Paper 3 Draft

With the shared American ideas of ‘culture’ and ‘commitment’ of the Thirties, came a loss of identity among the American people. The New Deal formed government-funded programs, allowing Americans to work together to further the economy and earn an income. However, this group culture resulted in a loss of individual identity and generalized American individuals to be part of a workforce. Workers, in many instances, carried out manual labor, reduced simply a cog in a machine. This aspect of the American workforce coincides with Herbert Hoover’s denouncement of being part of ‘classes’. Although Hoover promoted entrepreneurship and restricted government intervention, The New Deal perpetuated an ideal of community and collective identity amongst Americans, in effect causing a loss of individual identity. Through the works of Rosie and Riveter, Golddiggers of 1933, and CCC Photographs, we can see this generalization of the American person as a worker, part of a larger group instead of an individual working his way up.

- Rosie the Riveter: when men went to war, women started working in factories and taking the place of men. However, they were simply seen as substitutes for the job and although women had limited individuality at the time, they were seen as temporary substitutes for men in factories, performing menial tasks, nonspecific of their skills and abilities. Women were paid much less than they were supposed to be paid, and were treated unfairly. Although the commercials aired on television portrayed an image of nationalistic fervor and women stepping up to help the economy and fill in for men, they were always portrayed as wanted to go back to the domestic domain after the men returned. The image in the documentary, of women working in factories, dressed in identical uniforms shows a sense of uniformity and collective identity, in effect neglecting individuality. Women were shown as performing their duties to help out on the war-front as much as they could and were therefore generalized as those who were obligated to their country....Unions were a way in which individuality was voiced in terms of unfair treatment, but even that was institutionalized and controlled (more elaboration with specifics and quotes from movie). The role of women, as shown in Rosie the Riveter, proves Hoover's critique of the New Deal because...

- CCC Photographs: are an attempt to show individualism in the sense that all three of the CCC photos show a single man working. However despite this perpetuation of individualism, there is an underlying assumption that this man is simply performing a menial task that is the part of a larger project (building railroads, construction, etc). With the performance of manual labor, one is merely a worker expected to complete one aspect of the project, making it a means to an end. This is pointed out in the sense that the man's job seems seemingly insignificant in the grander scheme of constructing a railroad and in the end, the men make minimal wage and don't recieve any credit for the project. This supports Hoover's contention of the New Deal because it divides the people in classes, these men become 'working class' and therefore cannot progress, but are stuck in their positions as insignificant workers.

- Golddiggers of 1933- the play and the background dancers signify the working class American people, lost in a crowd of others, unable to distinguish one or the other....