r a number of traditionally male roles. WWII changed all the rules when the government campaigned for American women to work in the war effort. The war became a symbol of freedom. For the first time in history, women stepped outside of the role society had created for them and were free to make choices, earn a paycheck and prove that they were just as capable as men were.
             During the Second World War, there was no such thing as the average American woman. Women were stepping out of the role of housewife, seeking jobs previously held exclusively by men. The government sponsored vigorous recruitment campaigns to encourage more women to work. For example, an announcer for the film Glamour Girls of 1943 proclaimed:
             Instead of cutting the lines of a dress, this woman cuts the pattern of aircraft parts. They are taking to welding rods as if the rod were a needle and the metal a length of cloth to be sewn. After a short apprenticeship, this woman can operate a drill press just as easily as a juice extractor in her own kitchen. (Records, 4)
             This movie and other propaganda used for recruitment portrayed American women, on the home front, as housewives, mothers and workers outside of the home. In an article by Brian Metzger of the University of Arizona, he explains that, "... women worked as drivers, farmers, mail delivery personnel, garbage collectors, builders and mechanics. However, factories held the largest number of jobs for unskilled women." (2) Throughout the course of the war, the U.S. government wooed American housewives to work in the war effort. One of the most influential pieces of propaganda, depicting the need for women factory workers, was the now revered poster of:
             This poster, along with countless others, portrayed housewives as soon-to-be factory workers that were strong, independent and patriotic. The themes of patriotism and glamour appealed to women on the home front. Their fathers, brothers and sweetheart...