Rosie the Riveter was an icon during World War II. She symbolized the movement of women into the workforce and the growing idea that women were just as capable as men. Thousands of men were joining and being drafted to the army leaving women responsible for step into their place to fulfill the void in factories. Government agencies created wartime propaganda to get women into the factories. Pictures like the one of Rosie lined the streets with words like “We Can Do It” across the top. Manufacturing was at its peak during the war due to the need for so much wartime supplies. Jobs for women were abundant. Women saw this as an opening to increase their status in society and they took it.
Rosie’s iconic outfit of the red turban and jumpsuit was actually a very popular fashion of the times. Women now had to dress for the factory, not for the kitchen. This meant out with the skirts and dresses and into practical clothing that could withstand the wear and tear of physical labor. Military style shoes and low wedge sandals were the footwear of choice, while many women’s heads were adorned in turbans to hold back their hair so it wouldn’t be caught in the machinery. Jumpsuits were often worn over a light weight shirt and cigarette pants.
These new fashions exemplified the increasing status of women on the home front during the war. Women were called to step up and take the places of the “brave soldiers off at war” and they did, extremely well. Women all over the country saw the window of opportunity established by the war to help advance their role in society. The masculine factory clothing perfectly illustrated women’s growing equality with men. Now, not only did they work alongside men in factories, they dressed liked them too! Without the war, and without the push for women to enter into the factory, who knows how long it would have taken American women to transition into the workforce… we could all still be destined to make babies and cook dinner. And what a bleak future that would be.
"The Role of World War II in the Rise of Women's Employment." From The American Economic Review, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 741-756, (September 1991).
"Rosie the Riveter."Americans at War. John P. Resch, ed. 4 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/