S2E1: Horny for War: The History of How Sex Became A Weapon

White feathers, red light districts, and the rise of the military edging complex. How governments weaponized horniness to win WWI, and began to reimagine what women represent to a nation at war.

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A production of BRINK

Website: thisispropaganda.show

Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow

Email: propaganda@brink.com

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CREDITS

Written, Produced, and Hosted by Malcolm Critcher and Joshua Belhumeur

Co-Producer: Reed Chandler

Additional Voice Acting: Rhiannon Lane

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DISCLOSURE

Some dialogue and quotations have been condensed, paraphrased, or reconstructed based on contemporaneous accounts, interviews, and other source material.

AI Disclosure: We use AI to create custom filters for our voices, but the original performances are our own. We also used AI for a custom composition using our own lyrics for “The Girl Behind The Man Behind The Gun”. All used under commercial license.

This is a new frontier for all of us, and we are finding our footing when it comes to AI usage and transparency. We welcome any and all feedback.

REFERENCES Rogers, E. W. (2022). Sex and motivation in the American morale campaigns of the First World War. University of Cambridge. Hart, P. (2010). The white feather campaign: A struggle with masculinity during World War I. Inquiries Journal, 2. Gullace, N. F. (1997). White feathers and wounded men: Female patriotism and the memory of the Great War. Journal of British Studies Caris, E. M. (2015). British masculinity and propaganda during the First World War [Master's thesis, Louisiana State University]. LSU Scholarly Repository. May, Z. (2015). The government's moral crusade: America's campaign against venereal diseases at home during World War I. Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History, 1(1), Article 6. Fosdick, R. B. (1918). The War and Navy Departments Commissions on Training Camp Activities. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 79(1), 130–142.​ Seymour, H. (1995). The Drive for Prohibition in San Antonio During the First World War. University of the Incarnate Word. Keire, Mara L. For business and pleasure: Red-light districts and the regulation of vice in the United States, 1890-1933. ResearchGate, 2010. May, Z. (2015). The government's moral crusade: America's campaign against venereal diseases at home during World War I. Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History, 1(1), Article 6. http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/151/the-white-feather-campaign-a-struggle-with-masculinity-during-world-war-i https://www.coursehero.com/file/198164990/UNITED-STATES-HISTORY-Document-1docx/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/44779771?mag=the-us-propaganda-machine-of-world-war-i&seq=1 https://georgiahistorytps.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/writing-is-fighting.pdf https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/usa-sexually-teased-troops-in-first-world-war-to-make-them-fight-harder https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/red-light-districts-united-states History.com Editors. (n.d.). America's forgotten mass imprisonment of women. HISTORY. Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas, New York, 1966 p. 182 https://web.archive.org/web/20090507211238/ http://www.sss.gov/induct.html‍https://iro.uiowa.edu/view/pdfCoverPage?instCode=01IOWA_INST&filePid=13789162740002771&download=true‍ ‍https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3193&context=etd‍ ‍https://commons.und.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4129&context=theses‍ ‍https://www.bibleblender.com/2017/biblical-lessons/biblical-history/historical-sermons/booze-or-get-on-the-water-wagon-billy-sunday-1862-1935‍ ‍https://www.military.com/history/womens-history-month/first-women-join-military ‍‍https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/yeoman-f.html BOOKS Critics At Large. (2013, July 14). The Four Feathers: The Novel and the Films. R.W. Farrow, “Recollections” Kernahan, Coulson. A Dead Man's Diary. Ward, Lock & Co. Limited, 1899. Rizzi, J. N. (1983). Joe's war: Memoirs of a doughboy (R. A. Baumgartner, Ed.). Huntington, WV: Der Angriff Publications. Brown, “Our Social Morality Work,” 272; 274. Kernahan Coulson, The Experiences of a Recruitment Officer (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1915): 69. Michael MacDonagh, In London During the Great War (London, 1935) pp. 79 ARCHIVAL The Price of Beer Yesterday, Weekly Dispatch, April 8th 1917 The Baroness Orczy to Miss Conway of the Imperial War Museum, [1918], in IWM, WW, BO/6/6/2i Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany (1917) The Baroness Orczy to Miss Conway of the Imperial War Museum, [1918], in IWM, WW, BO/6/6/2i To The Young Women of London, IWM 4903, reproduced in Maurice Rickards, Posters of the First World War (New York, 1968), no. 23 Women and Patriotism Girls Own Paper, vol. 1914-1915, p. 36 The Mother’s Union, To British Mothers: How They Can Help Enlistment, By One of Them (London, n.d.), p. 1 PCS Vince to BBC, May 18, 1964, IWM, BBC/GW, vol. UDA-VOS fol. 199. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003663090/‍ ‍https://prohibition.osu.edu/gallery/posters‍ ‍https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss46029.mss46029-228_0600_1133/?sp=30&r=-0.979,0,2.958,1.27,0‍ ‍https://www.loc.gov/collections/woodrow-wilson-papers/articles-and-essays/letters-from-ordinary-americans/prohibition/‍ ‍https://westervillelibrary.org/antisaloon-charged/‍ ‍https://westervillelibrary.org/antisaloon-bessies/‍ ‍https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1368880042000254838‍ ‍https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.40824

MUSIC ATTRIBUTIONS

A CUP OF COFFEE, A SANDWICH AND YOU (00:20) Performed by Ben Selvin And His Orchestra Recorded in 1925 Courtesy of The Popular Jazz Archive VALS TRISTE (01:21) Performed by Ohad Ben Ari and Jean Sibelius Licensed from Artlist HORNPIPE (02:13) Performed by Victor Military Band Licensed from Artlist WHOLE TONY (02:37) Performed by Southside Aces Licensed from Artlist DANNY BOY (03:16) Written by Frederic Weatherly (1910) MIDI performance transcribed from sheet music. MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU (03:40) Performed by Maggie Smith From the film Oh! What A Lovely War (1969) Director Richard Attenborough Distributed by Paramount Pictures Used for educational purposes only. SAMIZDAT (04:36) Written and Performed by Joshua Belhumeur GNOSSIENNE NO. 3 (05:13) Performed by Romi Kopelman Written by Erik Satie Licensed from Artlist MELANCHOLIA (06:15) Performed by Franscico DeAndrea Licensed from Artlist A PROPAGANDIST WALKS INTO A PIANO BAR (07:39) Written and Performed by Joshua Belhumeur BACKWARDS (08:24) Performed by Jane & The Boy Licensed from Artlist FORWARD JOE SOAPS ARMY (09:34) Performed by Fitzrovia Chorus & John Mealing Used for educational purposes only. WILL HER EYES SHINE IN GREEN OR IN BLUE (10:25) Performed by Ziv Grinberg Licensed from Artlist BLUE GUM (11:19) Performed by Shahar Haziza Licensed from Artlist BATTLE OF THE NATIONS (12:19) Performed by Conways Band Licensed from Artlist SALT OF THE SOUND (12:56) Performed by Coventry Carol Licensed from Artlist TENNESSEE I HEAR YOUR NAME CALLING (13:21) Performed by American Quartet Licensed from Artlist LOW END (14:21) Performed by Magnetic Buzz Licensed from Artlist MY GAL SAL (16:06) Performed by Danny Altier Orchestra Recorded in 1928 ACRYLIC DREAMS (16:54) Performed by Magnetic Buzz Licensed from Artlist NO MAN’S LAND (18:14) Written and Performed by Joshua Belhumeur THE ALCOHOLIC BLUES (20:40) Performed by Irving Kaufman Written by Edw. Laska & H. Von Tilzer Recorded in 1920 Used for educational purposes only. BEYOND THE ZERO (21:08) Written and Performed by Joshua Belhumeur THE GIRL BEHIND THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN (21:54) Written by Joshua Belhumeur Composed and licensed with SUNO AI