Propaganda Pieces

Norman Rockwell Magazine Cover showing two women serving a soldier

War Manpower Commission/US Employment Service Poster depicting a woman making her husband proud by helping the war effort

WAVES recruitment poster saying that if a woman joins, it allows the men to be freed to go physically fight

WAAC recruitment poster motivating women to help in order to get the men back quicker

WAAC recruitment poster telling women this is their fight too, one of the rare pieces that appeal to women's loyalty to their country instead of their loyalty to their husbands

The large majority of propaganda pieces, whether aimed at women helping from the home or women joining government units to serve, placed emphasis on supporting the men. Women contributed largely to World War II, but their accomplishments were viewed as secondary to the men's accomplishments since they were the ones fighting.

Making the boys proud and supporting the boys were what the government assumed women's motivations for supporting the war effort were. Women could support the war by rationing, donating, or volunteering their services but not by doing any actual fighting on the front lines.

The US government was the primary producer of these posters and the messages depicted on them are symbolic of the gender roles of the time. Women were predominantly housewives and mothers and these pieces show that with their language and clothing styles.