CALLING ALL FEMINISTS: HELP SAVE ROSIE!!!!!
The GOP has kidnapped Rosie!! Wait, what is this now? They replaced her face with... SARAH PALIN!?!?!?!?! The misappropriations are astounding!
You’ll Get What’s Coming
4 weeks ago
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Seriously, they just don't get it. Taking any old woman off the street does not a feminist make! She has no interest in preserving the progress women have made. In fact, she would LOVE to turn back the clock. So how the hell do they think she's representing the rights of women. I'm so pissed, and confused, and saddened, and disappointed...
Oh my god this makes me want to scream. I literally just gasped at my desk.
Poor, poor, Rosie. I cannot imagine her sufferings...we must get her back!
next thing you know they'll be playing that old Helen Reddy tune at GOP conventions!
Ironic, isn't it - championing the women's movement as they try to undermine it. I'm sure there are some sick bastards having a good laugh and toasting Karl Rove about now.
Well I am about to leave a very unpopular comment. Rosie was designed to encourage white women to leave their households and head into the workforce. Sarah Palin is a workikng mom of five. Rosie was never a specifically feminist creation as much as she was a creation by men for convenience. When they needed the labor women were strong and capable. When men returned it was back to the kitchen for women.
What, exactly, is "Sarah the Riveter" supposed to be proclaiming we can do?
It's also worth noting that the "We Can Do It" poster is not actually modeled on Rosie the Riveter, but Geraldine Doyle, also a factory worker. Semantics really, as both of them represented the same idea that it was a woman's patriotic duty to enter the workforce. The primary duty of the poster campaign was to get women to replace the men that were overseas, a kind of necessary evil if you will, elicited by the situation rather than promoting equality, because as Renee pointed out, most women did get displaced once the war was over. The 1970s was really when women began making a reentry into the workforce.
So, one could argue that this use of the poster is actually more true to its original idea than to how it's been co-opted over the years. But heck, cultural symbols change over time. Still, it's good to know the history behind it.
Alex and Renee, you're right on. This was originally a very conservative image, used by the Westinghouse corporation (look at the original poster closely) as an in-house motivational tool. However, the other posters in the series by the same Westinghouse artist show a much scarier paternalism than this one. It's not odd that conservatives are using this symbol; it was odd that feminists used it these past thirty years without knowing its history.
Alex, I know that Doyle claims she is the original model for the poster, by I have a number of reasons for doubting her claim. We will probably never know who the original model truly was.
Biff
Even knowing the history of Rosie, I don't see what's problematic about claiming her as an icon of the women's movement. Even though she was introduced as wartime propaganda, it doesn't negate the amazing work that women proved themselves capable of on the WWII homefront. Furthermore, her "We Can Do It" slogan has become symbolic -- we've done it before and we'll do it again, so stand back!
Re: Palin as Rosie, though...what??? So she's a working mom with a demanding job - it's not all that unusual. Mothers (but especially minority women, working class families, and mothers in poverty) have been juggling job and family for decades. Many of them without the benefit of a husband/partner. Rosie is an anonymous symbol for a reason. Let's not put Palin on a pedestal unless we are willing to raise up all working mothers alongside her.
This always happens. Once some pseudo-intelligent woman in a badly tailored suit appears on the political scene, conservatives and the like reach out to some stereotypical feminist symbol and/or lingo for propaganda,to fool dumb people into thinking this (always) sexist idea is actually somehow progressive when it is anything but. I wrote about this with newbie singer, Katy Perry, if anyone cares to check it out. http://shesontherag.blogspot.com
Gotta give it to them, its good marketing for the McCain/Palin ticket (damn it all).
Now, we just need to keep focusing on her record. Troopergate. Librarygate. Bridge-to-Nowhere flip-flopping. And the fact that the Bush economy is heading further south doesn't hurt the campaign either.
We Alaskan women marched against Sarah this weekend, and had an amazing turnout! Pics here: http://laurainak.blogspot.com
Oh my fucking god what is the matter with people. I'm so pissed off most of the time with how stupid some people are I just want to scream! How do we educate women to not let themselves be bamboozled by this imposter?
Sarah Palin should NOT be associated with feminist symbols! EVER!!
It's sickening, isn't it? My sister used to have a Rosie shirt and poster on her wall. Hopefully she doesn't see one of these Palin things for risk of dropping dead from the disgust and shock.
Don't know how you feel about Hillary (just ran across your blog), but is this any better?... http://www.cafepress.com/shirtosphere/5972728
ROFL. OMG, that just cracks up! Complete with the glove, you know, lol. This same place has another less 'offensive' one with just Rosie/Hillary, Obama & Biden, too. Well, take care :-)
SERIOUSLY!!!!! Sarah Palin's calls to feminism are a complete joke and this is insulting! Her policies are completely anti-woman. Does she - or the GOP - even know what feminism means??
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