"We can do it!" proclaims the most popular image of "Rosie the Riveter' from World War II. (A Call to Arms, 2002) When men left to fight overseas, women were needed to work defense plants. The image of "Rosie" shows a woman flexing her arm, as if symbolizing America's strength. Her hair, presumably to avoid its becoming entangled in a manufacturing press, is bound away from her face. Yet Rosie of the image is still lovely and beautiful, for she is a feminine American woman. The message was "mixed," that women should both work and assume a masculine strength, yet still continue to inspire the troops as mothers and as beauties. It should be
