Works Cited

Colman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II.

New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. 1995.


Whitman, Sylvia. V is For Victory: The American Home Front During World War II.

Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1993.


"Women and the Homefront- World War II." Internet. Database available online. Internet.

http://www.teacheroz.com/wwii.htm. Date accessed Febuary 9, 2007.

A Woman's Changing Role in Society in the 1930's

-This picture shows women headed to the workforce during WWII. With the men away, women were left to work.


Trying to hold the home front together while there was a war waging abroad was not an easy task. Women were not only asked to complete the daily chores that were normally expect of them, but they were asked to go to work. Suddenly their very private lives were turned into a very public and patriotic cause. The changes that women underwent in the late 1930's and early 1940's would be felt by generations to come.

Traditionally the woman’s place was thought to be in the home. She was responsible for cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, and looking her best. So when the war broke out, and it was clear that America would not be able to win the war without the help of their women, the "traditional" housewife and mother turned into wartime worker (Women).


The demands put on American industry by World War II in the industries were immense. With the men off fighting in the war, that put the jobs of men in the industries on shut down. It was clear the only way America would be able to win the war was if it enlisted large numbers of women for employment. The American industries needed women to go to work to build the planes, tanks, and ships needed to fight Hitler. It was time to bring American women into industry (Women).

Men and Women work side-by-side building bomber
planes at a factory in Willow Run, Michigan.
Women worked the assembly line, producing all of the supplies for the troops at war. Women made a huge impact in the victory of WWII.

Thanks to World War II women gained more respect than ever before, and they showed that they could be just as important as men.