Pulp Vietnam: War and Gender in Cold War Men's Adventure Magazines (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781108493505)

In this compelling evaluation of Cold War popular culture, Pulp Vietnam explores how men's adventure magazines helped shape the attitudes of young, working-class Americans, the same men who fought and served in the long and bitter war in Vietnam. The 'macho pulps' - boasting titles like Man's Conquest, Battle Cry, and Adventure Life - portrayed men courageously defeating their enemies in battle, while women were reduced to sexual objects, either trivialized as erotic trophies or depicted as sexualized villains using their bodies to prey on unsuspecting, innocent men. The result was the crafting and dissemination of a particular version of martial masculinity that helped establish GIs' expectations and perceptions of war in Vietnam. By examining the role that popular culture can play in normalizing wartime sexual violence and challenging readers to consider how American society should move beyond pulp conceptions of 'normal' male behavior, Daddis convincingly argues that how we construct popular tales of masculinity matters in both peace and war.

Author: Gregory A. Daddis
ISBN-10: 1108493505
ISBN-13: 9781108493505
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/22/2020
Pages: 358
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.10h x 7.70w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2022