Homoerotic propaganda from WWII

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This cracked me up:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/man_the_guns/images_html/images/man_the_guns.jpg
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/man_the_guns/images_html/images/keep_em_fighting.jpg
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/man_the_guns/images_html/images/get_hot_keep_moving.jpg
These are real posters.

― Super Cub (Debito), Sunday, 18 December 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)

The Navy is homoerotic?

Who knew?

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Sunday, 18 December 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

lock thread

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 18 December 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

wow these are great

― Maria (Maria), Sunday, 18 December 2005 17:40 (twenty years ago)

Less homoerotic, more overtly phallic:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/cathyleech/msp00030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/cathyleech/msp01537.jpg

― Cathy (Cathy), Sunday, 18 December 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/56/CitizenInUniform/images/2LucienBernhard.jpg
http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/56/CitizenInUniform/images/JulesAFaivre.jpg
http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/56/CitizenInUniform/images/PaulNeumann.jpg

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 18 December 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

These posters wouldn't appeal erotically to women?

― Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 18 December 2005 19:47 (twenty years ago)

Sure, they might, but the verbal messages make it perfectly clear that men are the intended audience.

― National Roffle Association (Paul in Santa Cruz), Sunday, 18 December 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

Using this standard I suppose that the Marlboro Man ads are homoerotic as well, although I never looked at them as such. I think the intention was to appeal to a man's fantasies about his own potency rather than that of the men he'd fight next to.

The fact that the artwork used in these posters has become more identified with "camp" as newer styles of commercial art have superceded this one, may have strengthened the sense that these are homoerotic. It's simple anachronism at work, IMO. But, it's fun to pretend.

― Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 18 December 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

I didn't think the two I posted were homoerotic really, just amusingly phallic, as I said.

― Cathy (Cathy), Sunday, 18 December 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

I love the graphic art style of WWII propaganda posters, esp Eastern Bloc ones.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 18 December 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

Aimless, you're straight, correct?

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Sunday, 18 December 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

Aimless,

I didn't mean to imply that these posters were designed to be homoerotic. They seem homoerotic now, and I thought that was kind of funny.

No matter the message, they're great posters.

― Super Cub (Debito), Sunday, 18 December 2005 21:55 (twenty years ago)

I think the thing is that over-the-top masculinity stuff is kind of hollowed-out for the culture at large; we don't quite "believe" in it anymore, which means we read past it, kinda, as amusing and "camp." (This definition of camp being something like "how funny that people once earnestly non-cynically believed in this.") And the main group of people who've embraced those over-the-top masculinity-celebration images are gay men, so ...

― nabiscothingy, Sunday, 18 December 2005 22:11 (twenty years ago)

Aimless, you're straight, correct?

To the best of my recollection, yes.

― Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 18 December 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)

The flip of that whole campification thing is that nowadays most men are kinda incapable of having much appreciation of obvious signifiers of masculinity (especially of the visual variety) without immediately checking it with a ton of homophobic drawing-back. This might be basically competitive, too -- like instead of admiring someone else's masculinity-signifiers and aspiring to them in ourselves, there's more of a tendency to gainsay them (or call them gay and thus theoretically not-masculine?) in order to avoid actually admiring other men (which would be, what, self-criticizing and homoerotic?).

― nabiscothingy, Sunday, 18 December 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)

nabisco loves the cock.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Sunday, 18 December 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

"The cock" = some kind of Platonic Ubercock?

― nabiscothingy, Sunday, 18 December 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

oh, don't act like you don't know the cock I mean.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Sunday, 18 December 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

it's fun to pretend

That's how homoerotic imagery always works, I'd say.

― National Roffle Association (Paul in Santa Cruz), Sunday, 18 December 2005 23:15 (twenty years ago)

after perusing these photos, i have an overwhelming desire to "join the navy" and "man the guns"

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 18 December 2005 23:23 (twenty years ago)

no, really, i feel quite patriotic

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 18 December 2005 23:23 (twenty years ago)

cold shower for kenan to thread.

― O RLY? (eman), Monday, 19 December 2005 00:11 (twenty years ago)

heh "seaman"

― latebloomer: Deutsch Bag (latebloomer), Monday, 19 December 2005 04:36 (twenty years ago)

I understand that Canada's new army focuses on poppin' wheelies on a hog but did they really have an old army that rode around on horseback wearing armor?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 19 December 2005 04:40 (twenty years ago)

six years pass...

Or towel ads?

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/182ykvz9aq0c3jpg/xlarge.jpg

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 22 October 2012 20:05 (thirteen years ago)

note onlookers in right side background

― Aimless, Monday, 22 October 2012 20:14 (thirteen years ago)

looks like he's washing his hair right out of that man

― rhino what boys like (Noodle Vague), Monday, 22 October 2012 20:16 (thirteen years ago)

not a coconut bra in sight.

― crazy uncle in the attic (Dr Morbius), Monday, 22 October 2012 20:20 (thirteen years ago)

Third native from the right looks especially dejected at their antics.

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 22 October 2012 20:27 (thirteen years ago)

The guy in the boat leaning back on the extreme left seems to have taken matters into his own hands.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 22 October 2012 20:31 (thirteen years ago)

What breezy tropical hell is this?

― flavor blasted (kenan), Monday, 22 October 2012 20:33 (thirteen years ago)

Tails in the South Pacific

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 22 October 2012 20:35 (thirteen years ago)

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