An Intimate History of the Front [electronic resource] : Masculinity, Sexuality, and German Soldiers in the First World War /
Crouthamel, J.author.
This eye-opening study gives a nuanced, provocative account of how German soldiers in the Great War experienced and enacted masculinity. Drawing on an array of relevant narratives and media, it explores the ways that both heterosexual and homosexual soldiers expressed emotion, understood romantic ideals, and approached intimacy and sexuality.
Description based upon print version of record.
An Intimate History of the Front: Masculinity, Sexuality, and German Soldiers in the First World War; Contents; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Introduction; Uncovering the Private Worlds of Front Soldiers; Hegemonic Masculinity versus Spectrums of Masculinities; Love and Other Emotions in the Trenches; Male Sexuality and the Great War; CHAPTER 1: The Ideal Man Goes to War; Hegemonic Masculinity in Imperial Germany; The "Good Comrade" Goes to War; Mutual Comrades: Idealized Relationships between Men and Women at War
The Campaign for Sexual Abstinence: The Home Front Mobilizes to Monitor Their HeroesThe Home Front under Siege: Sexually Damaged Men Return to the Heimat; Conclusion; CHAPTER 2: Masculinity in Crisis: Sexual Crime, Dislocation, and Deprivation; Soldiers' Responses to the VD Crisis; Sex Crimes Committed by Soldiers on Leave; Sexual Excitement, Emotional Numbness, and the Front Experience; Sexual Deprivation and Frontline Homosexuality; Conclusion; CHAPTER 3: "Don't Think I'm Soft": The Masculine Image Presented to the Home Front in Soldiers' Letters
"Great Joy!"- Letters as a Lifeline to Loved Ones"The Hard Truth": Soldiers Struggle to Convey the Trench Experience to Loved Ones; Feldpostbriefe as a Space for Emotional Intimacy; Avoiding "Bad" Girls: Sex and Foreign Women in Soldiers' Letters; Conclusion; CHAPTER 4: "I Wish I Were a Girl!": Escaping the Masculine Ideal in Front Newspapers; "Heroic Masculinity" under Fire: Expressing Emotions in Front Newspapers; Fears and Fantasies: Sexual and Emotional Isolation in Front Newspapers; Cross-Dressing for the Fatherland: Experimenting with Gender Boundaries and Behavior; Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: "We Need Real Men": The Impact of the Front Experience on Homosexual Front SoldiersGermany's Homosexual Emancipation Movement: Divisions and Theories on Sexuality; The Persecution of Homosexual Soldiers in the Imperial German Army; Comradeship and Homosexuality: The Great War's Impact on Homosexual Men and the Homosexual Emancipation Movement; The New Battle against Homophobia in Weimar Germany; The War against the Effeminate Homosexual Image; Conclusion; CHAPTER 6: Coming Home: Postwar Sexual Chaos, Disillusionment, and Battles over Masculinity; The Hedonists Return Home
Disappointing HomecomingsPoliticized Masculinities: Categorizing and Controlling Manliness; Conclusion; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
This eye-opening study gives a nuanced, provocative account of how German soldiers in the Great War experienced and enacted masculinity. Drawing on an array of relevant narratives and media, it explores the ways that both heterosexual and homosexual soldiers expressed emotion, understood romantic ideals, and approached intimacy and sexuality.
Sociology.
Social history.
Europe, Central—History.
World War, 1939-1945.
Europe—History.
History, Modern.
Gender Studies.
Social History.
History of Germany and Central Europe.
History of World War II and the Holocaust.
European History.
Modern History.