Undoing glory : Constructions of gender and patriotism in post war US society, 1918--1972.

The patriotic female, whether she was seen as Columbia, Rosie the Riveter, or another visual source has continually changed.

Her image---through dress and action---has reflected many gendered stereotypes of society.

For instance, early depictions of the patriotic female showed her resembling a Roman goddess, but by the mid-twentieth century her appearance resembled more of a woman tailored in fashions of the day.

These changing images also correlate to her use and decline in society.

As society progressed, modernity forced changes on political, social, and gendered levels and the centralized image of the patriotic women declined.

Society became more disjointed, and a plethora of forces prevented her image from remaining as a centralized construction for patriotic culture.

Within this discussion I focus my study on gendered images of the patriotic woman.

Some of the images that I used are Howard Chandler Christy's World War I posters, Wonder Woman comic books, and various advertisements from the designated time period of my work.

More so, the images that I have used are all print media.

These visual images act as mirrors for US social frameworks---concerning women as part of the national discourse and the changing roles of the female in public perception and portrayal---with the premise of my study focusing on the decline of the patriotic female in mainstream US society.

After the Second World War US society failed to produce a continual patriotic female figure.

This change in visual culture partially occurred because of civil rights movements like Women's Lib and because of political divisions concerning the Vietnam War.