Creating Rosie the Riveter

After reading "Creating Rosie the Riveter" the article examines "homefront propaganda and images of women during the war years,...". (13) The author examines two major magazines of the time and they are the Saturday Evening Post andTrue Story. Each magazine depicts images of women in different ways during the war years. What must be understood is that "Images work a powerful effect on the mind.".(12) These magazines sent the "message that women could and should occupy all jobs." (12) First they did this with the help of the government. At that time the government made all magazines aware of their propaganda needs. (14) Fictional stories played a huge role in changing people's opinions and recruiting women for the workforce. The use of fiction worked as a "powerful technique because the reader is not examining the story in conscious, rational way and may therefore be more receptive to the message." (15) True Story differed from the Post because it "concentrated on the problems that hampered its readers from acheiving the American Dream." (14) This magazine exspecially appealed to women because they held mediocre jobs such as secretaries, housekeepers, and nurses. This magazine helped their minds explore and think about what new job opportunities could provide them withfor the future. Next, the Saturday Evening Post opened up its markets to women and the middle-working class. They heavily used fictional stories in their magazine for mass persuasion. Last, advertising visual pictures left impressions in all readers minds. An example would be of the photograph depicted in this blog. Finally, even though only for a short time during the war women were empowered and explored the workforce. Even though they successfully proved that they could work any jobs the poor "propaganda strategies for unifying the homefront and to a top-down impetus for social change left the new images vulnerable to swift annihilation." (17) Personally, it amazes me that all of the magazines were made aware of propaganda needs by the government. Also, the numerous ways magazines tried to persuade and empower women at the time proves that the media was a force to be reckoned with during the war and it still has the power of persuasion today.