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Rosie the Riveter Facts

Rosie the Riveter Facts
Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character created by the government of the United States to encourage women to go to work during the Second World War. The draft and enlistment of such a large number of American men during World War II left a labor shortage in the U.S. Rosie the Riveter was created to encourage women to fill the labor shortage. The term 'Rosie the Riveter' was used in the lyrics of a song of the same name in 1942. The song became a hit. The government decided to use Rosie the Riveter in their propaganda campaign that ultimately increased the female workforce in the U.S. by six million.
Interesting Rosie the Riveter Facts:
The Rosie the Riveter campaign had several themes to encourage women to go to work.
The 'patriotic theme' gave women four arguments as to why they should go to work during the war including 1) the war would end sooner, 2) more would die if they did not go to work, 3) if they didn't work they were slackers, and 4) if they didn't work they were like draft-dodgers.
The 'high earnings' theme gave women the idea that they would receive a big paycheck if they went to work.
The 'glamour of work' theme gave women the idea that going to work was fashionable, and feminine.
The 'same as housework' theme gave women the idea that factory work was no less difficult than housework.
The 'spousal pride' theme gave women the idea that their husbands would be proud of them if they went to work.
Rosie's creators only intention was to get women to go to work with the purpose of bringing home the soldiers. It was understood that when the men came home the women would go back to being house wives.
One of Rosie the Riveter's most iconic image depicted her with a red bandana, feminine features, and trim figure. Above her was a speech balloon that read "We Can Do It!"
Between 1940 and 1945 the percentage of women working in the U.S. grew from 27% to 37% (equal to six million).
Prior to 1943 only 1% of the aircraft industry's employees were women. In 1943 the number of women working in this industry was more than 310,000.
Norman Rockwell painted an image of Rosie the Riveter in 1943. The image depicts a muscular, larger woman while his model Mary Doyle Keefe was only 110 pounds.
One year after World War II ended it is estimated that 3.5 million women left the workforce.
Rosie the Riveter has been featured in a variety of media forms over the years. A documentary was made about her in 1980 called The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. In 1999 a documentary was made in Canada called Rosies of the North.
DC Comics has a character called Rosie the Riveter. Her weapon is a rivet gun.
Rosie the Riveter was not intended to be used to enhance women's role in society, but in later years Rosie was used in the feminist movement.


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