or would not have to carry their weight because they were women. The Rosie Poster had a huge message for these men, that women were strong and determined and would carry their weight. Many husbands also disapproved of this new role, in fact, up one third of married men did not approve of their wives entering into the workforce because they did not want their wives to change and become callous (Gluck 12). Recruitment photos such as Rosie the Riveter was vital in changing everyone’s opinion on such a touchy

Rosie The Riveter was one of the first fights for equality among women and men.

There are a lot of Women that made history for Women that fight in the military. There are Women like Margaret Corbin, Major Wendy Clay, and other Women. Annie G. Fox got the award the purple heart after serving in World war 11. Loretta Walsh was the first Women to enlisted. Women always fulfill their goal in the army and the navy.(Source D)

Throughout the country the women generation has made its way around today. The was people view women was very different back than , than it is now. Women were looked as housewives and waited on the men and the children, and cooked dinners and made sure all the work and cleaning was done. And men thought girls belonged there and not in the mens workplace, but suddenly that all changed. More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943, making up 65 percent of the industry’s total workforce “Rosie The Riveter”. An icon started going around by the name “ Rosie the riveter” , Rosie is not just one women in specific , she’s millions of women across the world, that stepped up to do what is called a “ Man's job”. Rosie forever changes women empowerment, and changed the way most look at the women generation today.