We Can Do It!

J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" poster from 1943

"We Can Do It!" is an American wartime propaganda poster. J. Howard Miller made it in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric. It was used to inspire female workers to keep working. It became popular in the 1980s feminist movement.^[1]

The poster was very little seen during World War II. It was rediscovered in the early 1980s and widely reproduced in many forms, often called "We Can Do It!" but also called "Rosie the Riveter" (modeled by Naomi Parker) after the iconic figure of a strong female war production worker.

The image has become very popular. It has been used to support feminism.^[2] Feminists used the image in a different way than it was used during World War II. Feminists used it to support women working together against gender equality. In World War II, it was used to make workers keep working.^[1]^[3] The image was the cover of the Smithsonian magazine in 1994. The US Postal Service put it on a mail stamp in 1999.^[4]

We Can Do It! Media

J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" poster from 1943
A propaganda poster from 1942 encouraging unity between labor and management of GM
Another poster by J. Howard Miller from the same series as "We Can Do It!"
An example of commercial use on a pair of vending machines for bottled water at a WWII Battleship Museum