Rosie The Riveter: A Feminist Analysis

Today, feminism is a term that attracts a great deal of controversy and often leads to heated debates over the true definition of the word. Feminism began as a movement for women to prove their worth and finally gain the recognition of equal members in society to that of men, to be equivalents rather than domestic servants. Moreover, the role women played during the second world war unequivocally proved the strength and endurance which put to rest any question as to whether women had the ability to perform the tasks only believed to executed by men. The war further implemented itself as an important component in continuing evolution of feminine justice as it created the iconic role model of “Rosie the Riveter”, a strong woman capable of hard
Although great tragedy occurred during the duration of the war, the war also inspired and was inspired by a freedom wave and the idea of a unified world which is made evident through the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, “The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society” (Foner, 2012, p.193). These sentiments were made pre-war but do not make the notion any less desirable or true. Moreover, the idea of united countries fighting for what is right is pretty much the general summary of the second world war considering it was Britain, The Soviet Republics, and The United States who united against Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan. And much like the uniting of countries, the commencement of women uniting together to keep the U.S. functioning was just as
Much like the women in America and Great Britain, German women were put into tough situations when the war broke out especially when their leader was anything but a feminist. It could be fairly stated that Adolf Hitler was opposed to and somewhat discouraging towards women in the workplace but, in the end, relented as the help was greatly needed, thus the debate for German women to work for the war effort was debated at great length due to Hitler’s reluctance to antagonize the women or their serving husbands (Stephenson, 2014, p.95). Moreover, the urgency for more assistance in the war effort both on the home front and in the direct line of action was made even more clear through the thousands of recruits of both men and women in vital positions including aviation. In fact, award winning author Amy Goodpaster Strebe stresses this point in her book about women aviators by affirming that “despite Hitler’s distaste for women in German military, 450,000 joined the women’s auxiliaries, in addition to nursing units. Although no women pilots were permitted to fly in combat for the Third Reich, half a dozen female aviators reportedly flew in ferrying missions” (Beckman and Strebe, 2007, p.3). Therefore, though it was socially frowned upon and not comfortably recognized, women were greatly involved in this war on both sides of the