Document Type
Essay
Award Designation
First place
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
The cover of a popular 1918 American song, "Keep the Home Together, Mother, Thaf s All We're Fighting For/' suggested that the main goal of World War I was to protect and sustain the home.1 It depicted three women from all different generations sitting at a kitchen table. One is reading and two are working on a sewing project. A small black cat meanders nearby this domestic scene. This image placed an emphasis on gendered spatialization-women are at home performing traditional women's work, such as sewing and maintaining the home, while men are outside performing men's work, such as fighting in the war. It relates the act of a man fighting in WWI to protecting his women and his home. These gendered images took shape in propaganda posters and covers for sheet music, and they represent a certain aspect of the wartime culture in the United States during this period.
Disciplines
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Women's Studies
eCommons Citation
Haynes, Emily Elizabeth, "Gendering Patriotism: Wartime Culture and Propaganda in WWI" (2018). Joyce Durham Essay Contest in Women's and Gender Studies. 12.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/wgs_essay/12
Comments
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