Fall 1999
As the scariest 'New Years Eve' of the century nears, I find myself less reflecting on whether or not my toilet will explode and more drawn to thoughts of my ancestors and the path they forged that helped us to become who we are.
While at a craft fair recently, I was asked what woman in history had inspired me most. Without any thought, I responded "My Mom". As a kid, I was always encouraged to persevere and told clearly that I needed to be strong and make my own opportunities. My mom seemed like the obvious choice as the woman who most inspired me as an artist and an entrepreneur. The one who posed the question rolled her eyes at me and said "I mean famous women". So sad...I couldn't think of anyone who impacted my character like my Mom. I was pretty depressed about this since I could easily rattle off three or four male artists who I would call brilliant and 'mentors' but women, um, could you come back and ask me later? I am certainly not implying that there are no great women artists in history-just none that I related to. The question really didn't haunt me that long, and then a month later I was in the Post Office and I found myself face to face with a life size cardboard display of Rosie the Riveter. This determined woman was the symbol of my mother's generation and the closest thing to a metal artist of her times. The reporter was long gone by the time I figured out that it was my Mom's whole generation that impacted me the most.
I spent evenings into mornings surfing from site to site reading everything I could about the women of World War II. Performing a patriotic service, millions of American 'gals' marched into factories, offices and military bases to fill the tremendous shortage of labor caused by the great war machine. Men were leaving civilian employment for military service in huge numbers, and the women of the early 40's stepped forward and became the "production soldiers," supplying the nation with its needs. They were artists who built airplanes and tanks, operated presses and forklifts and dominated arsenal production lines crafting the stuff of war. They united in the spirit of the time and took the attitude of the "harder I work for them here, the sooner our boys will come back home." Commitment like that doesn't get more inspirational, I was amazed at the speed and willingness that they did the job necessary while still maintaining their families.
These and other big changes also took place as a result of their efforts. The War Labor Board adopted the important principle of "equal pay for equal work" in 1942 and revised the pay scale for women to reflect equality with their male counterparts.
War and full employment were incredibly liberating for women of that time and represented deep, provocative changes in their traditional roles. At the close of the war in 1945, women recruited into "male" careers in wartime were expected to make room for returning veterans. Much media propaganda was aimed at getting the girls back in the kitchens but it seemed the seeds of permanent change had been planted and these liberated chicks liked it. Women began to question social and economic rules and demand equal access to educational and career options that only 54 years later we sometimes take for granted.
Every woman and girl alive today has benefited from the perserverance of the woman of the '40's who broke the rules designed to narrow a woman's opportunities. I am grateful to all the Mom's who came to the front and cleared the path for their daughters' successes.