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Araceli Perez
Professor Ditch
English 113A
5 November, 2014
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter was the face of encouragement to women during World War II. During
this time a campaign was shot for women all over the western society to join the workforce, the
propaganda behind all of this was a picture of Rosie the Riveter looking tough and with the
masculine characteristics, and on top of her is a quote simply stating We can do it. Many may
already know the history of how the western society views have changed during World War II. It
changed by allowing and encouraging women all over the western society to get jobs in factories
due to the pure fact that the population of men was low because of the war. The Rosie Riveter
campaign and propaganda shot through the roof during this time. Rosie represented many things
for women but being best known as an encouragement for women has to be the biggest thing she
represented. Due to this the post impact the propaganda and encouragement was huge, when the
men came back from war most women in the western society no longer wanted the life they lived
before. Rosie the Riveter changed the way women saw and did things in the western society she
gave women the change being needed and a lot of progress has been made for women in the
workforce but there is still not enough progress in the workforce for women.
Much progress has been made for women in the workforce since World War II. The

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progress has allowed women to thrive in various areas especially in the working field. These
changes include a redefinition of womens roles, impelled in pact, certainly by the necessity to
mobilize a work force of significant magnitude to defeat the axis powers. (M.M.B). One of the
main things that changed for women all over the western society was the availability of jobs in
the workforce. Women have been able to get jobs in fields that they wouldnt have had during
World War II. Women are seen more in the workforce, not just in the feminine dominant jobs
but also in male dominant jobs. Women have been able to thrive and show how they too can
work in places where men are dominant in the workforce thanks to the progress. It has allowed
women all over the western society the opportunity to work in a variety of fields. If women never
were encouraged to work during the war were would women be in terms of the workforce?
A lot has changed from the 1950s to the twenty first century but the change that has
happened is simply not enough. More men are encouraged to go into fields like science, math
and engineering than women are, truth be told women are hardly even encouraged to go into
those fields. Women and girls need to see female role models in the workplace that look like
them they need to receive the message that women can work in the STEM careers and be
successful (Donna Milgram). Women need to be encouraged to go into these fields they also
need to be able to see someone that they know someone that is like them go into these fields. It is
very important that they do because it shows women that they too can go into them. It gives
women the okay to try something different, to stand out by majoring in a completely different
field. Yes, men and women are different but they are not as different as they appear to be. They
may look different because of their outer appearance but they share a variety of characteristics.

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Did you know that women all over the western society get paid less than men do? Even
when females numerically dominate the position -- media director, lead account planner and
account executive -- they receive less pay( R. Craig Endicott ). Women who go to college
and get straight As get paid the same amount as men that go to college and get an average of
Cs. So what is that telling women that, is that saying that we are not as equal to men in the
society? Is it trying to portray that bad grades equals a better paying job? Women still get looked
on as fragile. No, women are not that fragile, just like women arent the damsels in distress that
society puts them out to be. Women are actually strong individuals that can handle a variety of
things that life throws at them. In the workforce a lot of men like to help the women with things
that are heavy and that great their being gentlemen. But when they simply tell you I dont want
you getting hurt, and thats why they are helping you or they tell a women Dont pick that up
its heavy it makes it seem as women are weak and fragile.
In the social construct of gender, it does not matter what men and women actually do; it
does not even matter if they do exactly the same thing. The social institution of gender insists
only that what they do is perceived as different. (Judith Lorber). Women are looked at as
different for doing the same thing a man is doing, why is that you may ask yourself. Well the
answer to that is simply the fact that the western society portrays it that way. In many situations
the name of an activity or job description can be changed based on the gender of the person
doing the task. Women can be working as a secretary and their job description might say
something like executive secretary while men can be working as secretaries as well but their job
description will be something like administrative assistant (Lorber). Society feels the need to
separate men and women in order to maintain gender separation.

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It truly is amazing that a womens right to vote is here but the next step is equality.
Women are not treated as equal compared to men. Women dont always get the same
opportunities that men tend to get. Some may say the reason for this is how women are portrayed
in the western society. Discrimination against women at work or anywhere to be honest is still
going on and the United States hasnt done much to stop it. The U.S. is the only developed
country in the world that has not signed the 1979 treaty, known as the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (Herizons Magazine). Did you
know that equality between women and men is something that is not even guarantied in the
United States Constitution? Women are just as valuable, smart, and worthy as men. When will
the constitution and womens pay checks prove that they are? When will the western society
treat women with the same equality as men that they most need.
Some people may argue that the women of the western society have had enough change
especially in the way they are treated in the workforce but many believe that it hasnt been
enough progress. People of the western society know that a lot has changed for women overtime,
from voting to the workforce but they also know that there is still a lot of progress that needs to
be made. There is still gender inequality that tends to limit women from pressuring careers in
male dominant fields. Aside from all the progress that has been made for women in the
workforce gender inequality has not changed much and I believe that it is where the western
society needs to improve.

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Work Cited
M.M.B. Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II.. Horn Book
Magazine. Web. 30 Oct. 2014
Milgram, Donna. Technology & Engineering Teacher. November 2011. Volume 71 issue 3. Pg
4-11. Web. 27 Oct. 2014
Endicott, R. Craig, Persistent Pay Gap Affects Women Just One Year Out Of College. States
News Service 23 Oct. 2012. General OneFile. Web. 27 Oct. 2014
A new ERA. Herizons Summer 2007: 14. General OneFile. Web. 30 Oct. 2014
Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing Gender: 1934. Print.