Jacqueline
Donato
4/25/13
The
Powerful Women of the 1940s
After
Germany’s defeat in World War 1 they had to agree to the Treaty of
Versailles. The Germans were embarrassed, angry and blamed their
government. As the German government’s power decreased, the Nazi
party and Hitler’s power grew and grew. Hitler allied with Japan
and Italy as the Axis of Powers to try and gain world power. With
World War 2 starting, America went in isolation in the hope that the
Allies, Britain and France would win and they would not have to be a
part of it or involved in any way. When the Japanese attacked and
bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Roosevelt declared the United
States’ entrance into the war. More than a million American men
were drafted into the war leaving millions of jobs and families
behind. This was a very powerful time for women in history; they
took on jobs such as working in the hospitals, radio operations,
factories, and the wartime defense industry while continuing to take
care of their families and home. Between 1940 and 1945, the female
percentage of American workforce went from 27 percent and increased
to about 37 percent. By 1945 approximately one out of every four
married women worked outside their home. These very important women
are known as “Rosie the Riveters.” Rosie the Riveter was a
fictional character that represented the women working class in World
War 2. Through movies, posters and photographs the Rosie the Riveter
propaganda campaign was used to successfully recruit female workers.1
This paper will focus on Rosie the Riveters, the women of the wartime
working class during World War 2 and the contributions and efforts
they made to end the war.
A 1942 Washington
Post
article entitled “One-Sixth of Detroit Jobs is expected to go to
Women” showed how American employers began to rely on women to keep
everything running while the men were in war. The article states
that industries could not go on without the participation of women.
These jobs included the arms production, electric wiring, repairing
airplanes, police officers and drill press operations.2
More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943,
representing 65 percent of the industry's total workforce.”3
At
first
companies did not think that there would be a labor shortage, and
they did not take the women workers seriously. As more men got
drafted into the war these companies started to appreciate the women
more.
During the 1930s in
the middle class families, the men were the ones who worked and made
the income for the family while the woman were mostly stay-at-home
wives who kept the house tidy and raised the children. In the lower
class communities and minorities most families could not survive on
one income resulting in the women having no choice to work. But male
and female workers were not treated equally. Women faced
discrimination in the workplace. They were expected to have only
pink collar jobs such as a teacher, nurse or a secretary but when
America declared war gender inequalities still persisted but
everything changed.
According to
Ambrose, “When men left, women “became proficient cooks and
housekeepers, managed the finances, learned to fix the car, worked in
a defense plant, and wrote letters to their soldier husbands that
were consistently upbeat.”4
However, even though female workers took on the same jobs as men,
they did not get paid the same wages. In fact they rarely
earned more than fifty percent of male salaries.5
Despite this unequal pay, Rosie the Riveters appreciated the feeling
that their contributions in the workplace were wanted and needed by
their country. An
aircraft worker once said, “It was the first time in my life that I
had the chance to prove that I could do something, and I did.”6
Women did not just
participate by being nurses and working in munitions factories. Other
“Rosie’s” served in the armed forces and as Air Force pilots.
The 350,000 female members of the armed forces called themselves,
“Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps” or WAC. In 1945, there were
approximately 100,000 or more WACs and 6,000 female officers. In the
Navy, members of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service,
also known as WAVES, had the same importance as naval soldiers.
Another role that women played in the fight to win and end the war
was Women’s Air-force Service Pilots (WASPs). More than 1,000 of
these female pilots served in the war and 38 lost their lives. These
courageous women were the first females to fly American military
airplanes. They transported aircrafts from the factories to the
military bases, bringing goods. They traveled more than 60 million
miles in flight distances and freed thousands of male American
pilots.7
After the war ended
however, the women were forced back to being a stay-at-home wife as
quick as Rosie the Riveters in the defense industry were forced to
vacate the men’s jobs. The reasons why “Rosie the Riveter”
disappeared was because they were forced by their employers,
husbands, and returning war veterans to step aside from their
temporary jobs and allow men to return to the workplace. If their
husband’s or father’s income could provide enough money to
support their family most women returned to take care of homes and
children. If a couple needed two incomes women often chose to work in
pink collar jobs such as waitressing, beauty shops and other
services. According to the New
York Times,
“the employment for women in all types of work has decreased by
more than 4 million since last July, or dropped from about 19 million
to around 15 million”.8
In conclusion, the
Rosie the Riveter propaganda campaign was and is the biggest symbol
of the women wartime workers who had a vital role and highly
contributed to the victory of World War 2. Without these powerful
women in the defense industry, the material and military needs of
American and Allied soldiers would not have been met so quickly and
successfully to win the war. The famous pictures of the fictional
character Rosie was always tough and ready to face anything that came
her way. The pictorial form of Rosie was a symbol of inspiration and
strength to women in the wartime workforce in the 1940s. Rosie made
women believe that they could take on tough jobs because they were
tough women. These women were an asset to their country and their
families. They were a big part of the war effort at home, provided
economic support for their family and took care of the household at
the same time after their husbands, brothers and sons got drafted.
The famous quote “We can do it” displays that Rosie was proud to
be able to serve her country in any way she could. Rosie served as a
nurse to care the soldiers who were injured, she built the guns used
by the soldiers to defeat the enemy and she repaired airplanes and
even flew them out to the soldiers to transport good and so that they
always one to escape to or to find the enemy at a high view. These
hard working women live on in history, and a popular song from the
1940s that proclaimed, “All
the day long whether rain or shine she’s a part of the assemble
line, she’s making history, working for victory, Rosie the
riveter.”9
1
www.history.com. 1996-2013.
http://www.history.com/topics/rosie-the-riveter (accessed 4 25,
2013).
2
Wilkie, David J. "One-sixth of detroit war jobs is expected to
go to women." The Washington Post (1923-1954), 1942.
3
www.history.com. 1996-2013.
http://www.history.com/topics/rosie-the-riveter (accessed 4 25,
2013).
4
Freedman, Russell. ""ROSIE THE RIVETER Women Working on
the Home Front in World War II. By Penny Caiman. Illustrated. 120
Pp. New York: Crown Publishers. $16. (Ages 9 and Up): V IS FOR
VICTORY America Remembers World War II. By Kathleen Krull.
Illustrated. 116 Pp. New York:." New York Times, 1995.
5
www.history.com. 1996-2013.
http://www.history.com/topics/rosie-the-riveter (accessed 4 25,
2013).
7
www.history.com. 1996-2013.
http://www.history.com/topics/rosie-the-riveter (accessed 4 25,
2013).
9
In We can do it! A Rosie the Riveter story, a biography of my
Mom, by G. Sagmiller, 9. Freedom of Speech Publishing, 2011.
So cool
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