White Feathers and Wounded Men: Female Patriotism and the Memory of the Great War

Abstract

On August 30, 1914, Admiral Charles Penrose Fitzgerald, an inveterate conscriptionist and disciple of Lord Roberts, deputized thirty women in Folkstone to hand out white feathers to men not in uniform. The purpose of this gesture was to shame “every young ‘slacker’ found loafing about the Leas” and to remind those “deaf or indifferent to their country's need” that “British soldiers are fighting and dying across the channel.” Fitzgerald's estimation of the power of these women was enormous. He warned the men of Folkstone that “there is a danger awaiting them far more terrible than anything they can meet in battle,” for if they were found “idling and loafing to-morrow” they would be publicly humiliated by a lady with a white feather.The idea of a paramilitary band of women known as “The Order of the White Feather” or “The White Feather Brigade” captured the imagination of numerous observers and even enjoyed a moment of semiofficial sanction at the beginning of the war. According to the Chatham News an “amusing, novel, and forceful method of obtaining recruits for Lord Kitchener's Army was demonstrated at Deal on Tuesday” when the town crier paraded the streets and “crying with the dignity of his ancient calling, gave forth the startling announcement: ‘Oyez! Oyez!! Oyez!!! The White Feather Brigade! Ladies wanted to present the young men of Deal and Walmer … the Order of the White Feather for shirking their duty in not coming forward to uphold the Union Jack of Old England! God save the King.’”

Symbolism of the US battlefield cross: how boots, rifles, and helmets reinforce masculinity

“…The argument that helmets are phallic is consistent with historical ways in which they could be made more masculine by plumage. While feathers are polysemic [and have at times even symbolized cowardice (Gullace, 1997)], they added panache to military helmets, literally and figuratively. Panache means both "confident flair" and "a decorative plume or tuft of feathers, especially on a headdress or helmet" (Panache, 2023), evident in the feathers of war bonnets (headdresses) that symbolized male bravery in Indian nations (Koch, 1990).…”

Symbolism of the US battlefield cross: how boots, rifles, and helmets reinforce masculinity

“…The argument that helmets are phallic is consistent with historical ways in which they could be made more masculine by plumage. While feathers are polysemic [and have at times even symbolized cowardice (Gullace, 1997)], they added panache to military helmets, literally and figuratively. Panache means both "confident flair" and "a decorative plume or tuft of feathers, especially on a headdress or helmet" (Panache, 2023), evident in the feathers of war bonnets (headdresses) that symbolized male bravery in Indian nations (Koch, 1990).…”

What do we do now? Examining civilian masculinity/ies in contemporary liberal civil-military relations

“…These campaigns, along with state recruitment posters, drew on gendered logics of masculine shame and feminine vulnerability to encourage men to join the military. 130 Gendered anxiety regarding the collective use of force is a perennial political problem. What this article argues is that the empirical shift away from mass military participation and large-scale existential conflict, paired with the ideologically-required incorporation of women as formally equal citizens into the liberal military contract, represents a qualitative shift in the scope of this disconnect -and is thus particularly helpful for thinking through the ambiguous politics of contemporary civilian masculinity/ies.…”

The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty? Evidence from British Commutations During World War I

“…At the war's onset, pamphlets and posters used social pressure to increase enlistment. Women's groups encouraged their members to give white feathers (the sign of the coward) to men who appeared to be of military age to shame them into service (Gullace 1997). Recruitment posters also emphasized duty.…”

Symbolism of the US battlefield cross: how boots, rifles, and helmets reinforce masculinity

“…The argument that helmets are phallic is consistent with historical ways in which they could be made more masculine by plumage. While feathers are polysemic [and have at times even symbolized cowardice (Gullace, 1997)], they added panache to military helmets, literally and figuratively. Panache means both "confident flair" and "a decorative plume or tuft of feathers, especially on a headdress or helmet" (Panache, 2023), evident in the feathers of war bonnets (headdresses) that symbolized male bravery in Indian nations (Koch, 1990).…”

What do we do now? Examining civilian masculinity/ies in contemporary liberal civil-military relations

“…These campaigns, along with state recruitment posters, drew on gendered logics of masculine shame and feminine vulnerability to encourage men to join the military. 130 Gendered anxiety regarding the collective use of force is a perennial political problem. What this article argues is that the empirical shift away from mass military participation and large-scale existential conflict, paired with the ideologically-required incorporation of women as formally equal citizens into the liberal military contract, represents a qualitative shift in the scope of this disconnect -and is thus particularly helpful for thinking through the ambiguous politics of contemporary civilian masculinity/ies.…”

The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty? Evidence from British Commutations During World War I

“…At the war's onset, pamphlets and posters used social pressure to increase enlistment. Women's groups encouraged their members to give white feathers (the sign of the coward) to men who appeared to be of military age to shame them into service (Gullace 1997). Recruitment posters also emphasized duty.…”

Symbolism of the US battlefield cross: how boots, rifles, and helmets reinforce masculinity

“…The argument that helmets are phallic is consistent with historical ways in which they could be made more masculine by plumage. While feathers are polysemic [and have at times even symbolized cowardice (Gullace, 1997)], they added panache to military helmets, literally and figuratively. Panache means both "confident flair" and "a decorative plume or tuft of feathers, especially on a headdress or helmet" (Panache, 2023), evident in the feathers of war bonnets (headdresses) that symbolized male bravery in Indian nations (Koch, 1990).…”

What do we do now? Examining civilian masculinity/ies in contemporary liberal civil-military relations

“…These campaigns, along with state recruitment posters, drew on gendered logics of masculine shame and feminine vulnerability to encourage men to join the military. 130 Gendered anxiety regarding the collective use of force is a perennial political problem. What this article argues is that the empirical shift away from mass military participation and large-scale existential conflict, paired with the ideologically-required incorporation of women as formally equal citizens into the liberal military contract, represents a qualitative shift in the scope of this disconnect -and is thus particularly helpful for thinking through the ambiguous politics of contemporary civilian masculinity/ies.…”

The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty? Evidence from British Commutations During World War I

“…At the war's onset, pamphlets and posters used social pressure to increase enlistment. Women's groups encouraged their members to give white feathers (the sign of the coward) to men who appeared to be of military age to shame them into service (Gullace 1997). Recruitment posters also emphasized duty.…”