Topic: Women’s emerging rights to work and create change in the social platform of English culture in World War II.
Purpose: Rhetorical Civic Analysis of World War II Propaganda
Introduction:
Attention Strategy: Before the inception of WWII, Great Britain saw its female national employment stand at only 5.1 million people. By the middle of the war in 1943, this figure now revealed the shocking statistic that over ninety percent of eligible women ages eighteen to forty years old were employed at some level within the nation.
Orienting Material: Great Britain served as one of the most heavily involved Allied Powers in WWII. Due to their rivalry with the Axis Powers, (specifically Germany,) and close proximity geographically, hoards of male soldiers were sent to the front lines in the late 1930s. These men were crucial to England’s success, but they needed more people back home aiding in the war effort by making munitions and operating public positions. This is where women entered the front of Great Britain’s initiative. Propaganda like this poster by Philip Zec advertised for and encouraged women to come from their homes and make a difference in the factory.
Preview: The women of Great Britain are presented with a new powerful opportunity that provides them with a greater sense of worthiness, influence, knowledge, and respect in the British public eye compared to the stereotypical “homemaker” role. The influential use of intrinsic proofs of ethos and pathos connect the audience with the exigence of the war and how English women felt and reacted to seeing that ad while their men were on the front lines.
Thesis Statement: Through the juxtaposition of woman versus industrialization, Philip Zec’s World War II propaganda poster incorporates exigence coupled with the kairotic onslaught of war to present the emerging ideology that young British women are powerful members of society ready to aid in the war effort through factory work; employing key intrinsic proofs to encourage young homemakers to make a difference.
Body
I. Main Idea – The propaganda piece Women of Britain- Come Into the Factories establishes the keen emerging ideology that all women are far more capable beings than the “lowly” status of homemaker.
A. Philip Zec understood exactly what these women were facing in the face of diminishing supplies and stresses of separation, therefore visually portraying women in similar ways to their male counterparts.
1. The woman depicted in the poster wears a 1940s-modern masculine trench coat, alluding to women’s similar skillset and versatility in the face of labor and adverse conditions.
2. The woman’s hair tied back in the characteristic kerchief points to a consistency of motives topoi, visually showing that she is prepared to get hands-on with the challenges coming her way.
B. Zec’s focus on singularity within the image referred to the underlying strength that reveals itself through individuality.
1. Only one average white woman is depicted, without any male brethren to accompany them. This asserts the civil focus that it only takes one person to instill change on an entire nation.
2. This singular woman serves as the representative image of all eligible women, embodying a common effort to aide in national pride and success.
II. Main Idea – Complex rivalries spanning most of the world’s superpowers led Zec to allow the exigence of war to serve as the kairotic approach to women’s rights discussion.
A. The warfare occurring near London and the British mainland lended emphasis towards the needed for a change in national service tactics.
1. Newly instilled PM Winston Churchill faced pressures regarding invasions of German forces, leaving the women in Zec’s poster to stand as the new leaders of the home front lines.
2. Threats of battle occurring directly on English soil following the London Blitz allowed woman, who now could work and understand the trivialities and struggles of factory work, to gain an experience-backed initiative to improve their own rights into more social factions
B. The English Second National Service Act of December, 1941 paralleled and aided in women’s employment opportunities
1. British society knew of the upcoming National Service Act laws, and Zec shaped his propaganda for the Daily Mirror to give women information on one avenue they could take to help: factory work.
2. The text below the image sources the “Employment Exchange” as a place for woman and working citizens to go and discuss their employment options just as any man would investigate.
III. Main Idea – The intrinsic proofs of ethos and pathos dominantly enveloping Philip Zec’s propaganda allude greatly to the political cartoonist’s credibility, and the thought-provocation the image maps onto the audience.
A. Philip Zec’s background as a political cartoonist gave him deep knowledge surrounding the debates and national perspective of Great Britain.
1. Choosing to portray factories as his primary focus for female citizens to apply themselves to follows the statically-dominant need for more hands in industry.
2. His series of propaganda in the Daily Mirror lead Hitler to place Zec on his “Black List,” aimed to imprison him once Germany overtook England. This shows how much power and influence a few posters could have, both negatively towards Germany, and positively towards the advancement of women’s standing in the war.
B. The pointedly subtle yet dominantly over-arching imagery within the poster allows Zec to mold his audience’s thoughts into the positivity that would come for all from enlisting in factory work.
1. The woman’s stance with her arms in the air evokes great national pride in the audience, establishing the feeling that women are capable of anything, certainly of working in a man’s factory job. Her stance bears a stark similarity to the image of freedom and liberality created by the Statue of Liberty in NYC.
2. The images included by Zec in the background such as the continuous flight of new airplanes and the tanks in the corner serve as a power emotional feeling of instilled strength and security among the women who take the daring leap to help their fighting men.
Conclusion
Summary Statement – Philip Zec’s dramatic propaganda poster calling women to serve as the next generation of factory workers uses the emerging ideology of women’s rights, the kairotic exigence paralleled between WWII and the Axis Powers, and the powerful intrinsic proofs all serve as crucial sources of support for demonstrating the effective nature of this outstanding WWII poster.
Concluding Remark – The entire world was wrought with war-torn terrain and economic despair, yet Zec found a medium where he could still display the need for an increase in the social standing of women. This goes to show that there is never a bad time to voice your rhetorical opinion over a negative discourse in society.