Rosie the Riveter - both a masculine and feminine symbol

 Hey,

today we first did a quick warm up. Here is what we said:

If I were a soldier, I would be patriotic. (Julien's point of view)

If I were a soldier, I would be a coward. I would make believe that I'm sick because I'm scared of blood. I don't want to kill people. (Lena's point of view)

Then we continued speaking about the London Blitz. Here is what we said:

air raid shelter (abri anti aérien)
striking (frappant, remarquable)

It's a German word. It means a bolt of lightning. It refers to the most intense period of the bombing of London during WW II from Sept 1940 to May 1941. London was under attack night and day. The most striking event was the bombing of a school which served as an air raid shelter. There were 450 casualties / victims. It was the deadliest attack / the most lethal attack.

Finally, we started to comment upon the picture "Rosie the Riveter" by Norman Rockwell. Here is what we said:

Rosie the Riverter : By Norman Rockwell

The picture is propaganda for women to take men's jobs during WW II. She is the symbol of the new woman who is independent, the woman who is both feminine and masculine.

  Masculine symbols:

- Oversized
- Muscular
- Riveting gun / penis
- Overalls
- Loafers

  Feminine symbols:

- Lipstick
- Rouge
- Nail polish

- Curly combed hair

- Sandwich (domestic activity)

HW: For next time, you need to make some research about Norman Rockwell. You will have to make a 2 or 3-minute talk about the artist.

Files:

Rosie the Riveter- Download

Liberty Girl - Download

More information about Norman Rockwell here.

You can watch a very interesting report about Rosie the Riveter down here: