The need for working woman began when men were initially being drafted for the military and masses of jobs were left unattended. With no one home to fill them but women, they were the logical choice. Women took over previously solely male jobs such as welding, machining, building aircrafts, and driving taxis. To convince women to join the work force Rosie the Riveter was created first in a song,then on the cover of a magazine, then on promotional posters for the military and factories and eventually becoming a movie.

Rosie the Riveter is a fictional representation of all working women during World War II. She was first invented by Redd Evans and Jacob Leob in 1942 when they wrote a song using her character. "She's a part of the assembly line. She's making history, Working for victory, Rosie the Riveter." Lines like this one encouraged women to be like others and join the work force. It was released in 1943 being sung by the Four Vagabonels. Rosie didn't make her photographic debut until May 29th, 1943 when a painting of her was printed on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Mary Doyle, a nineteen year-old worker who represented the new ideal female worker, served as the model for the painting. Evans wife claimed that "Rosie" wasn't a real person and that the name was chosen simply for the creative acronym, but some people think otherwise. Rosie Bnavita and Jennie Fiorito set a record by driving 3,345 rivets into the wing of a Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber 5 months after the song was released. Even though she is quoted to saying that she wasn't the real "Rosie", it was still a very popular belief.

Contrary to posters, advertisements and the "Rosie the Riveter" symbol of a young, middle class woman entering the work force out of pure patriotism, most working women were actually working-class wives, widows, divorcees and students who needed the money. In fact, only one third of working women described themselves as housewives prior to the war. Still, some women did go out of patriotism but whatever their motives, there were a lot of working women. Three million women volunteered for the red cross throughout the war. 34.2 percent of workers in ammunition were women; 10.6 percent of steel workers were women; 40 percent of aircraft industry workers were women and 10 percent of personal shipping workers were women. In total over six million women worked in previously impossible and unacceptable positions for females.

In addition to helping to persuaded six million women to join the work force, and having a song to start her popularity, "Rosie the Riveter" also had a movie named after her featuring the song in addition to another movie, both of which portrayed women like Rosie. "Rosie the Riveter" representsthe 1940's because she was the symbol of working women who made up nearly half the population and most of the population still in US because of World War II

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/at0071.2s.jpg
http://www.bigdogdesign.com/rosie-the-riveter.jpg
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/wit/rosie2.jpg
Colman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter. New York. 1995
The University of Massachusetts Press. Creating Rosie the Riveter. Massachusetts. 1984