Rosie The Riveter Essay Sample

Over two million women were recruited to enter the workforce after men were enlisted to fight for our country. Due to all the men leaving, it made it more acceptable for women to join the workforce. Before World War II, women were told to stay home and take care of everything while men went to work. National campaigns were created to persuade women to join the workforce to help men who were fighting and keep the economy going. One of the most important and successful campaigns was the image of Rosie the Riveter which was aimed to bring women into the workforce. Before the war, women worked in some jobs but never worked in blue collar jobs like manufacturing, maintenance, and mining. The war created an opportunity for women to work in various different fields. Women were not treated like men in these workplaces. For example, women were harassed and would be interpreted while working. Women were paid less than men and other Americans were unsettled that women were working instead of being with their families. No matter your gender, race, and ethnicity, you should not be mistreated.   

Rosie the Riveter was an important symbol of women entering the workforce. She encouraged women to step up to the plate and work while the men were fighting in a war. The article states “Recruiting two million women into the workforce to support the war economy, the “Women in War Jobs” campaign is considered to be the advertising industry's most successful recruitment campaign in the United States. The iconic image of Rosie the Riveter was explicitly aimed to change public opinion about women’s work, and the underlying theme of the campaign was to show that the social change required to bring women into the workforce was both a patriotic responsibility for women, and an opportunity for employers to support the war economy.” Rosie was created by a Pittsburgh artist by the name of J. Howard Miller. The poster was first featured for Westinghouse Electric Corporation. She encouraged many women to step up and work to keep America going. This poster or image made it more acceptable for women to join the workforce. Even though she was a fictional character, she inspired women to work and inspired them to work to help those fighting overseas. As a result, Rosie was one of the key symbols of the fight for equality in the workplace. She helped millions of women enter the industry workforce all because of the war. If World War II never happened, who knows if women would be accepted into the workforce. Women had to fill the shoes of the men so America could still run while they were fighting.   

World War II created job opportunities for women in the heavy industry which originally was only acceptable for men. Women were treated differently than men because everyone thought they were weak and thought they were created to stay home. The article states “ Most women labored in the clerical and service sectors where women had worked for decades, but the wartime economy created job opportunities for women in heavy industry and wartime production plants that had traditionally belonged to men. Male coworkers interpreted the completion of physically demanding and skilled tasks by women as encroachment on “their'' work, and some men responded with harassment and resistance towards their female counterparts. Employers attempted to preserve a measure of the prewar gender order by separating male and female workers and paying women less wages. Many Americans were also troubled by women who earned their own wages and spent time away from the supervision of family. Especially for white, middle-class families, these working women threatened to uproot the prevailing ideal of male providers and female homemakers and caretakers.” Before the war, it was accepted in society that the men go to work and the women stay home. Women did work in offices for multiple years. When World War II enlisted millions of men for the war, women took the jobs in the heavy industry and production plants. The men who were not enlisted would interfere with the women’s work. Women were not treated like the men in the workplace. They were paid less and it was not yet acceptable in society for women to be working. The most affected by this were the white middle-class families who were not accepted because the women of the house were working. Therefore, women had an opportunity to work in the heavy industry and production plants, but they were not treated equal to the men. Countless Americans were disturbed that women spent time away from their families and went out to earn money. 

Despite your gender, race, and or ethnicity, you should never be discriminated against no matter the circumstance. Women have been, and continue to be, one of many groups of people subjected to being treated differently by society. Millions of women entered the workforce after men were sent off to fight for our country. You would think that this would make it more acceptable for women to join the workforce, but in reality it did not. The stereotype for women was for them to stay home with their children while the men wanted to work. To recruit women to take the place of men in the workplace, national campaigns were created to help make the material and help the economy. Rosie the Riveter was, one of campaigns, aimed to bring women into the workforce. Women did work in some jobs but never worked in a blue collar job until the war. Women were not treated like the men in the workplace. Women were harassed, were interpreted while working, and were paid less than men. Other Americans were unsettled that women were working instead of being with their families. In conclusion, women have always seemed weaker than men, but able to do the same or better than them. World War II helped women to start to enter the workforce and also helped them stand up against men.