From Gibson Girl to Gibson Goddess: The World War I Illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson in Life Magazine

Abstract

ABSTRACT Charles Dana Gibson’s leadership of the Division of Pictorial Publicity, part of the US government’s Committee on Public Information (CPI), during World War I has been thoroughly studied, yet scant attention has been given to his own art during the conflict. This study examines Gibson’s illustrations that appeared in the illustrated humor magazine Life during World War I, with the primary purpose of examining how he employed the female image to not only garner support for the war, but also define women’s responsibilities and limitations in time of war. Examination of Life during the war indicates that the Gibson Girl’s “Beauty” or “Sentimental” typologies had limited utility in convincing Americans that the battle in Europe was worth fighting. Instead, Gibson was more likely to use two female forms that had long ago become well-recognized American propaganda devices—the “Protecting Angel,” who assumed roles as nurses, aid workers, and, by extension, mothers of soldiers; and the “Amazon Warrior,” always attired in gowns, usually in large (if not colossal) scale, and most often bearing conceptual labels such as Freedom or Democracy.