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Some historians contend that femininity was "disrupted, constructed, and reconstructed" during World War I, but what happened to masculinity? Using evidence of letters, diaries and oral histories of members of the military and of civilians, Dismembering the Male explores the impact of the First World War on the male body.
Each chapter explores a different facet of the war and masculinity in depth. Joanna Bourke concludes that those who were dismembered and disabled by the war were not viewed as passive or weak, like their civilian counterparts, but were the focus of much government and public sentiment. Those suffering from disease were viewed differently, often finding themselves accused of malingering.
Dismembering the Male also examines the way in which the war affected men socially. The absence of women encouraged male intimacy, but differences of class, regiment, religion, and ethnicity acted as barriers between men and the trauma of war and the constant threat of death did not encourage closeness. Attitudes to the dead male body, which during the war became the property of the state, are also explored.
Joanna Bourke argues convincingly that military experiences led to a greater sharing of gender identities between men of different classes and ages. Post-war debates on what constitutes masculinity were fueled by the actions of men's movements. Dismembering the Male concludes that ultimately, attempts to reconstruct a new type of masculinity failed as the threat of another war, and with it the sacrifice of a new generation of men, intensified.
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Subjects
Body, Human, History, Human Body, Masculinity, Men, Social aspects, Social aspects of World War, 1914-1918, Social aspects of the Human body, Sociology of disability, World War, 1914-1918, Human body, social aspects, World war, 1914-1918, great britainPlaces
Great BritainTimes
20th century, George V, 1910-1936Edition | Availability |
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Dismembering the Male: Men's Bodies, Britain and the Great War (Picturing History)
May 1999, Reaktion Books
Paperback
in English
- New Ed edition
1861890354 9781861890351
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2
Dismembering the male: men's bodies, Britain and the Great War
1996, Reaktion
in English
0948462825 9780948462825
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3
Dismembering the male: men's bodies, Britain and the Great War
1996, University of Chicago Press
in English
0226067467 9780226067469
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"This book is an exploration into the impact of the First World War on the male body."
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- Created April 30, 2008
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August 10, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 14, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |