The Effect Of Womenin The Workplace During WWII

6 Pages 1572 Words

Women? In the workplace? WHAT???? “World War II changed the face and the soul of the world forever. The boundaries of countries, the shapes of cities, and the minds and views of people were permanently altered” (Wise, 5). People’s outlooks would never be the same.
In December 1941, the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor. Within a year, hundreds of thousands of American men from eighteen to thirty-nine years old were fighting in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The men left their wives, children and jobs. With no one working, how would the economy hold up, and how would the production of needed supplies be produced? Wives, mothers, sisters, and girlfriends left their families, education, or other jobs to learn the skills required to continue the work that was deserted by the men, and some more. For women that had a profession, the war offered them a chance to break into careers or management positions that or else would have been off limits for women. For those that did not, jobs in the air, on the sea, as nurses and doctors, and war correspondents were offered.
For the entire time of the war, the U.S. government flattered American women to work in the war, whether it was at home or in the factories or flying a plane or anything else that contributed to the success of the war.
“Rosie the Riveter”, quickly became the catchy phrase that represented all women workers. It was a song that was made, not based on a real person but it was selected because of its sound in accordance with what was going on in the world. Along with the song came a poster (See We Can Do It!) of an attractive woman in overalls. The song began with these lyrics:
While other girls attend a favorite cocktail bar,
Sipping dry martinis, munching caviar;
There’s a girl who’s really putting them to shame—
Rosie is her name.

All the day long, whether rain or shine,
She’s part of the assembly line,
She’s making...