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AUTHORITY AND SIGNIFICANCE

Ship christening and launching celebrations brought the entire community together. Prominent political leaders and citizens were frequent participants in these occasions. The wives and daughters of these VIP's played a more traditional role in these gatherings, in contrast to the untraditional roles that women served as laborers in the shipyard. In some ways, their presence served as a reassurance that the wartime participation of women in the industrial workforce was a temporary aberration from cultural norms.