Rosie the Riveter and WW2

  As World War 2 started to play out, many men enlisted in the army, which left gaps in the American (and other countries) industrial labor forces. In America alone, women in the workforce increased from 27 to almost 37%, "and nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home" by 1945. One of the ways the government helped close the labor gap was by starting the "Rosie the Riveter" campaign, aimed at employing women into the munitions industry to help the war effort.
 
   
One of the popular pictures of "Rosie" stomping on Hitler's book "Mein Kampf".

 Rosie the Riveter's most famous image is Norman Rockwell's image published in "The Saturday Evening".  With the campaign's patriotic message of the need for women to enter the workforce, many industries saw an increase in women employees. One way women got more involved in the war effort was the creation of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots. They were the first women to fly American military aircraft. Their job was to get planes from factories to bases, transport cargo, and as well as go on target missions. During their time, they were never given military recognition, even though 38 died during the war. They finally received recognition in 1977, given full military status.

  Another industry that had an increase of women labor force in general was the Armed Forces. In May 1942, Congress created the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. In 1945, there were around 100,000 women who joined, participating in 200 non-combatant jobs.

Overall, World War II's effect on the world gave the circumstances that allowed a huge push towards women's equality in the work force. The labor gap in men caused the government to push for women in the work force, which lead  women to work in, at the time, male dominated jobs.

Bibliography:
-http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/rosie-the-riveter
-http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii