Introduction

Collective memories, often described as static knowledge about past (historical) events shared by a group of people, shape present-day identities and political claims (Roediger & Abel, 2015). For women in the United States, collective memories about World War II construct a foundational narrative for the women’s labor force. According to data published in Cambridge, during the 5 years from 1940 to 1945, 6.7 million women took on jobs traditionally reserved for men, marking a nearly 50% increase in female labor participation (Rose, 2018). “Rosie the Riveter,” an iconic figure symbolizing female labor at that time, is still popular among social media and other platforms. With the poster being spread for generations, this wartime memory undoubtedly inspired contemporary actions. Throughout the period of postwar, the collective memory of women during World War II has influenced the pursuit of workplace equality by providing evidence of women’s economic competence to stimulate post-war activism, even brought impact to policy decisions on work equality, and helped constitute the literary work of feminist writers. However, just as Judith Benny (2004) has worried about Māori oral narratives, “History is the shaping of the past by those living in the present” (p. 203). For any actions brought about by these collective memories during World War II, the narration of collective memories may be narrow due to the incomplete public perspective at that time.

Drawing on Halbwachs’ theories of collective memory and the feminist economist theory of Goldin, the analysis compares and intersects primary sources (oral histories, congressional records) with secondary scholarship to trace the causal chain from memory to activism to policy. Ultimately, the paper argues that while the female collective memory during World War II should not be overlooked, it does bring the foundation for the new pursuit of work equality in the 1960s – 1980s and could serve as an orientation for new actions to pursue workplace equality.

Because of the need for substitute labor during World War II, factories offered significantly higher acceptance for female labor. During the 5 years between 1940 and 1945, the total number of women employed as production workers had a significant increase compared to ever before, from 34000 to 2174000(Schweitzer, 1980). Women also became 37 percent of the total civilian labor force, reaching a historically high percentage. However, the percentage of female labor participation nearly fell to the level before World War II after the 1950^th, according to Evan K Rose’s study on the regional difference in the labor rate influence (Rose, 2018b). What remained after the rapid increase and decrease was the collective memory of female labor participation, the irresistible evidence of women’s strength in work.

The Federal Office of War Information produced the propaganda poster for the character “Rosie the Riveter.” She was depicted as “everything the government wanted in a female war worker…loyal, efficient, patriotic, compliant and even pretty” (Yellin, 2004). While undoubtedly instrumental, the campaign seeded a durable collective memory: that ordinary housewives could master heavy machinery and economic autonomy.

Personal memories also reinforced the statistical record. Inez Sauer, Boeing tool clerk, revealed in her words: “My mother warned me when I took the job that I would never be the same. She said, ‘You will never want to go back to being a housewife.’ At that time, I didn’t think it would change a thing. But she was right, it definitely did… at Boeing I found a freedom and an independence that I had never known.” (Kaufman, 2002). Many direct memories also express similar experiences. Betty Jeanne Boggs, a 17-year-old worker working in a plant that made planes, described her performance in her patriotic duty: “I worked on a war plant, and it was one of the things you did when your country was at war, and it had been an enjoyable experience. Even today, I am very proud of that (war) job. I can always say, ‘Hey, I was a riveter during World War II’” (Gluck, 1988). Such testimonies were shared in the news and café chats, and decades later, in high school history days, these private experiences were turned into communal stories. Just as Maurice Halbwachs’ theory has mentioned, memories crystallize when they are “socially framed” (Ogino, 2015). These events in war provided long-lasting topics for conversation, from books, movies, to commentary, which highlighted the formation of collective memory in a social framework.

The collective memory’s persuasiveness, in fact, is built on its concreteness with irresistible facts, for the doubt raised against the working potential of women. For someone in the collective memory, they could point to photographs of B-24 bomber lines staffed entirely by women or records from California shipyards where female welders exceeded male quotas by 15 percent (Goldin, 1991). From “Josephine the Plumber” to Katy Perry’s 2024 performance in the song ‘Woman’s World’, people were still refreshing the icon of “Rosie the Riveter”, ensuring the collective memory remained vivid after generations.

Collective memory translated into policy debates almost immediately after V‑J Day. Witness testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor in 1963 repeatedly cited women’s “proven record of wartime productivity” to rebut claims of inferiority (U.S. Congress, 1963, p. 14). Senators introduced newspaper clippings of women riveting at Willow Run and statistical tables showing absenteeism lower than that of men. The resulting Equal Pay Act outlawed wage discrimination “on the basis of sex.” Twelve state legislatures passed similar laws within two years. Those results reveal the strong bond between collective memories of World War II and political actions.

Thanks to these legal actions, workplace equality has gradually shown a better trend in subsequent years. Measured by the gender pay gap between women’s median annual income and men’s, it was 59% in 1963 and narrowed to 77% in 2000 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Correspondingly, Claudia Goldin, a female economist at the time, wrote in her econometric analysis that anti-discrimination laws contributed about one-third of the reduction in this gap (Goldin, 1991). Although correlation does not equal causation, legislative records show that policymakers consciously invoked the memory of World War II as the basis for their arguments when constructing arguments and seeking votes. These direct economic responses provide evidence for the importance and practicality of these memories.

Some arguments questioned the origins of the second wave of feminism, arguing that the work experience of women during World War II was not the main factor that caused the wave. For example, as mentioned in the article by Dennis at Cambridge University, the second wave of feminist activism was influenced by multiple socio-political environments, and there was no direct causal relationship between it and women’s labor experiences during World War II (Deslippe, 1996). Furthermore, there is a nearly 20-year gap between the time of women’s work experience and the start of the second wave of feminism, which makes it difficult not to question the connection between them.

No matter to what degree, the work experience of women laborers during the war plays an essential role in literary work during the second wave of feminism, and its contribution to the pursuit of work equality is undeniable. In The Feminine Mystique (1963), Betty Friedan first recalled her excitement about working in a wartime newspaper. Then she contrasted that excitement with what she called the “unnamed problem” of the postwar period (Friedan, 1963, p. 17). By explicitly invoking the example of Rosie the Riveter, Friedan argued that women’s roles were shaped by historical circumstances rather than determined by nature.

Similarly, Bonnie Dow (1999) notes that popular women’s magazines of the 1970s deliberately reprinted wartime photographs to accompany articles about working women, reinforcing the connection between World War II factory workers and modern professionals. Moreover, the first cover of Ms. magazine (1972) featured “Women at Work,” a collage of 1940s factory images that visually linked the new women’s movement to its wartime roots. Around the same period, the “Revisiting Rosie the Riveter” oral history project began to travel to universities, allowing daughters and granddaughters of students to hear firsthand stories from women who had worked in wartime factories.

At the same time, Rosie’s image proved highly adaptable. Advertisers borrowed her image to sell household power tools, and the punk band Bikini Kill used her in their magazine under the slogan “Girl Power.” This flexibility also exemplifies Pierre Nora’s concept of “lieux de mémoire – “places of memory” that endure because it can be continually reinterpreted. In other words, Rosie’s constant reuse as a symbol kept the story alive long after the war ended, ensuring that activists could tap into its emotional power even as fewer and fewer veterans survived.

Some argue that women’s extensive involvement during World War II significantly advanced legal progress toward gender equality, rendering additional focus on workplace equality unnecessary today. During the war, women were mobilized into traditionally male-dominated sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and military services, demonstrating their capabilities and value across various roles. Also, the Bank of America Institute has shown that women’s median wage has been growing faster than men’s for the past two years (2024 Year in Review: Recap of Economic Themes & Trends, n.d.). No matter from the perspectives of legislation or economic statistics, women’s contributions during World War II have been adequately recognized both legally and socially, suggesting that current efforts should focus on other societal issues rather than continue to emphasize workplace gender equality.

Memories are the experiences that happened in the past and can guide future solutions to problems. However, being stuck in past achievements while neglecting ongoing issues in specific contexts may lead to nostalgia. Johan Norberg (2021) warned in his article “False Nostalgia” that nostalgia could be manipulated by politics to cover up real problems. However, he also pointed out that nostalgia itself is not a negative emotion; the key point is learning to guide it. Suppose the image of “Rosie” is used as a tool to reflect history and to inspire contemporary reforms, rather than a means of beautifying the past. In that case, nostalgia can become a driving force for social progress.

The second wave of feminism (1960s to 1980s) has made many achievements in promoting women’s rights, but it has also exposed obvious limitations in the fields of culture, wages, and education. Although women can enter high schools and other schools relatively equally, due to the long-term influence of gender stereotypes on STEM fields, women still receive less attention and family investment in specific fields. Those deep-rooted gender differences are still obstacles in the workplace. Leanne pointed out that the company’s “norms require employees to put work above life, which poses a structural obstacle to women who have more family responsibilities”(Gender inequality in the workplace: A comprehensive review of organizational processes and practice, Human Resource Management Review – X-MOL, n.d.). This problem directly leads to obstacles in women’s development in the workplace. As more women are forced to stop pursuing higher positions and return to their families due to such norms, this norm will become more deeply rooted due to its establishment. These still flawed aspects directly show the long-term influence of women’s work status in traditional culture, which has increased with the development of the global economy and more women working. It poses more problems for women to balance not only the family life and the workplace, but also the traditional values and the new work structure.

Conclusion

Collective memory is not a good medicine, but it is more than just nostalgia. In the U.S., stories about women working during World War II gave activists and lawmakers strong examples to show that women could do industrial jobs. These memories helped push for laws like the Equal Pay Act and still inspire girls today through celebration activities. However, memory is not always complete or fair. It often leaves space for the reshaping of nostalgia, which should be corrected and criticized in a timely manner. Understanding both the strengths and the limits of wartime memories can help today’s movements set more realistic goals and better plan their actions.

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