Description
Book SynopsisMuscular, fearless, youthful, athleticthe World War II soldier embodied masculine ideals and represented the manhood of the United States. In The Male Body at War, Christina Jarvis examines the creation of this national symbol, from military recruitment posters to Hollywood war films to the iconic flag-raisers at Iwo Jima. A poignant selection of illustrations brings together comics, advertisements, media images, and government propaganda intended to impress U.S. citizens and foreign nations with America''s strength.
Jarvis recognizes, however, that the male body was more than a mere symbol. During the war, the nation literally invested its survival in the corps of servicemen, and the armed forces set about crafting them into soldiers. Drawing upon medical journals, War Department documents, and government health reports, Jarvis scrutinizes the ways in which physical inspections defined male bodies by fitness and race while training molded those bodies for action. At th
Trade Review
A very important work, one of the first books to examine how the efforts of state and military officials during the Second World War reconfigured constructions of American masculinity.
-- Leisa D. Meyer, College of William and Mary
A fascinating, detailed analysis of military masculinity, and how it enabled male heroism to dominate America even in the face of war wounds and death.
-- Suzanne Clark, University of Oregon
An interesting and useful look at gender, nationalism, and the soldier.
* Canadian Journal of History *
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Building the Body Politic: From the Depression to World War II
2. Classified Bodies: Screening, Sculpting, and Sexualizing Servicemen
3. Representing Wounded Bodies: Personal, Popular, and Medical Narratives
4. "White Man's War?": Race and Masculinity in World War II
5. (Re)Membering the Dead: From the Battlefield to the Home Front
Conclusion
Appendix: World War II Veterans Survey
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
