Media Portrayal of Gender and Cultural Stereotypes During World War II and Current Times

Teenagers today spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day influenced by media by either watching television, listening to music, reading a magazine, or surfing online. Media is the message and the messenger. Women, specifically teenage women, use the media to figure out how to look and act. The pressure it takes to fit in can be unbearable at times. How did women during wartime overcome this pressure? They had media, but much less of it. However, media now is everywhere. When someone walks down the street, what would that person see? They would see billboards, magazines, televisions, and they can even hear radios. The media is everywhere. Women during World War II were affected by the media just as women are today. What is the person that comes to mind where talking about WWII? Rosie the Riveter. She was used influence women to help during wartime. The media used her in the propaganda campaign. The demand for women to help was extremely high. The government decided to use Rosie to “lure women into working.” (Fleming) Many women responded differently to the character. The media promoted “Rosie the Riveter” as a fictional character but was the “ideal women worker.” The women must be loyal, efficient, patriotic, and pretty. Many of the women responded differently. It often depended on the on the age, race, class, marital status, and the number of children. During World War II, around 350,000 women served in the United States Armed Forces. However, not