Masculinity and Vietnam

Essay # 111894

Gender and Sexuality
History > U.S. Post-Modern 1965-Present
Sociology

A discussion on the conception of men and their need to define their masculinity through the Vietnam War.

1,686 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the how the conceptions of masculinity in the 1960s influenced men to volunteer for the Vietnam War. The author hypothesizes that men then either felt that they needed to prove their masculinity or that they wanted to reinforce their pre-existing level of masculinity. The paper includes interviews with two individuals who served in the war. The author relates their family background, their experiences in the war and their reasons for wanting to join the war in Vietnam - a lot of which has to do with looking big and tough and proving their manliness. The paper also analyzes how family and cultural traditions of war service influenced some men to volunteer for Vietnam. The paper uses MLA style footnotes but does not include a works cited page.

From the Paper:

"Many men volunteered to serve during Vietnam for a wide variety of reasons like duty, patriotism, the GI Bill, societal pressures, or to bypass the draft. The prevailing gender ideology of the 1950s, that accentuated notions of gender roles, influenced men to either prove their masculinity (from their lack of) like Paul or to reinforce a preexisting masculine identity like Bradbury. In all cases mentioned, these men felt a pressured from society to prove their manliness. As an ideal, masculinity placed these men in harms way as they fought to prove themselves so that society would not condone them as cowards. Family traditions of war service masculinized war service."

Sample of Sources Used:

Spawr, Chad. Interview. Steve Maxner. The Vietnam Archive Oral History Project: Texas Tech University. 16 March 2000.
Gutierrez, Frank. Interview. Kim Sawyer. The Vietnam Archive Oral History Project: Texas Tech University.
Paul, Marshall. Interview, Garth Davis. Vietnam Archive Oral History Project: Texas Tech University. 3,4,9, 23 Feb. 1990.
Bradbury, Michael. Interview. Dr. Richard Verrone. The Vietnam Archive Oral History Project: Texas Tech University. 15 Sept., 27, 28 Oct. 2003.
Daniel Hallin, The "Uncensored War": The Media and Vietnam. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1986.