Rosie The Riveter Impact

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Recommended: Effects of World War 1 on women

Blood, sweat, tears - results of the devastating war that changed many factors. Although, those factors had a negative outcomes on society, there were some positive impacts that helped on the development of visual arts. One important impact was Rosie the Riveter, feminist icon during world war ll. The world war 2 for the United States kicked into effect in 1941 and went on for about four years. It all started when Japan decided to take action and bomb Pearl Harbor. This resulted in over 2,000 people losing their lives as well planes and ships used for war being demolished. This was a time period where women really had to step up and take on additional responsibilities apart from the ones that they have already had. Not only were the women …show more content…

Some new responsibilities that were taken over were becoming telephone operators, drivers, engineers, mechanics, and other jobs in the factories or shipyards. This is the birth of the widely known icon, Rosie the Riveter. Rosie was first introduced in a song in 1942 by Redd Evans and John Jacob Leob. The most familiar line from the song was "that little frail girl can do more than a man can do" (u-s-history.com). The real life version of the icon was Rose Will Monroe who was discovered by Walter pigeon, Hollywood star, while visiting the ford motor company assembly plant. Upon his discovery of Rose, she was lead in a government film that promotes war. Following that, a teen aged telephone operator, Geraldine Hoff, then posed for a painting that was going to be created an artist by the name of Norman Rockwell. On May 29, 1943, Geraldine saw herself in the Saturday evening post as propaganda. The picture featured a woman with a red polka dotted bandana tied in her head, pulling the sleeves of her jean jacket. With a stern face, she appears to be tough saying "we can do it". A little time after, articles …show more content…

It was never intended to promote women taking over men's jobs as well as continuing to do so when men return. However, the power was in women's hands at the time and more women were taking on jobs of the men. When they returned, women didn't have the desire to step down from the jobs that they have already partaken in. Instead of letting the men return to working, they continued to do the jobs that were started. This result worried government and women were forced to leave the jobs that they currently upheld to return back their responsibilities that they had before hand, "society's norms". Although, many left their work, the level of working women never decreased back down to the amount back before the war

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