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Rosie The Riveter Essay

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The 50s’ were a time of affluence if there ever was one in the United States, everything seemed to get larger, the American family, the towns they lived in, the malls the shopped in and the highways they rode in. America was prospering and as a result of this prosperity the American middle class grew not only in size but in wealth as well. This generation could afford to buy sprawling homes in the suburbs and fill them with kids in a way that their parents never could, this affluence enabled women to stay home and take care of their children and their homes and so the nuclear family was born. This family dynamic was cemented into place by the media, that created an image of the perfect post-war family that was content with its suburban lifestyle …show more content…

was fighting in World War II, a war which sent more than 16 million men overseas. Throughout the war women took the place of men in the workforce mostly doing civilian labor in factories and assembly lines. During the war propaganda and advertising became the norm in terms of recruiting upper-middle class women into the labor market. A good example of such propaganda is the image of “Rosie the Riveter” created by Howard Miller. She was represented as the quintessential patriotic American woman that was doing her duty during war time by working in a factory and supporting her country and then at the end of the war returning to domestication as was her rightful place. Rosie was created by a man who drew his inspiration from actual women in the labor force; he then whitewashed them and dolled them up with makeup to make her image more appealing to the legions of non-working women in the US at the time. Her image is an example of the advertising that was present prior to the 50s’ and the message that she sends which says that even women who work are expected to carry on with their duties at home in addition to upstanding a standard of beauty and primness is indicative and revelatory of the decade that lies ahead. This model of advertising which sent messages to the American woman about how she should look and what she should stand for, paved the way for advertising in the 1950s’ where articles and ads in magazines and in television set the stage

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