Propaganda Swing

March 18, 2012
Rosie the Riveter

During WWII, able bodied men were sent off to war.  But the manufacture of the war machine(s) still needed to be completed.  This left the construction of 4000 aircraft per month up to a female work force.  By 1943, 2.1 million workers were placed in the aircraft industry and the overwhelming majority of those were women.  Women were throwing around machinery and tools just as well as any man.  Gender it evidenced did not dictate capability.

However, after WWII the returning male soldiers needed jobs.  The Rosies were booted out of the workforce and into the suburban kitchen.  The propaganda machine changed its tune from “We Can Do It” to “Let the big strong man take care of the weaker women.”  (See the sit-coms Leave it Beaver and Father Knows Best.)