World War II was the first war to take place during a time booming with technological advancements. Not to say that WWI was not, but WWII was the first war to have mass media (television, newspapers, and propaganda posters) at its fingertips as a means to help support/fund war efforts, primarily through communication with United States citizens. Since citizens were encouraged to contribute to war efforts through war bonds and used cooking oil contributions, gaining citizen support was particularly crucial to winning the war. Unfortunately, the process of gaining citizen support and the results of having said support proved to leave Japanese people, Jewish people, and women at a disadvantage. Through the use of propaganda, concentration/internment camps, war efforts and legislation, people who were not White American males were dehumanized and marginalized during and post World War II.
Before American entered World War II, women generally stayed at home and performed housework, whereas men worked outside of the home. When the United States entered the World War II and most of the young, able-bodied men left the country, women were encouraged to enter the industrial workforce. During the war, women’s employment skyrocketed, but it returned to low levels again immediately after the war as men returned to the country. Women only experienced social mobilization temporarily because it was convenient for society for a brief time, not because the culture was shifting towards equality. During the war, women were encouraged to either join the war forces or work in the jobs that men traditionally held beforehand. Before the war, about 10 million women were working, but by 1944, 18 million were working[1]. Women were encouraged to take these jobs on the grounds that doing so would be considered patriotic[2]. Because more jobs were available to women during the war, they were less likely to accept the worst jobs or suffer as much at their jobs[3]. One of the thrills of working was that it gave women the chance to have their own money and thus become more independent. Independence is an important marker of cultural status and power. After the war, when men returned, women were encouraged to leave their industrial jobs and return to work within in the home again[4]. This culture ideal was communicated through television, films, and advertisements, which suggested women should be more concerned with finding a husband and starting a family instead of working[5]. By comparing an advertisement from 1943 (during the war) and 1947, after the war, there is a clear different between expectations of women during the war and expectations of them afterwards. “Rosie the Riveter” is a powerful woman, who is portrayed as strong and independent[6]. The postwar advertisement, however, portrays the woman as a ditzy wife, whose job is to stay at home and cook (though she apparently isn’t good at that either)[7]. The temporary changes women experienced were important in that they gave women an understanding of what they could achieve and who they could be. Though post-war employment for women dropped, it began to rise again after 1955[8]. While the culture didn’t shift so quickly, as men were still the assumed breadwinners, it became clearer that women were just as valuable in the workforce as men[9]. [1] Marc Miller, “Working Women and World War II,” The New England Quarterly 53, no. 1 (March 1980): 42, assessed April 2, 2015, http://www.jstor.org/stable/365288. [2] Miller, “Working Women and World War II,” 42. [3] Miller, “Working Women and World War II,” 55. [4] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History Volume 2 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014), 937. [5] Foner, Give Me Liberty!, 937. [6] “ Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War II, “ last modified July 20, 2010, http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/journey/rosie-transcript.html. [7] Christina Catalano, “Shaping the American Woman: Feminism and Advertising in the 1950s,” Constructing the Past, no. 1 (2002): 45. [8] Foner, Give Me Liberty!, 937. [9] Foner, Give Me Liberty!, 937. Bibliography: Catalano, Christina. “Shaping the American Woman: Feminism and Advertising in the 1950s.” Constructing the Past, no. 1 (2002). Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History Volume 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. Library of Congress. “Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War II.” Last modified July 20, 2010. http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/journey/rosietranscript.html. Miller, Marc. “Working Women and World War II.” The New England Quarterly 53, no. 1 (March 1980): 42-55. Accessed April 2, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/365288. |