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“I’m Doin’ It for Defense”: Messages of American Popular Song to Women during World War II

Brooks, Amy
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1383909020

Abstract Details

2013, M.M., University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music: Music History.
World War II presented many new opportunities for American women. In this time of need, they were called upon to take an active part in the war effort, whether by means of working in a factory, growing a victory garden, or serving as a volunteer for wartime organizations. Women made great strides forward in areas such as the workforce and the military. The American popular song industry promoted these new roles for women. I have compiled over 150 songs from 1940 to1945 that relate to women’s roles during the World War II era. Of these songs, I have chosen a select number of songs that best demonstrate popular culture’s attitudes and actions towards women during the war. These songs can be divided into five categories: women in the military, women in the workforce, women’s war effort, women’s responsibilities to men in uniform, and women in the immediate post-war period. I have studied the representative songs by considering their lyrics to identify the objectives supported by the popular song industry. I took into consideration the venues in which they were presented and how these performances influenced their reception. I also considered the date songs were published and copyrighted, and their correlation to current political events. In this study I analyze the messages of the American popular song genre in order to demonstrate how songwriters promoted a new vision for women’s roles and responsibilities during World War II.
bruce mcclung, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Jeongwon Joe, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Patricia Linhart, M.S. (Committee Member)
88 p.
Music
World War II; American popular song; women rights

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Brooks, A. (2013). “I’m Doin’ It for Defense”: Messages of American Popular Song to Women during World War II [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1383909020

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Brooks, Amy. “I’m Doin’ It for Defense”: Messages of American Popular Song to Women during World War II. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1383909020.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Brooks, Amy. "“I’m Doin’ It for Defense”: Messages of American Popular Song to Women during World War II." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1383909020

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1383909020
4,451
© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License “I’m Doin’ It for Defense”: Messages of American Popular Song to Women during World War II by Amy Brooks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.