Montella 1

Tasha Montella
Professor Steven Hall
English 1010
29 September 2014
Rosie the Riveter We Can Do It!
I chose to analyze a poster done by J. Howard Miller in 1942. This poster was created
during World War II in order to encourage women to join the workforce. Millers poster consists
of a very pretty white woman with distinctive rosy cheeks, high cheek bones, bark blue eyes,
black eye lashes, and bright peach lips. She has brunette hair tied back behind a bright red
bandana with little white polka dots on it. Although you can only see the top half of her body she
seems to also be wearing some sort of blue jumpsuit with a collar. Her left hand is holding up her
right sleeve to show her flexed bicep. This poster stands out due to the colors he uses in it; the
background behind this red, white, and blue lady is a bright sunshine yellow. On the top of the
poster, above her head, lays a dark blue speech balloon with big bold white letters reading We
Can Do It! This particular womans image became the symbol of the female workforce during
World War II.
This very tough looking woman soon became known as Rosie (a.k.a. Rosie the Riveter)
by all of America. The name was given to her in a painting later done by Norman Rockwell in
1943 in which she is seen as a riveter on lunch break with a lunch box which has the name Rosie
spelled out across the top of it. I dont particularly like Rockwells version of Rosie; therefore, I
chose to analyze Millers version. I do however like that the name Rosie became an archetypal
symbol; this symbol carried the notion that all women could obtain economic independence. I
like the image made by Miller because I think it is very straight forward and shows her as tough;

Montella 2

she is not smiling and has a very serious look on her face; although she is wearing makeup, you
can tell she means business. The writing at the top is also very distinguished, taking up a fifth of
the poster; the large, white letters really stand out against the dark blue speech bubble. Also,
pertaining to the light of the poster, you can tell the focal point is her tough looking face and her
strong fist located in the center of the poster where it is the brightest. The top part of the poster is
dark blue and at the bottom her jumpsuit starts out dark blue, but gradually transitions to lighter
blue as you move toward her face.
Although I have seen this image before, I have never looked into the history behind it
until now. I never knew where or when it was created, nor that she was given the name Rosie. I
originally thought this poster was made for women to protest for equal treatment and womens
rights. I visualize it being used this way because it is a picture of a woman with strong yet bright
facial features, holding her fist in the air, flexing her muscles to show that she is just as strong as
a man. The woman in the poster also looks as though she is ready to fight and prove she can do
the things men can do. Her hand is in a fist, her lips are pursed, she is wearing a jumpsuit (not a
dress) and her hair is pulled back out of the way. Also with the emphatic words above her
expressing solidarity seems to be saying together we women can do manly things also. This
image is so bright it seems like the whole thing is jumping out speaking directly to women
wanting them to notice and stand up, wanting them to realize that they are strong enough.
Overall, I think people might need to have prior knowledge about this image in order to
understand exactly what it was meant to represent. For instance, I thought it was indicating
support for equal rights for women when it was actually created to represent and encourage
women to help with the war effort. I think without the prior knowledge of this image people
might not understand what the poster was actually intended to represent. I do, however, feel that

Montella 3

back in 1942 the poster achieved its intended impact to motivate women to join the workforce. I
feel that her image has achieved much more than what it was originally created for. Although
this poster is very strong and straightforward it is also somewhat vague in that it can be used for
more than just the reason it was originally created. Because of this vagueness this image remains
popular to this very day; it has been posted on Facebook and Instagram to help and encourage
women during hard times in life. It has also been used in many protests after WWII. This image
was created to promote women in the 1940s but since then it has been able to be used for many
different reasons.

Montella 4

Works Cited
""Rosie The Riveter" 1941-1945." The Pop History Dig. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/%E2%80%9Crosie-theriveter%E2%80%9D1941-1945/>