Rosie the Riveter was an allegorical cultural icon of World War II, representing the women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who joined the military. Rosie the Riveter subsequently became both a feminist icon and the symbol of the emerging economic role played by women in the United States. The most famous poster was "We Can Do It!" Created for Westinghouse in 1942 by J. Howard Miller, whose model is Naomi Parker Fraley. This poster was stuck on the walls of the factory and those who went to work in the factories were called "Rosies".

Gender roles are socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Gender roles influence a wide range of human behavior, often including the clothing a person chooses, the profession a person pursues, and the personal relationships a person enters. Various groups, most notably the feminist movements, have led efforts to change aspects of prevailing gender roles that they believe are oppressive or inaccurate.

Gender empowerment is the empowerment of people of any gender. While conventionally the aspect of it is mentioned for the empowerment of women, the concept stresses the distinction between biological sex and gender as a role, also referring to other marginalized genders in a particular political or social context. It also points to approaches regarding other marginalized genders in a particular political or social context. This approach to empowerment is partly informed by feminism and employed legal empowerment by building on international human rights. Empowerment is one of the main procedural concerns when addressing human rights and development.