Rosie the Riveter

By Jennifer Preston

At the beginning of the United States entrance to World War II many men were drafted into the military. Due to the loss in number of men from drafts many companies were left to fulfill contracts for production of war equipment, but no men to finish the work. In order to fill these empty positions the government decided to establish campaigns to promote women to work for the war efforts. There were over 125 million advertisements including magazines, newspapers, songs, TV shows and movies aimed at getting women to work war jobs. A song Rosie the Riveter became popular at this time and then was even more publicized by the famous artist Norman Rockwell’s image of Rosie. The government used the character Rosie to portray working women as loyal, pretty, and patriotic.

At this time society only wanted this to be a temporary relief. Husbands did not want their wives working and people were worried with out mothers that juvenile delinquency would go up. But society slowly started to accept and even admire these women. Over 18 million women ended up working during WWII. Many faced discrimination from their male counterparts, but came to be well respected in the workforce. They received specialized training but only earned 60% of the male’s wages. Women came to find that they loved working and learning new skills. But as the war ended women were pushed out of their jobs or had to find ones that were lower paying and considered womanly. Still record numbers of women stayed in the workforce. The Rosie’s of WWII had created a new era for the women of the future.