Rosie the Riveter

“Rosie the Riveter” is the media icon associated with female defense workers during World War II. Beginning in 1942, as an increasing number of American males were recruited for the war effort, women were needed to fill their positions in factories. Initially, women workers were recruited from among the working class, but as the war production needs increased, it [Page 725]became necessary to recruit workers from among middle-class women. Since many of these women had not previously worked outside of the home and also had small children, the government not only had to convince them to enter the workforce but also had to provide ways for the women to care for their households and children. To accomplish this end, the U.S. Office of the War produced a variety of materials designed to convince these women to enter into war production jobs as part of their patriotic duty. Rosie the Riveter was part of this propaganda campaign and has since become the symbol of women in the workforce during World War II.

The first image of Rosie the Riveter was created by J. Howard Miller in 1942 but was titled “We Can Do It!” and had no association with anyone named Rosie. It is believed that this initial drawing was part of the Westinghouse war production campaign to recruit female workers. Miller portrayed a woman in a red bandana with her bent arm flexed, rolling up her shirtsleeve. In 1943, the song Rosie the Riveter, by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, was released. This song touts the patriotic qualities of the mythical female war employee who defends America by working on the home front:

Keeps a sharp lookout for sabotage Sitting up there on the fuselage That little girl will do more than a male will do … Rosie the Riveter …

The song also reinforced the idea that women who worked in the factories were helping to protect the men who were away fighting in the war:

Rosie's got a boyfriend, Charlie Charlie, he's a marine Rosie is protecting Charlie working overtime on the riveting machine …

Following the release of this song, Norman Rockwell's drawing of his version of the female defense worker appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, on May 29, 1943. This version of Rosie was a much more muscular depiction of a woman in a blue jumpsuit, with a red bandana in her hair, eating a sandwich. Rockwell placed the name “Rosie” on the lunch box of the worker. Following this publication, the media began interviewing women named Rose who were at work in the shipyards and other defense industries, and thus Rosie the Riveter was solidified in the American memory.

Since the 1940s, Rosie the Riveter has stood as a symbol for women in the workforce and for women's independence. Rockwell's depiction of Rosie is copyrighted, but the “We Can Do It” print by Miller is not. Accordingly, the latter image continues to be mass produced and is the one that most often comes to mind when people think of this cultural

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