Rosie the Riveter Poster

During the second World War, the Rosie the Riveter poster became an American icon. The most common version of the poster featured a woman in a blue work shirt rolling up the sleeve and flexing her arm. At the top of the poster are the words, "We Can Do It!" The woman in the poster is seen as an icon for American feminism. The poster, which was made for Westinghouse, was designed to inspire women to join the workforce.

In America before WWII, the workforce was filled mostly by men. The traditional roles of men and women abounded, with most women staying home to take care of the home and and children. However, when the United States went to war, the American workforce found itself lacking workers. While women were not permitted to join the military in WWII (and still are not allowed in direct combat roles today), their efforts were needed behind the front lines.

Women began to fill manufacturing jobs that were vacated by laborers-turned-soldiers. The Rosie the Riveter poster was actually modeled after a real woman who did this -- Rosie Will Monroe. The real Rosie the Riveter actually built B-24 and B-29 bombers in a factory in Michigan. After the war, she took her love of airplanes to the skies by earning her pilot's license.

After the war ended, most women left their factory jobs to go back home. However, some took jobs that are traditionally seen as more suited to them, such as administrative assisting and other stereotypically "feminine" professions, and some did stay in their factory jobs. In either case, Rosie the Riveter inspired women to join the workforce.