{"id":602,"date":"2018-05-16T15:59:13","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T15:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scholarscollaborative.org\/Hartford\/?p=602"},"modified":"2018-05-17T17:58:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T17:58:05","slug":"women-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scholarscollaborative.org\/Hartford\/social-issues\/women-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Women & Wartime"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Women on the Home Front in World War II<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By Annette Medina<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/h1>\n

On December 1941, The United States joined the fight against Nazi Germany after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Joining a major World War shortly after the end of the Great Depression really worried the American people (1). The worry of another economic crisis worried many, especially since men would be leaving their homes. Who would look after the families and take after the jobs if the men left for combat? Women stepped in and joined the workforce.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Propaganda<\/b><\/h2>\n

Have you ever seen this image pictured above? This famous picture is known as Rosie the Riveter, a feminist icon that still influences women today. It started off in 1942 when J. Howard Miller made a war propaganda poster to encourage women to join the workforce (2). Rosie is strong, feminine and determined, as the famous quote says, \u201cWe Can Do It!\u201d. Although, Rosie is not the actual name of the woman pictured in the poster, it got the nickname from the song, Rosie the Riveter<\/i> by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb(1943) (3). The song talks about Rosie being a capable woman who was making a difference. Here is an excerpt of the song:<\/p>\n

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All the day long, <\/i><\/p>\n

Whether rain or shine, <\/i><\/p>\n

She\u2019s a part of the assembly line. <\/i><\/p>\n

She\u2019s making history, <\/i><\/p>\n

Working for victory, <\/i><\/p>\n

Rosie the Riveter. <\/i><\/p>\n

Keeps a sharp lookout for sabotage, <\/i><\/p>\n

Sitting up there on the fuselage. <\/i><\/p>\n

That little girl will do more than a male will do.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Another big influencer was the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. She focused on encouraging women through making uplifting videos that included celebrities like Katherine Hepburn (4). That of course, is one of the few propagandas that were focused on encouraging women to join. The majority of women up until the war, did not work a job and rather stayed at home to look after the home and children. If women worked, it was mainly out of necessity, but was not the norm. Even some men were hesitant with the idea of their wives working, but understood it was necessary. It is said that there were three different kind of women who joined the workforce. The first were the women who were already working another job, but left it in order to work a job that focused on war aid. The second kind of woman was the one who had worked before, but lost it due to events like the Great Depression. Lastly, and definitely most commonly, was the woman who had never worked outside of the home before (5).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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