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World War I Posters And The Female Form, Laura M. Rother

ETD Archive

Like Britain and continental Europe, the United States would utilize the war poster to garner both funding and public support during World War I. While war has historically been considered a masculine endeavor, a relatively large number of these posters depict the female form. Although the use of women in American World War I propaganda may not initially seem problematic, upon further inspection it becomes clear that her presence often served to promote racial and national pretentiousness. Based on the works of popular pre-war illustrators like Howard Chandler Christy and Charles Dana Gibson, the American woman was the most attractive …