Dear Rosie,

It’s been over 70 years. Since then, women have been celebrated astronauts, war heroes, engineers, and politicians. America could even have a female president. This certainly wouldn’t have happened if a certain feminist icon in the 1940s hadn’t blown up on the radio and had her face plastered on every single propaganda poster in pre-World War Ⅱ America. The impact you had lasted not only through war times, but is still prominent today. By showing that women were capable enough to take over blue collar jobs men left when drafted in WWⅡ, you changed what the definition of a woman was. And although the intended effect of promoting “Rosie the Riveter” was meant to be short term (using women as a temporary solution to continue factory production), the opportunities you opened up for women lasted. Even though you were designed simply to be war propaganda by men in power, women adopted you as an icon because you were just like them, women who weren’t just “temporary solutions”. Don’t get me wrong; not everything in the year 2016 is sunshine and rainbows; in fact, the gender pay gap is still present (and even more so for women of color), but at least it is socially acceptable for women to work now (and not just to be seen as baby makers). You, as one of the earliest advocates for women in the labor union, are directly responsible for the benefit that all women in America today reap.

Sincerely,

Jasmine