World War II: Women’s Work - 50 Photos That Brought the War Home

Lest there be any doubt that World World II had (unintentionally) sparked a cultural shift, this photo of a female welder at a boat-and-sub-building yard was a clear signal that women were as comfortable brandishing a blowtorch as they were wielding a wet mop. Though many of them would be forced to abandon their jobs to make way for the men when the war ended, gender roles — as Americans had long-understood them — had forever shifted.