Working Women

I found an image on a website that talks about women working in the 1950’s and different issues concerning feminism in the 1950’s. World War Two was a pe

riod in time where women in America had to take over their husband’s jobs, while they were fighting in the war, to be able to provide the family with money. For the first time wom

en were able to show their ‘masculine’ capabilities by working the men’s jobs. ‘Work that entices women out of their homes and provides them with prestige only at the price of feminine relinquishment, involves a response to masculine strivings’

(http://universityhonors.umd.edu/HONR269J/projects/hchunt/quotes.htm)

Rosie de Riveter who is now seen as an A

merican icon from the 1950’s, was a feminist who encouraged women to work the men’s jobs during this time. In the image Rosie de Riveter is wearing a blue collared overall fit to her size, which shows that it was made for her and that the days of only men sized overalls were over. She has her hair back in a handkerchief, showing that women didn’t always have to wear their hair down and also showing that she is ready for the job. This was an early sign of feminism as it was seen to be normal that women always had to look on their best. A page on the website comments on a quotation found in a 1950’s American High School home economics textbook titled ‘How to be a good wife’: ‘Have dinner ready. Prepare yourself. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking.’ This is proof that by this statement girls were brought up to be ‘fresh’ and good looking wives. The powerful statement ‘We can do it’ refers to all the women who had never worked before and felt like they weren't capable of doing whatever their husbands did at work.

This is an image of Sandra Bullock during the shooting of The Proposal. In the film she is the typical image of a contemporary business women in America. The picture is a typical image for the fact that she is wearing a tailored suit. Women wear these suits to blend in with the men's suits. Therefore, nowadays it seems like women are trying to be like men in the business world. As supposed to in the past when women were expected to wear colors and make up. Business women generally wear their hear tied into a tight pony tale or done up in some kind of way and their make up looks quite natural but powerful, creating a serious look, as portrayed in the picture. Heals still seem to be a must when wearing a tailored suit. This could be for the fact that women don't want to be too short compared to men or because they want to give off an attitude of 'women can be beautiful and work at the same time'.