Rockwell Changed the Face of Feminism
The Saturday Evening Post/Norman Rockwell
When Norman Rockwell’s illustration of Rosie the Riveter landed on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in May of 1943, it disrupted America’s perception of women’s roles in the 1940s. He could have flaunted her curls and shown them falling elegantly out of a handkerchief framing her face. He could have made it a portrait featuring her soft skin and Americana red lips.
But instead, he considered how women felt when they pulled their hair up and donned their denim factory wear. When they handled the machinery and hardened their soft hands with manual labor. Rosie became a cultural icon of World War II, and Rockwell depicted what it meant to be feminine in America during a time of war.
