How Did Rosie The Riveter Influence Women In The 1960s

With most American men away at war in the 1940's, women entered the work force in droves to keep the country running. They worked in factories, metal working, aviation- basically any field that was left available when American men entered the war. To promote the war-time effort, propoganda posters such as Rosie the Riveter were used along side other famous images such as Uncle Sam and others; urging Americans to buy liberty bonds or join the army. Rosie the Riveter is an American wartime propoganda poster created by Norman Rockwell for the Saturday Evening Post on Memorial Day in 1943. The cover was so popular that the magazine loaned it to the U.S. Treasury Department for the duration of the war for use in war bond drives and as propoganda. Although the

Seen largely as the symbol of women's empowerment and a sign of various gender transformations that took place during the 1960's to 80's, the poster has influenced women all over the country since 1943. During the war Rosie was meant to insight patriotism in females and attract women to the workforce, since most American men were away at war. The poster was meant to inspire women to take up the jobs their husbands and other male family members had left behind. Rockwells illustration shows a tough woman taking her lunch break with a rivet gun in her lap (a clue to her namesake,) and a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf under her shoe. In a time where there was a depleted work force due to war, women were the best answer to the problem; and this propaganda poster showcases that. In fact, the American government made sure to portray a figure that females would see as a role model; strong, loyal, efficient, patriotic, and pretty. However, the American government did not forsee the range of Rosie's influence. Although Rosie was only meant to inspire women to fill the workforce during war, she has recently inspired women to do so much