Essay --

The image of masculinity was dominant throughout World War One. War was seen as the ultimate â€Å"test of manhood†. War and masculinity were synonymous; war was the ultimate defender of masculinity. This essay examines masculinity through the social, economic and physical changes men experienced in the 1920s to show the ways in which changes to former codes of masculinity were precipitated by war. An extensive amount of research has already been conducted on the issue of masculinity and the cumulative tendency of the scholarship has been to highlight the redefinition of masculinity. Joanna Bourke has made a significant contribution to the study of men and World War One by approaching the interaction between masculinity and World War One through the corporeal body. Similarly, Eric Leed’s 1979 study of combat and identity in wartime presents the idea that men’s experience of the war was dehumanising. Jessica Meyer uses a vast amount of personal narratives to expl ore British servicemen’s relation to the war. Along with these general contributions of masculinity, there have also been more focused studies. For example, Ina Zweinger-Bargielowska looks at the idea of masculinity through the focus of the construction of the ‘British superman’ in which she relates masculinity to physical culture. In order to show that masculinity was the chief casualty of the war the first section will analyse the changes in social relations to show there was a gender war as masculinity was greatly affected by the reversal of gender roles. I will then show how masculinity was economically affected through an examination of unemployment showing the challenge to male identities, especially for disabled men. The third section will move to explore the pressures o... ...ude, this essay has shown that masculinity was the chief casualty of the war. Exploring the social, economic and physical changes men experienced it has become clear that war had the power to make women visible and destabilise masculinity. Men encountered several anxieties centring on the social turmoil that gender roles irreparably distorted. It has become clear that the economic breakdown men faced as a result of their loss of breadwinner status exacerbated the loss of masculinity. Similarly, through an analysis of the physical culture men were involved in during the 1920s it has become clear that masculinity was severely damaged by the war, so much so that men were required to take part in physical activities to achieve a ‘body beautiful’ image which now came to represent masculinity. Ultimately one cannot deny that masculinity was the chief casualty of the war.