History Book Review - Essay Example

Rosie the Riveter, often depicted as someone in overalls and a bandana, is portrayed as a woman of confidence and strength. The book effectively represents Rosie as a very womanly character who maintained her femininity despite being almost exactly the opposite of how women were stereotyped during that period. One can say that this concept of the “Rosie” image served as a model to mobilize women to take on factory jobs that the men left behind. She was portrayed almost as a superwoman of that age.

She produces things that are superior to what any regular woman can do. She is beautiful and glamorous, muscular and strong. She has to be different from the typical American housewife yet maintain something in her that most American housewives would admire and want. She symbolizes the principle that production and work have nothing to do with gender. Rosie the Riveter’s whole essence is about change, and for this, she has several unions adopting her image as their symbol and was wholeheartedly embraced by the American working class women.

In the book, author Penny Coleman expounds on the details of the efforts done by women for the work force during the World War II. They took over industrial works that were usually reserved for men while these men were away for the war. It was very efficiently written and focused, which is one good factor since it aims to educate mostly the young readers. The contents of a written work can usually be disregarded if the writing style is too much for the young minds. That is not the case in this book.

It is also clear that the author skillfully delved into the changes that greatly impacted these women’s lives even beyond their own homes. Coleman included several first-hand details that depicted the different forms of struggles these women went through before, during, and after the shift from being housewives or working women’s jobs to the more male-dominated roles. “Rosie the riveter: Women