A visual history of First World War women and humour identified in contemporary cartoons

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses the use of cartoon visual depictions of women during the First World War and the humour within them for the viewing public. Extensive historiography of women and war recognizes female contributions to the war effort, and the underlying integrity of motherhood throughout. Nonetheless, how audiences perceive visual representations of women during war do not feature within this literature to the same degree. Evaluation of cartoon humour alongside context of images of women historicizes the content and its impact on respective contemporary audiences. News publications throughout the war provide appropriate visual sources, and most for this study come from the British Cartoon Archive (BCA) at the University of Kent. The article considers three predominant tropes of female cartoon illustration during the war: the young and flighty, the elderly matron and the allegory of combatant nations. Cartoons of these womenvisibly take on new positions in war: helping the war effort or misunderstanding new situations whilst maintaining traditional positions from before the war. Humorous alterations to anticipated stereotypes provide didactic purpose showing the public how to behave, or more specifically how not to with the younger and older depictions. The final group of allegorical personas revisit older national and abstract icons to aid public morale providing relief and hilarity through enemydenegration or support and strength when visualizing home nations. This article argues how humorous cartooning of women in wartime preserved the pre-war status quo of female positions in society to provide comfort and relief to the public despite acknowledged female involvement in the war effort overall.