until men were off to Europe and the South Pacific for World War II in the early 1940s. Then, with holes in the industrial labor force, American women took jobs in factories and shipyards; others ran offices and their households. It was a world without men, a world of burgeoning female competence and confidence, even in traditionally male arenas like heavy manufacturing. Women wore jeans and made bombs in factories, with Rosie the Riveter exhorting them all along, “We Can Do It!” Female agency, aptitude, and autonomy were not merely tolerated; they were encouraged, nurtured, and publicly
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