Preview

From Rosie To Lucy

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
641 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
From Rosie To Lucy
The chapter, From Rosie to Lucy, by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle, is about how the feminine mystique changed drastically from the era of WWII to the era of the baby boom. The shift was attributed to men’s influence on the women through fashion trends, magazines, and TV shows. The main purpose of the chapter is to show that the propaganda through TV and society affected individuals, and more specifically the feminine mystique.
In the first section of the chapter the authors talk about how during World War II women made great strides toward becoming equals with men. They did this by going to work in factories. Women in the work place were not uncommon before the WWII era, but the actual women working in the factories changed. Before the WWII era majority of the women working in the factories were young, single women, but then that shifted to older, married women. Of the 6.5 million women in the work force more than half of them were the older, married women during this time period. And they were influenced to work in the factories not only because of society pressures, but because of the propaganda posters and ads about “Rosie the Riveter” who was a strong woman who worked in the factories and other jobs. This gave women more civil rights than before. However, when the war ended and all the fighting males came back many of the women were pushed out of the factories and back to their home lives. This also meant that many of the rights and authorities that they had gained were expunged. The female mystique changed from working hard in the factory to support the men overseas to working hard in the home to support the men at work.
The next section of the chapter is about these pressures that influenced the women to go into the workforce, as well as to leave the workforce. The women started to lose their place and started to want to become more home moms because the propaganda like TV shows and magazines, which were made mostly by men, pushed the women to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    It is no secret that for centuries, women have faced years and years of discrimination, inferiority to men, and being viewed as less than human by society. Women have had to fight for their right to vote amongst other legal rights, and for their independence from their husbands. “When American women began to enter the labor force in the nineteenth century, the relatively few jobs open to them were highly segregated by gender” (Spain 1992: 14). The first women’s labor union began to form by the end of the 1930’s. Women’s activism began to increase, leading to a new reform in paid work and the rise in feminism in the midst of a new labor movement (Gregory 2003: 25). By the 1940’s, the transition of the housewife to that of a working woman began to trend. Women began to venture out of the home in search of employment and educational opportunities to help provide for their families, since their…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Several changes occurred of a social aspect. The roles of women dramatically increased. After the war, there occurred lots of questions about genders and their roles. During World War II due to the fact that lots of men went to war and had to be at the fronts, women took their places at factories, and other aspects of everyday life. After the war ended, women continued to work there because of decrease of the population of men. This called for a revision of the theoretical standpoint of a woman’s role in society. Women started actively engaging in all aspects of everyday life. Their role each year increased. Nowadays, women take place in almost all the jobs that men are allowed to do such as in economics or politics, but even today they are fighting for their full rights and to be as equal as men.…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the years 1890-1925, the role of women in American society had changed politically, economically, and socially. Women were no longer considered the servant of men. She was considered an important part of society, but wasn’t able to lead in areas dominated by men. In this time period this is when things started to change for the women.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cracks in the Mold

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The mid twentieth century proved to be a compelling, interesting time for the United States and an era that changed the World. The Civil Rights movement brought the end to de jure segregation and racism and this incredible grassroots movement served as a foundational model for other groups to mock and seek their own liberation. The 1960s spurned movements not only for African Americans, but also for the LGBT community and women. With the emergence of America as a media savvy economic powerhouse post the World Wars, a tide sort of changed within the community of women. According to Sara Evans in the selection “Cracks in the Mold,” women in the 1950s recognized they were somewhat limited to performing the dutiful tasks of motherhood, but many were outright no longer finding fulfillment in such rolls (176). Evans describes the complexities of sexism in the United States’ culture while also she explains that both a conservative female push and a more radical feminist movement helped shape the legislation and attitude changes permeating through twentieth century America.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    slacks and calluses

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Women had different perspectives during World War 2. Many served in different branches of armed forces. Some labored in war productions plants. Most women stayed at home and had other responsibilities to raise children, balance check books, and some labored in war-related office jobs, while the men went to war. In addition to factory work and other front jobs about 350,000 women joined the Armed services, serving at home and abroad. “Rosie the Riveter,” later became a popular propaganda for women. While women worked in a variety of positions closed to them the industry saw the greatest increase in female’s workers. More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943, representing 65 percent of the industry total workforce. The industry recruited women workers, represented by the U.S. government. In Slacks and Calluses these women were employed at Consolidated Voltee Aircraft, located in San Diego. This book relates to the daily duties, shifting norms and the work stages in the summer of 1943. Swing shift on a B-24 production lives at a bomber plant. Two women by the names of Constance Bowman and Clara Marie Allen told the story of what went on daily while they worked at the bomber plant. A couple of questions needed to be answered though. What does Slacks and Calluses reveal about social class in lives of women? Does Slacks and Calluses support the idea that the country eagerly embraced the idea of women leaving the home to work in factories for war production? Did the women in the factories work there out of a sense of patriotism, or because they lacked other opportunities?…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    After World War II, women were dissatisfied with their roles and wanted equality. After the war, about two million women lost their jobs (Doc 1). They were told they didn’t want to work, and were forced to become homemakers and became separated from the workplace (Doc 1). Women began to question, “Is this all there is?” (Doc 2). They only made beds and shopped for groceries; women felt restricted and led boring lives (Doc 2). Women were also disappointed because there were only certain jobs available to them; mostly clerical work such as domestic service, retail sales, social work, teaching and nursing (RBP 983). These jobs paid poorly and no matter what, women were always made fewer wages than men. Women were also upset because they were denied easy access to education unlike men, and wanted to have a career outside of the home but could not because their lack of schooling. Women were not provided the same amount of opportunities as men and were very dissatisfied with their boring, restricted lives. Such lives led some women to organize small groups to…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War 2 Dbq Essay

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many men in World War II forced to join US Military just like the colored people joined, therefore women had to work in the factories to support or produce the weapons, supplies, raw materials that needed for the war and soldiers. Before the war, the women had limited to work and the colored of the women can work as a maid with low pay and for the white women were mostly housewives. However, things were dramatically changed during World War II because the war created the job opportunities for women in the industry such as working with machines and technology. According to the Document F, women become as a welder in a factory. It means that men can only do those kinds of things, but women can also do like men do. Although women can earn more money than before the war, but they still can earn low wages than men which leads to feminism. Moreover, women were not only support the materials for the war, they also participated in the military. Around 100,00 of women joined Army and Navy. Therefore, women are the greatest changes during the World War…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Second World War, there was a shortage of workers needed to fulfill the cry for war supplies. Millions of women stepped up to show their love and determination for their country. They worked to fulfill a call that men could not due to war. Patriotism filled their hearts and gave them the bravery to do what was then a man’s work.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World War 2 Dbq Analysis

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With the huge wave of men leaving, the government urged women to replace them in certain positions. By women filling these certain positions, it made them more knowledgeable and gave women a fantastic chance to do a variety of things they may not have done before. For example, in Document 1, The Women Worker U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 1942 had stated: ‘” Men called to go to war have actually have been replaced by women in types of works they would not formally do. They include taxi drivers, bank tellers, electricians and operating service stations. Even a southern city reports a women manager of a parking lot.”…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosie the Riveter

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Rosie the Riveter was a fictional character that was created to encourage women to join the work force during World War II. Men were sent off to war and they left production jobs, factory jobs, and many other positions that needed to be filled. Unprecedented numbers of women entered the world of work, marking the beginning of a major movement of women in industry.…

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wwii Impact on Women

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages

    With life hard on women already holding the home together while their husbands were in the war, they were forced to fill the spots that were usually held by men. Being in the workforce and doing jobs they would have never imagined doing such as: working in the factories, in transportation, and in government. These would have never been offered to women if there were men available. To get these women interested in getting involved, the “government teamed up with industry, the media, and woman’s organizations in an effort to urge them to join the labor force: their agenda: telling women it was their “patriotic duty” to go to work.” While doing these non-traditional jobs they still did jobs traditionally performed by women such as: sales and clerical, nursing, and teaching. “Nearly a million women were hired by the federal government and women's share of federal jobs increased from 18.8 per cent in 1940 to 37.5 per cent in 1945. Many women earned higher incomes than ever before, yet their wages were still not comparable to male pay. Women increasingly joined labor unions; the proportion of union members that were women raised from 9.4 per cent in 1940 to 21.8 per cent in 1944 .This shows just a few jumps in percentages that women went from just in those few years. Especially the percentage of women actually enlisting in the military rose…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The purpose of this message was to convince women to work in the factories while the men were overseas fighting in the military. The American women rose to the challenge in massive numbers; millions went to work and said they enjoyed it. Without their help in the factories, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for America to win the war. The war efforts of these women paved the way for the women’s rights movement, which followed soon…

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosie the Riveter

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During World War II, thousands of American men left for the war front leaving numerous factory, civil service, and war production jobs behind. In an attempt to temporarily fill the industrial labor shortage, “Rosie the Riveter” was born. Meant to represent the ideal female worker, “Rosie the Riveter”, even today, is considered the most successful advertising campaign in US History. The movie The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter depicts the differences between men and women in the workforce. Although “Rosie the Riveter” was intended to empower women and increase their opportunities, in reality there was no change in the public attitudes about women and their roles in society.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prior to 1945, women’s rights were limited in areas of employment, politics and social change. Women were expected to be housewives who were not entitled to the same wage as men because society had an enshrined idea that men needed enough to support a wife and children. Also, women had limited opportunities to voice their concerns and interests in public places and suffered against abusive family situations. This began to change when feminists started to libber against these inequities.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Until the United States became involved in World War II, women were primarily confined to domestic duties. With the Great Depression affecting the lives of all American families prior to the war, there were not enough jobs for women and men to fill, and thus men received priority when jobs were being filled. Once many men left the United States to fight the war, however, women were able to fill jobs that were now vacant. Women were soon found commonly in industrial positions, as searchlight workers, and nurses in the military. One important political figure during World War II was Rosie the Riveter, who was portrayed as a buff-looking woman who represented female factory workers during this time period. This was an important figure for the United States because it convinced women to apply for jobs that were previously considered “man’s work”, in order to secure a paycheck and support the nation’s wartime…

    • 1043 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays