Rosie The Riveter: Gender Roles In Joining The Workforce

Rosie the Riveter was the biggest motivator for women to join the workforce in the 1940s during World War II. She was an example that pictured women as tough and powerful, just as men are, when it comes to the workplace. Not only did it give men a better idea of what women are capable of, but it also gave women the inspiration and confidence that it takes to leave the children with a sitter or daycare to join the workforce. There are many reasons why a woman might decide to get a job, the most common being that the extra money is needed to support her family. Although a woman may get a job, there are many people that believe that a mom needs to stay at home because she is the only option when it comes to raising and caring for her children;

The husband has a job and does all the home repairs, while the wife stays home to raise the kids and do the cooking and cleaning. According to Noël Merino, author of Gender Roles: Opposing Viewpoints, “[o]ne hundred years ago women were expected to be primarily occupied with the work of the home: raising children, cooking meals, cleaning, and helping with the family garden or farm. Men . . . worked outside the home . . .” (155). In today’s society, these gender roles are quickly fading away, although there are still some mothers that insist on staying home with her children because they fear the thought of somebody else raising her kids, and missing out on the big milestones of a child’s life. What most of these women may not realize is that they still will be around for these milestones, such as the child’s first words, or them crawling, then walking, because having a job does not consume every minute of the day. They will still be able to spend their time before or after work with their child, in which many of the special moments will take place. There are thousands of single mothers around the world that are forced to raise their child on their own, which means that they must leave their child in the care of someone else, and get a job almost immediately after their child is born in order to earn enough money to support her little family. These women are only taking eight hours out of their

Women that have had a child and decide to rejoin the workforce are often facing a dramatic decrease in pay, with some women losing anywhere from 18 percent to 41 percent (Nelson, 138). Nelson tells the story of one woman, which had previously been the breadwinner of her family, up until she had a baby. She would have preferred to stay at home with her newborn, but her family needed the money. After rejoining her law firm, her hours were no longer flexible, and she was forced to stay until 11