page_title: History of women in the United States
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: History of women in the United States / Since 1941 / World War II
caption_attribution_description: A "Wendy Welder" (see Rosie the Riveter) at the Richmond Shipyards, Richmond, California, USA. This woman worker pushes back her helmet during a moment's pause from her welding job at the Richmond shipyard in California.
context_page_description: This is a piece on history of women in the United States since 1776, and of the Thirteen Colonies before that. The study of women's history has been a major scholarly and popular field, with many scholarly books and articles, museum exhibits, and courses in schools and universities. The roles of women were long ignored in textbooks and popular histories. By the 1960s, women were being presented as successful as male roles. An early feminist approach underscored their victimization and inferior status at the hands of men. In the 21st century writers have emphasized the distinctive strengths displayed inside the community of women, with special concern for minorities among women.
context_section_description: When the United States entered World War II in 1941, 12 million women were already working (making up one quarter of the workforce), and by the end of the war, the number was up to 18 million (one third of the workforce). Eventually 3 million women worked in war plants, but the majority of women who worked during World War II worked in traditionally female occupations, like the service sector. During this time, Government propaganda calling on women to enter the workforce during the emergency popularized the "Rosie the Riveter" image Of women assuming male roles.
  Standlee (2010) argues that during the war the traditional gender division of labor changed somewhat, as the "home" or domestic female sphere expanded to include the "home front". Meanwhile, the public sphere—the male domain—was redefined as the international stage of military action.
caption: A female welder at the Richmond Shipyards, Richmond, California, in 1943. Women factory workers embodied the "Rosie the Riveter" model.
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