Rosie The Riveter Is The Propanda To Women's Work
In 1939 the second world war erupted and it was stopped roughly around 1945. 11 million people died during this short time period. This was the deadliest war to date in human history. This was definitely a time for military prowl. Women. Probably the last thing anyone would think about when in comes to war in the ‘30s. However this war flipped the world upside down for women across America. For once did women have a say in what they can do for society. For once they didn’t have to cook or clean for their family. For once they were independent. They fought in the front lines and brought home a victory. Over time women have gained much more recognition for being independent. However society still holds prejudice towards women and their ambition. What women can and cannot have drastically changed, but their spirit and fire has not changed one bit.
Cooking, cleaning, babysitting, and other homely tasks were all standard lifestyles for women throughout history. Women were meant to be an accessory to men an object hardly a being. However as the second world war began many women left this provincial and motherly lifestyle to jump on the opportunity to participate in organizations like WAVES or WAACS. Many converted to army and navy nurses or Red Cross workers, and millions of Rosie the Riveters were crucial to the ending of World War II. There were many ways that they tried to prompt women into joining the forces. One of the most influential and iconic was the Rosie the Riveter campaign. It stressed the importance and need of women in the workforce. As a result women joined in massive numbers (Gillon 2010). In this day and age women don’t have to wait for the opportunity to strike or for the government to need more women. As they are perfectly capable of showing their worth to society. Reasons for joining the forces have changed immensely. 52% of women plan to go into the military to pay for their future education (Mckay 2019). Whereas their predecessors who went into the war for an escape from a patriarchal society. Todays women can participate whenever or however they want. A choice of occupation or even having a position in society was considered a luxury compared to being home ridden.
Women that risked their lives in the military had many restrictions put on them. Many were nurses or medical assistants for male soldiers on rare occasions women were allowed to be instructors in recruits in areas such as operating vehicles, firing machine guns, and training pilots (Lover 2004). Despite this restriction at the beginning of World War II women no longer served as support staff for soldiers as many fought in the front lines in what is predominantly a male combat position. This unfortunately did not carry over in the present day. This limitation was held upon women that serve in the present. Only as of 2015, there are no restrictions about what positions women can or cannot hold in the army including combat roles (Lakritz 2019). Considering that was only 4 years ago shows the long lasting effects of prejudice against women. There is an obvious gender gap with male and female military recruits. Even after the war, some women haven’t received the credit for their service in World War II, unlike the men that served. This vile behavior stills lives on in our society as we see that not as many women compared to men move up in ranks in the military (Mckay 2019).
During this war torn period, most women were not allowed in the workplace and often endured harassment. Women were also looked down upon for leaving their families behind to join the workforce. Women were subjected to working extremely long hours in horrible and dangerous conditions and received very low wages compared to the men. Sadly not much has changed from the past. Even in the present, female soldiers stills face gender discrimination with an alarming number of victims of sexual harassment. Sergeant Virginia Jones shares her experience being a woman in the marines, “Despite being recognized as one of the best Marines in my unit, I’ve been stalked, harassed, doxxed, and assaulted… I love Marines, but I do not love everything that myself and other female marines have been through.” Even though she has a high standing position she is still treated terribly because she is a woman. There have been many accounts of women in the military being verbally and sexually harassed like Ashleigh Bryant Byrnes who had a young lieutenant walk up to her and say “you know, women don’t belong in combat.” (Katzenberg 2019) Women face many complex issues that men don’t like body armor is made to fit men and has to be customized to fit women’s bodies which can be more costly for a woman soldier. Many mothers get criticized for leaving their families behind to serve. While men do the exact same thing are honored. It is quite embarrassing to see how social injustices from almost 100 years ago still occur in a society that is deemed so advanced and looked up upon.
Over time we have seen a wide arrangement of developments for female soldiers. Of course the most important the right of women to be in the military and later on widening the positions women can have. However none of these positive changes can mask the fact that female soldiers 100 years ago as well as now have to go through verbal and sexual harassment by others and still endure gender discrimination by getting lower wages and not receiving honor for their service. These actions should have been abolished years ago. How can this society grow and change if we still practice this unequally. While everyone thinks this generation is so high tech and advanced in reality we are almost entirely the same. Just take out the fancy phones and cars that don’t need drivers. Have we really advanced because we are practicing the same disgusting social injustices that women as well as other minorities shouldn’t have to go through.
