Rosie the Riveter and Talk:Leah Cairns: Difference between pages

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[[Image:We Can Do It!.png|225px|thumb|Rosie the Riveter: "We Can Do It!" - Many women first found economic strength in World War II-era manufacturing jobs.]]

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If I'm not mistaken, Leah broke her back being thrown from a horse, not a car accident.

Can anyone comfirm?

She definatley broke it in car accident.

[[Image:WomanFactory1940s.jpg|thumb|right|A real "Rosie" at work.]]

Goes to show how memory plays tricks on you.

Actor Noah Hathaway who played Boxey in the original Battlestar Galactica series broke his back when he was thrown from a horse and stepped on (during the filming of NeverEnding Story in which he played Atreyu). Maybe you mixed these two up?

'''Rosie the [[Rivet]]er''' is a [[cultural icon]] of the [[United States]], representing the six million women who manned the [[manufacturing plant]]s which produced [[munitions]] and material during [[World War II]] while the men (who traditionally performed this work) were off fighting the war. This "character" is now considered a feminist icon in the US, and a herald of women's economic power to come.

==Origin==

When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, life changed for everyone. All the factories were begging for help. They desperately needed workers, and soon the meager reserve of men who had not gone to war was exhausted. The US Department of Labor declared a shortage of workers. To satisfy the demands, women were actively recruited for the work force. This change in the norms of society met opposition, so the government created the Rosie the Riveter propaganda campaign.

[[Image:Stamp-ctc-women-support-the-war-effort.jpg|thumb|left|A US stamp in 1999 featuring the same poster: "Celebrate the Century - 1940s - Women Support War Effort"]]

In 1940, only 10% of women who worked were employed by factories, but by 1944, the figure was up to 30%. Although pay was not always equal (the average man working in a wartime plant was paid $54.65 per week, while women on average were paid $31.21 per week), and conditions were sometimes very poor, women quickly responded to Rosie the Riveter, who convinced them they had a patriotic duty to enter the workforce. Some claim that she forever opened up the work force for women, but others dispute that point, noting that many women were discharged after the war and the jobs given to returning servicemen.

After the war the "Rosies" and the generations that followed them knew that working in the factories was in fact a possibility for women, even though they did not reenter the job market in such large proportions again until the 1970s, and by that time factory employment was in decline all over the country.

The image most iconically associated with Rosie is [[J. Howard Miller]]'s famous poster for [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]], entitled ''We Can Do It!'' (above right), which was modeled on [[Michigan]] factory worker [[Geraldine Doyle]] in [[1942]].

But the woman in the painting bore no name. In fact, this picture is not a meant to be true Rosie the Riveter at all. Penny Colman comments on this picture in her book ''Rosie the Riveter'' writing that "Since the 1970s, this poster has been mistakenly labeled Rosie the Riveter and has been reprinted on posters, magazine covers, and many other items." It wasn't until early 1943 that a song by [[Redd Evans]] and [[John Jacob Loeb]], ''Rosie the Riveter'', was released. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/journey/rosie-transcript.html] The final connection between the name of Rosie and the character was made by [[Norman Rockwell]] for his eponymous cover for the [[May 29]], [[1943]] ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'', which depicted a different Rosie (model Mary Doyle Keefe). See [http://www.rosietheriveter.org/painting.htm the original painting] and the magazine cover. [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/at0071.2s.jpg] Note the copy of [[Mein Kampf]] under her feet. It is not clear whether Rockwell had seen the Miller poster but he admitted that "I made a mistake in the detail that people will be calling me down for. The cover shows Rosie with goggles on ''and'' an isinglass protective shield. I don't think riveters use both. It was silly of me."

On October 14, 2000, the [http://www.nps.gov/rori Rosie the Riveter Memorial and National Historical Park] was opened in [[Richmond, California]], site of four [[Kaiser Shipyards|Kaiser shipyards]], where thousands of "Rosies" from around the country worked. Over 200 former Rosies attended the ceremony.

According to Colman's ''Rosie the Riveter'', there was also, very briefly, a "Wendy the Welder" based on Janet Doyle, a worker at the Kaiser Richmond Liberty Shipyards in California. In the 1960's, Hollywood actress Jane Withers gained fame as "Josephine the Plumber," a character in a long-running and popular series of television commercials for "Comet" cleansing powder that lasted into the 1970s. This character is obviously based on the original "Rosie" character and thus owes much to exemplary women's efforts in the traditional male workplace.

==Statistics==

*In 1942, just between the months of January and July, the estimates of the proportion of jobs that would be 'acceptable' for women was raised by employers from 29 to 55 percent.

*About half of the working women were married.

*By the end of the war the average income for women had risen by 38%.

*By 1945, one in every three workers was a woman.

==See also==

* [[Fifinella]]

==References==

*[http://www.local602.org/LOTL/3-24-03LOTL.pdf UAW Local 602 Newsletter] - [[March 24]], [[2003]] ([[PDF]] file)

*[http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/kids/pdfs/mhksp03c.pdf Michigan History for Kids] magazine - [[Spring (season)|Spring]] [[2003]] ([[PDF]] file)[http://www.rosietheriveter.org/memdes.htm]

*Bornstein, Anna 'Dolly' Gillan. Woman Welder/ Shipbuilder in World War II. Winnie the Welder Oral History Project. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. February 16, 2005.

*Bourke-White, Margaret. "Women In Steel: They are Handling Tough Jobs In Heavy Industry". ''Life''. August 9, 1943.

*Bowman, Constance. ''Slacks and Calluses - Our Summer in a Bomber Factory.'' Smithsonian Institution. Washington D.C. 1999.

*Cabanis, Helen. ''Woman Riveter in World War II.'' Rosie the Riveter Collection, Rose State College, Eastern Oklahoma Country Regional History. Center. [http://www.rose.edu/EOCRHC/Rosie-Cabanis.H..htm] March 16, 2003.

*Colman, Penny. ''Rosie the Riveter: Women Workers on the Home Front in World War II''. Crown Publishers, Inc. New York. 1995.

*Hresko, Mary and Mary Vincher Shiner. ''Women Workers in World War II.'' [http://www.clpgh.org/locations/pennsylvania/ww2/ww29.html] May 21, 2001.

*Meacham, Clarice. ''Woman Welder and Riveter during World War II.'' Personal Interview. December 13, 2004.

==External links==

*[http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=3350 Library of Congress Webcast]

*[http://www.rosietheriveter.org/ ROSIE THE RIVETER .org]

[[Category:History of women in the United States]]

[[Category:Women in World War II]]

[[Category:Posters]]

[[pl:Rózia Nitownica]]