Donna Woolfolk Cross Propaganda Analysis

Everybody uses propaganda or is driven into it in daily life. It is not so easy to figure out that you are facing with propaganda in some ways. In her article “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled”, Donna Woolfolk Cross defines what propaganda means and comes up with some subtopics of propaganda such as “name-calling” and “plain-folks appeal”. Some people would rather to refer propaganda for good purposes but most people are manipulated by opportunist propagandists. According to Cross, by asking questions and not believing everybody so easily, people’s futures would be written by themselves, not by the propagandists. The future of Americans in World War II was written by propagandists who used some tactics to convince women to apply for male jobs to serve their country in the war.

In Cross’ article, there are several types of propaganda which try to shoot people with their own guns. First one of
By using the posters of Rosie the Riveter, many women were quickly convinced that they had a duty to enter those works. In that patriotic movement all over the country, women mostly wanted to be the part of that movement because they would not want to be called as a “traitor” or something indirect. Although women were in harder conditions than men, they did not quit. For example, the weekly payments of women were less than men’s. While men were paid $54.65, women were paid about $50.

After the war, USA continued using that propaganda because it was very successful. There was a documentary film named “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter” in 1981 to keep the memory of “Rosie” fresh. Many computer games, films and companies referred to this American icon to keep people’s interest. For instance, Hollywood actress Jane Withers were playing in a commercial TV series called “Comet” as “Josephine the Plumber”. The commercial started in the 1960s and end in 1970s. It was popular because the character was representing