#hw vol. 30 no. 11

[florasearlethirdyear]

Investigative Study Week 5 HW

Question: How have reproductive women's health campaigns and adverts changed? (1940’s-2023) 

Stage 01/Stage 02: 

Feminism, Medicine, Media. 

“the preservation and success of the idealized social units of marriage and family lived and died with women - with the control of their bodies, with the surveillance of their biology”. 

This quote is in relation to the 1944 poster advert ‘Happiness Ahead - for the Healthy but not for the Diseased', which urged women to be tested for venereal disease prior to marriage.  

‘‘In the late 1930s and early 1940s, amidst fears about declining birth rates, motherhood and childbearing were promoted as patriotic duties’. 

In conjunction to the previous quote, the contextual history surrounding the period is significant in informing why the poster was made. 

Stage 03 

Questions that arise from this: 

Were venereal diseases a widespread fear? 

Did the World War cause the spread of venereal diseases? 

How many soldiers were impacted by venereal diseases? 

To what extent did birth rates decrease during the World War? 

Why were women blamed for the spread? 

Answers: 

“Anxieties about the threat VD posed to the military led to fierce propaganda campaigns warning soldiers of 'good-time girls', 'pickups' and 'street walkers'. Posters featuring femmes fatales with cigarettes clasped between bright-red lips, headed 'She May Be a Bag of Trouble' and 'Booby Trap' spelled out, in no uncertain terms, that a 'Minute with Venus' was not worth”-Cleghorn, E. (2021). Unwell Women. London: Orion Publishing Co. Pp. 304 

“Soldiers on assignment overseas were often lonely, had time to spare, got homesick, or were just looking for female companionship”. - WW2 US Medical Research Centre. (n.d.) Venereal Disease and Treatment during WW2. [online] Available from: https://www.med-dept.com/articles/venereal-disease-and-treatment-during-ww2/ [Accessed 01/11/2023] 

“During the Great War, V.D. had caused the Army lost services of 18,000 servicemen per day. Although by 1944 this number had been reduced 30-fold, there were still around 606 servicemen incapacitated by V.D”-WW2 US Medical Research Centre. (n.d.) Venereal Disease and Treatment during WW2. [online] Available from: https://www.med-dept.com/articles/venereal-disease-and-treatment-during-ww2/ [Accessed 01/11/2023] 

“By 1939 the British birthrate had dropped to below replacement levels, with two million fewer under-fourteens than in 1914 with a worsening situation developing by 1941 when the figure of 579,091 was an all-time low”. - Davis A. (2014). Wartime women giving birth: narratives of pregnancy and childbirth, Britain c. 1939-1960. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. Vol.47. Pp.257-66. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.11.007.  

“Prostitutes received the brunt of the blame for the spread of venereal diseases, inside the military and out”. - Whitton, K. (2010). Women as Subject and Audience in World War II Venereal Disease Posters. [online] Available from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/231826228.pdf Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 421. Pp.15 

“The women depicted in these posters are purposefully seeking out “young, brave, strong” servicemen to infect in order to sabotage the war effort. In none of the ninety-four posters in the collection is a man pictured as the one purposefully sabotaging the mission of the United States military”- Whitton, K. (2010). Women as Subject and Audience in World War II Venereal Disease Posters. [online] Available from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/231826228.pdf Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 421. Pp.41 

  Stage 04 

“urged women to be tested for venereal disease prior to marriage”. 

The narrative of my statement is supported by the array of posters that depicted femme-fatale characters and their classification as a physical manifestation of disease during the Second World War. 

Stage 05 

Womens reproductive health carried significance during the Second World War, where fear of falling birth rates and venereal disease were rife. This fear is demonstrated in the 1944 poster advert ‘Happiness Ahead - for the Healthy but not for the Diseased', which urged women to be tested for venereal disease prior to marriage. The woman is pictured as a healthy woman, with glowing skin and a smile. Her complicit nature is encoded by her body language, as she leans back on her husband with her view cast to the side. By extension of this, she is aligned with the societal demands of housewifery and deduced to an accessory of her husband. 

[lanaturnerhascollapsed]

Hollywood, November 1941

[hetarchive]

Is it really true that Poland hasn't shown up in canon since march of 2015.... is this really where our world has come to? Please tell me I'm wrong....

Unfortunately due to Hetalia having such a large cast, there are a lot of characters that have been neglected for a good few years. Poland is not alone.

I made a list of last appearances for minor characters, and these are the ones that haven’t appeared since mid-2015. Also these dates are being based off their last canon manga strip appearance, not random illustrations, since those aren’t specifically attached to a canon story. So some have made a couple later illustration appearances.The dates on older material may be off a little, but I did my best.Feel free to correct me if I missed something.

Ancient Egypt - 7/3/2015 (HWS vol 3)

Bulgaria - 7/31/2015 (HWS 88)

Cameroon - 12/30/2011 (Xmas 2011 Event)

Cuba - 11/4/2011 (Halloween 2011 Event)

Cyprus - 1/10/2012 (Xmas 2011 Event)

Egypt - 3/23/2015 (HWS 51)

Germania - 2/24/2014 (blog post 1705)

Hutt River - 11/23/2011 (It’s a Treasure Box of Countries)

Knights Templar - 2/16/2015 (blog post 1687)

Kugelmugel - 1/7/2012 (Xmas 2011 Event)

Ladonia - 1/7/2011 (Xmas 2011 Event)

Luxembourg - 4/6/2015 (blog post 1736)

Macau - 7/17/2015 (HWS 84)

Molossia - 1/6/2012 (Xmas 2011 Event)

Monaco - 11/9/2014 (blog post 1590)

Niko Niko Republic - 11/25/2013 (Halloween 2013 Event)

Persia - 4/10/2015 (HWS 56)

Poland - 11/5/2014 (blog post 1577)

Sealand - 11/9/2014 (blog post 1590)

Seborga - 11/23/2011 (It’s a Treasure Box of Countries)

South Korea - 3/10/2015 (blog post 1728)

Switzerland - 7/3/2015 (HWS vol 2)

Thailand - 12/30/2011 (Xmas 2011 Event)

TRNC - 11/11/2013 (Halloween 2013 Event)

Ukraine - 11/5/2014 (blog post 1576)

Vietnam - 11/5/2014 (blog post 1576)

Wy - 11/25/2013 (Halloween 2013 Event)

This is not including characters that haven’t been formally introduced, fully designed, or those that may not be canon anymore, like Tibet who hasn’t appeared since 7/23/2006 (The Story about the Early Days of China and Japan) and was replaced by a panda in the anime.

[lanaturnerhascollapsed]

Hollywood, November 1941

[lanaturnerhascollapsed]

Hollywood, November 1941

[lanaturnerhascollapsed]

Hollywood, November 1941