Women of WWII - Rosie the Riveters

King Rose Archives
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Published 2022-04-15
Rosie the Riveter was the star of a U.S Government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for defense industries during World War II. Similar images of women war workers appeared in other countries such as Britain and Australia. Rosie became a worldwide cultural icon representing the women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced ammunition and war supplies.
During WWII, major campaigns were launched in the U.S. to encourage women to enter the workforce, and to convince their husbands that this was appropriate behavior. Government campaigns for women focused solely on housewives, perhaps because already employed women could move to the higher-paid "essential" jobs on their own, or perhaps in the belief that housewives would be the primary source of new workers. Propaganda was also directed toward husbands, many of whom were unwilling to permit their wives to work. Fiction (fiction was considered any stories, written in magazines, movies, books, etc.) also addressed husbands' resistance to their wives working.
Due to these campaigns, the number of working women jumped 15% from 1941 to 1943. Nearly 19 million women held jobs during World War II. Many of these women were already working in lower-paying jobs or were returning to the workforce after being laid off during the depression. Three million new female workers entered the workforce during wartime. Many women discovered they enjoyed the autonomy these jobs provided them. It allowed women to expand their own expectations and ideas of womanly duties and capabilities. Unfortunately, as men began to return home from war, the U.S government instituted another propaganda campaign urging women to essentially leave the workforce and return home "to normalcy."

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