Research Paper On Rosie The Riveter

949 Words4 Pages

Rosie the Riveter : Leader of a Revolution During the history of the United States of America, there have been millions of influential women. Some include Harriet Tubman, Coretta Scott King, Eleanor Roosevelt. These women helped change America. However, there was a silent army of women who have barely gotten half the recognition they deserve. They revolutionized America’s wartime economy. And this revolutions’ leader was Rosie the Riveter. Rosie the Riveter inspired women who had never worked before to rise up and take over the workforce. She became the face of the silent army who helped America and its allies win the war. First, let us review Rosie’s timeline. In 1942, J. Howard Miller designed the first poster with Rosie as the main ____ …show more content…

The poster of Rosie we see everywhere today is rather simple; Rosie with her sleeve rolled up, showing off her working-class muscles, with a spotted bandana and a yellow and blue background. However, Norman Rockwell’s version is a bit more patriotic. Rockwell’s version had a flag in the background and a copy of Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, under Rosie’s feet, heavily relying on symbolism to try to convince women they could help crush Hitler (“Rosie the Riveter”). This same version had Rosie wearing a man’s working uniform: overalls, loafers, goggles, a shield, and a riveting gun (“Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War Two”). However, Rockwell made sure she still had recognizably female traits. She wore makeup, nail polish, had curly hair, and was eating, which was an activity commonly linked to domestic home life (“Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War Two”). Even though Rosie’s poster was meant to recruit women to the workforce, she is never shown actually working (“Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War Two”). Regardless of the content of the posters, the “We Can Do It” campaign was still very …show more content…

The government told newspapers, magazines, TV networks, etc., to publish content specifically targeted to women to recruit them to the workforce. In 1943, a pamphlet called “Women At Work” planted the fear of quote on quote “civilian life breaking down” due to lack of people doing everyday jobs (“Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War Two”). Jobs such as elevator operators, newspaper deliverers, nurses, etc. The pamphlet sold unbelievably well, mainly due to the fact that that fear was not an irrational one, but one that was grounded on evidence from the past. World War Two happened roughly soon after the Great Depression, where unemployment percentages raised and the stock market collapsed. People were afraid of that happening again and since there were so many spots to fill in factories after most men went to fight, most women who were already working went to work in the factories. That left a lot of “civilian jobs” without people to do them. So, Rockwell was encouraged to draw another recruitment girl, this one however was depicted several times in several different uniforms (“Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War Two”). For example, she was most commonly dressed as a nurse or a mechanic (“Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War Two”). Sadly, this recruitment girl lived in Rosie’s shadow and did not do nearly as well as Rosie did. As a matter of fact,

More about Research Paper On Rosie The Riveter