Essay On Masculinity In Ww1

he views of masculinity have been ever changing in the past hundreds of years. At the beginning of the twentieth century when it came time for Canadians to World War One the government and recruitment officers took the approach of gender stereotypes to influence men to join up. “The war played an important role in the construction of gender, and the social roles of men and women” and the recruitment efforts of World War One used this to their advantage . Men were portrayed as tough, strong, and capable of defending the country. These beliefs were shown though the use of propaganda and other forms of recruitment efforts that were significant to gender dimension and notions of a man.

These stereotypes of masculinity created a unified whole among men in the war, but seeing as women are equally capable of being soldiers it is questioned why predominantly only men engage in warfare. The answer can be simple, “the significance of men engaging in warfare lines is in the way that gender is constructed in war”. The role of the government and those promoting World War One efficiently vocalized the importance of the battlefield being a place where a man can show everyone he is capable of defending his country. “Ideal-typical notions of masculinity and femininity were key to this process” and although men and women may not always conform to the stereotypes of their gender, men are typically associated with strength, action and aggressing, comparing to the empathy and emotion of women. The use of masculinity within propaganda, the efforts of women using their femininity to promote enlistment and the unity formed among soldiers over sea all were factors that positively influenced masculinity among Canadian men.

The trigger of the First ...

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... ones son was the same view that was placed upon the mother. If a young man was uninterested, or refused to go to war his views were thought to be ones rubbed of onto him from his mother, and indefinitely a negative connotation would be carried around with her name. Masculinity is promoted within the home as most mothers “realize the need for [their sons to] sacrifice in service to the nation” in order to spread patriotism. The role of women within the war efforts was very important seeing as “in making a soldier the women must make a man and in making a man she conversely creates a soldier”. Because of the common gender stereotypes a mother as well most women generally promote bravery, strength and masculinity within the day to day lives of the men they know. These characteristics are easily transferrable to the ones needed to face danger and battle overseas.