You've probably seen her. She stands in front of an American flag, her muscles flexed, a black lunch pail at her side. Her hair is always pulled up, sometimes shoved under a bandanna, sometimes pressed beneath a pair of welding glasses. Rosie the Riveter is an American icon, a symbol of a time when women pulled together to serve their country.

But who was Rosie, really? And what challenges did she and women like her face as the roles of women began to change during the Second World War?

The Real "Rosie"

Not all women were able, or willing, to go to work building planes and ships. Many Americans thought that women who worked for war aims were less feminine than those who stayed home. American government and popular media made a concerted effort to portray civic service as a woman's duty, using glamorized images of female workers to promote factory employment.

Mary Doyle was a 19-year-old telephone operator when artist Norman Rockwell asked her to model for a painting. She had no idea that she would become an icon for the female workforce until she saw her figure on the cover of the May 29, 1943 Saturday Evening Post.

The artist had made Mary literally larger than life. In a letter to her after the issue came out, he wrote an apology: "The kidding you took about the picture was all my fault because I really thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, but then I did have to make you into a sort of a giant."

Rockwell's picture took its name from a 1942 song, "Rosie the Riveter." Lines like "Rosie buys a lot of war bonds, that girl really has sense, wishes she could purchase more bonds, putting all her cash into national defense," made a broad appeal to all women, not just the "Rosies." Propaganda and popular culture argued that everyone had a part to play in the defense of the United States.

Defending the country didn't only mean serving in its military. What the country needed most was workers for the plants that created airplanes, weapons, and supplies to send to overseas troops. The United States supplied these items not only to its own troops, but to its allies as well, because of great shortages in Europe. Real-life "Rosies" emerged because the draft and enlistment of male workers resulted in a shortage of labor. At the height of WWII, 46% of Boeing's workforce was comprised of women.

A Fight at Home

Life wasn't easy for women workers, despite public pressure towards factory work. "Women took an awfully bad beating in Final Assembly. It was the first time women and men had worked together," explained Boeing worker Helen Nelson. "There was a great deal of chauvinism. Women were considered too stupid to know how to do anything."

While fighting the prejudices of male workers, women also had to determine their role in those industries that had a strong union presence. Organized labor often did not have a place or provision for women or minority workers. Because of this, women workers and union leaders frequently argued over workplace conditions. Many people considered women's employment a temporary war measure, assuming that women would stop working when men returned from war. This made it difficult for women to negotiate successfully with unions and employers.

Women also had battles to fight in the home. Families had to adapt their way of life. Many goods were rationed because of shortages, including everyday items like gasoline, meat, and shoes. Some women traded ration coupons with their neighbors so that each family could get the items that they needed. Others began to conserve by saving tin cans and other items for salvage drives and beginning "victory gardens" to grow extra food.

The working woman had to worry about all of these things - and childcare. "The proud feeling of being hired to work on the Victory Ships began to fade to fear on the job and the uncertainty of what I was supposed to do," said ship worker Lucille E. Sunde. "I was concerned about my little boy at home with a young baby sitter." Like many other young women, Lucille was working not only for patriotism but for extra income. Money was not enough to ease her worries about having to leave a young child behind.

A Different Kind of Struggle Begins

Women had achieved much during World War II in professions that had been closed to them for years. Many women didn't want to stop working when the war ended. There were those who needed the extra income to help support family members who had been disabled. Others simply enjoyed the freedom of pursuing what had been a male occupation.

During the war, women had proven that they could do a "man's job." Having taken the step forward, they weren't prepared to go back. Women had learned to fight for their rights during World War II, and it was a battle that didn't end with the war.