After the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the U.S. was thrust into World War II (1939-45), and everyday life across the country was dramatically altered. Food, gas and clothing were rationed. Communities conducted scrap metal drives. To help build the armaments necessary to win the war, women found employment as electricians, welders and riveters in defense plants. Japanese Americans had their rights as citizens stripped from them. People in the U.S. grew increasingly dependent on radio reports for news of the fighting overseas. And, while popular entertainment served to demonize the nation's enemies, it also was viewed as an escapist outlet that allowed Americans brief respites from war worries.
1941年12月7日，日本偷襲美國在珍珠港的艦隊後，美國卷入了二戰，美國本土民眾的生活也發生了巨大的變化。食物、汽油和衣服實行限量配給。很多社會團體號召美國人收集小金屬片用來制造武器。婦女在兵工廠從事電子、焊接和打鉚等生產勞動。日籍美國人被剝奪了公民權益。美國人越來越關註電臺新聞，他們時刻留意海外戰事情況，連公眾娛樂活動也被賦予了鼓舞士氣和緩解戰爭焦慮的功能。
During World War II, some 350,000 women served in the U.S. Armed Forces, both at home and abroad. They included the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, who on March 10, 2010, were awarded the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. Meanwhile, widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.
二戰期間，大約35萬名美國婦女在國內外的武裝部隊中服役，包括許多女性空軍飛行員（2010年被授予國會金質勛章）。大量男性美國公民應征入伍，也使美國工業生產崗位出現很大的勞力缺口。1940年到1945年，婦女在美國勞動大軍中所占的比例從27%上升到了近37%，到1945年，每四個已婚婦女就有壹個外出工作，美國婦女為贏得二戰功不可沒。