TOW #6 - She's a W.O.W. - Visual

The following image, called She's a W.O.W., was illustrated by a man named Adolph Triedler. He was a fairly well-known artist from the beginning of the 20th century through 1981, when he died. He illustrated in several different "genres" - he did a large number of magazine covers and commissioned advertisements in his time. She's a W.O.W. is one of these commissioned pieces. The poster was created in 1942 to attempt to get more women to help in the war effort for WWII by becoming Woman Ordnance Workers, or WOWs, or in simpler terms, weapon makers. The image evokes emotions of guilt and then confidence in order to persuade women to join the war effort. The image was produced in 1942, in the midst of WWII, one of the most brutal wars that the world had seen to date. Many men had gone off to war and left their families behind, and people were feeling as if they weren't doing enough to help their country. The poster plays on this by referencing "The girl he left behind", targeting in specific the wives and girlfriends of the men who went off to war. Calling them "The girl he left behind" is a way to make it seem like the women are staying at home and not doing their part. However, after this guilt, the image offers up a solution - a way to give the "women who were left behind" a chance to help out and be useful. The use of the phrase "Still behind him" acknowledges the fact that the women working will not be at the forefront, but still helping. They show an empowered-looking woman, standing tall, shoulders square, looking upwards and onwards, saying "you can be this empowered, if you become a WOW". Overall, it's failry effective given the gender roles that were present and accepted at the time, it showed something that women could do to feel powerful, and used that want to be useful to get workers for the war effort.