Smrt Lernins

Because I only ever assume I’ll have one Halloween per child to dress them in any way I please (as Captain Science was very vocal about his costume choice by his second Halloween), I chose to dress Babypie as Rosie the Riveter this year, specifically trying to recreate the iconic poster. She’s going to be dressed in a polka dot bandana, denim overalls, something resembling a workshirt, and a little dirty smudge on her face, while I’m going as the background of her poster, wearing a yellow t-shirt with a blue speech bubble with white letters that say “We Can Do It!”

I had a dilly of a time getting the shirt ready. I bought the only yellow tee in my size at Target and two cans of spray fabric paint, which proved to be a bad choice, as the blue spray I used on the speech bubble wicked underneath the stencil, making a huge green blob, as the blue also proved to be far from opaque enough. There were tears and angry exclamations, but when the shirt dried, I appliqued a piece of blue fabric on over the green blob and made a passable speech bubble. I made a stencil for the words, tested the white spray, and managed to get it all over the table, thankfully sparing the shirt. Finally, I just painted the letters on by hand, which was a bit tedious, but doable.

While I was painting on these letters, I entered into a strange mental state, where I was suddenly really struck by the meaning behind them and what this represented. Rosie the Riveter is often used as an icon of feminism, because she represents the women who took on male-dominated trades during the war. Because of that, I think a lot of women (the conservative and/or religious homeschooling moms I see on the WTM forums, for example) might not give her a lot of credence, or perhaps they place more significance on the fact that after the war, Rosie returned to being a homemaker or other “acceptable” female trade. They may not think they can identify with Rosie. They may not think of themselves as being much like Rosie.

What can Rosie represent to all women? “We Can Do It!” Rosie says, baring a strong arm, dressed in her practical work clothes. We Can Do It! “It” for Rosie was stepping into a traditionally male job, working long, hard hours doing physical labor that she likely never expected to have to do. She likely didn’t grow up longing for assembly line work, a job as a welder, a chance to put a war ship together, but when she was called to do it, she went. She stepped outside her cultural constraints because it was necessary to do it. She put her own physical and possibly mental comfort on hold. She sacrificed, however temporarily, the things she wanted to do, preferred to do, or was simply used to doing, so that she could serve a tremendous social and economic needs, often doing so under brutal conditions with pay far below that of a man in the same job.

We Can Do It! “It” for each of us may be something different, a different sort of necessary, but difficult labor, a different kind of sacrifice, a different kind of service. “It” is anything we could choose to shirk, but don’t, any tremendous task that could overwhelm us, but doesn’t, every hardship that begs us to just surrender, but will not break us. We Can Do It! We can do it because we have to, because we know it is right, and when we do, we become a Rosie, too. We don’t have to bare our muscular arms to show the world that we’re Rosies. We do it through our actions every day.

Every woman can be a Rosie.
Every woman who has ever put the needs of her children before her own is a Rosie.
Every woman who has overcome a cultural norm for the sake of doing what’s right is a Rosie.
Every woman who has served a greater good, when not serving would be easier, is a Rosie.
Every woman who puts out a hand to help other women find strength is a Rosie.
Every woman who holds her head up high under duress and hardship is a Rosie.
Every woman whose work goes unappreciated, but who keeps on working anyway is a Rosie.
Every woman who reaches out to her sisters in her community is a Rosie.
Every woman who refuses to give up is a Rosie.
YOU are a Rosie.

You can be a Rosie in jeans, in a suit, in a uniform, in modest dress. You can be a Rosie with no children, with one child, with many children. You can be a Rosie working out of the home or in the home. You can be a Rosie if you are an atheist, a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist. You can embody the strength of Rosie without ever picking up a hammer. You can embody the strength of Rosie while you change a diaper, scrub a floor or fix a meal. You can be Rosie when you educate your children at home.

Rosie is a strong woman, who owns her choices, who sees an obstacle and works to over come it, who does what is necessary regardless of whether or not it’s easy. A Rosie commands respect, not through force or a loud shout for attention, but through tireless effort, pride in her work, and the strength to do the tasks that must be done. That’s not just a feminist ideal, but one that any woman, any person can reach for.

Be a Rosie. Be a woman who knows that She Can Do It!