"Men Working Together!": The Queer Masculinity of World War Two Propaganda

A closer look into some of the poster collection that is exhibited in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library's special exhibition "The Art of War: American Poster Art 1941-1945." The exhibition featured 150 selections from the FDR Library's collection of over 3000 posters and murals depicting a multitude of public information campaigns, or propaganda, that helped the U.S. government rally its citizens to victory in World War Two. The exhibition featured a succession of posters featuring depictions of men in suggestive, even erotic, poses. Hyper-masculine he-men, coquettish Ganymedes, and tender same-sex embraces were all used to articulate messages about home front security, war production, and calls for enlistment.