Rosie the Riveter
has come to represent the women of World War II. We all love Rosie. She’s
strong but cute. She has biceps, but she curls her hair and does her
nails. And look at that chin—she won't let anyone tell her what she
can or can’t do. She is woman; hear her riveting gun.
The 1940 census counted
132 million people in the USA. During the war, 11 million men and women served
in the armed forces. Even if the economy had continued at its pre-war level, that would have caused a significant drop in the workforce, but with the enormous
increase in production, more workers were desperately needed. And that meant
women.
American industry
actively recruited women to work in war jobs, and women’s war work was praised
in songs, posters, advertisements, and movies. The “We Can Do It” poster by J.
Howard Miller (1942), produced for a campaign at Westinghouse, is most closely associated with
Rosie the Riveter, but actually wasn’t identified as a “Rosie” at the time.
The
song “Rosie the Riveter” (Redd Evans/John Jacob Loeb, copyright 1942) praised
the girl on the assembly line and was recorded by Kay Kyser, the Four
Vagabonds, and others. (see YouTube video below for the Four Vagabonds 1943 recording)
On May 29, 1943,
Norman Rockwell’s “Rosie the Riveter” painting appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Rosie’s foot stamps out Hitler’s Mein Kampf, a riveting gun lies across her lap, and “Rosie” is printed on her lunchbox.
Throughout the years, many women have claimed to be the inspiration for the
song, the poster, or the painting. Regardless, Rosie has come to represent all women who contributed to the war effort by stepping into men’s workboots.
During the war, 19
million women held jobs outside of the home, up from 12 million in 1940. Thirty
percent of these women followed Rosie and worked in factories, where they faced
opposition. Some believed women wouldn’t be capable of
performing men’s jobs, and some were convinced the women were there to seduce
the men. However, Rosie and her friends proved to be able workers—and were even
preferred in some jobs that benefitted from women’s smaller fingers and
attention to detail.
They faced other
challenges. While 2.75 million working women had children under the age of fourteen,
day care was not available early in the war. Mothers relied on relatives or friends—or left
the children unattended. Movie theaters reported an unsettling trend of young children left all day at the movies unsupervised. Savvy employers began to provide on-site day care, and
centers were also established at schools.
Women struggled for
equal treatment. Although the War Labor Board decreed in April 1943 that women
in war jobs were to receive equal work for equal pay, the average wage for
female workers remained significantly lower. As the newest employees on the job,
women lacked seniority under union rules and were mostly stuck with the
swing swift—an extra problem for mothers with young children at home.
Women played an
important role in the extraordinary increase in production during the war,
contributing to the “Arsenal of Democracy” that helped win the war for the
Allies.
Here’s to all the
Rosies! They could do it!
Selected sources:
Lingeman, Richard R. Don’t You Know
There’s a War on? The American Home Front 1941-1945. New York: G.P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1970.
Library of Congress video about Rosie the Riveter.Labels: rosie the riveter, wartime production, women, women in WWII, World War II
