Cold War Fictions : Gender, Anticommunism, and the Reconfiguration of the Post-War United States

Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship 2012 Cold War fictions : gender, anticommunism, and the reconfiguration of the post-war United States Aaron George Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation George, Aaron, "Cold War fictions : gender, anticommunism, and the reconfiguration of the post-war United States" (2012). WWU Graduate School Collection. 201. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/201 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COLD WAR FICTIONS: GENDER, ANTICOMMUNISM, AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE POST-WAR UNITED STATES By Aaron George Accepted in Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Kevin Leonard Dr. Kathleen Kennedy Dr. Johann Neem MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non‐ exclusive royalty‐ free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books. Library users are granted permission for individual, research and non‐ commercial reproduction of this work for educational purposes only. Any further digital posting of this document requires specific permission from the author. Any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, is not allowed without my written permission. Aaron George May 21, 2012 COLD WAR FICTIONS: GENDER, ANTICOMMUNISM, AND THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE POST-WAR UNITED STATES In Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Aaron George May 2012 ABSTRACT At the height of the Cold War, films and books that focused on anticommunist themes used depictions of communism as a way to promote a certain understanding of the roles of men and women in the post-war United States. The end of World War Two caused a reconfiguration of American society, providing a context in which cultural productions, such as these anticommunist Cold War narratives, could provide competing interpretations for what this transformation of society meant for men and women's roles in the United States. These films and books collectively construct an ideology that idolized the family as the most important unit of American life. At the same time, they condemned men who focused on work life instead of the family, in particular expressing the view that modern society turns men in conformists and effeminizes them. In the case of women, these narratives praised strong women who were wives, but stigmatized unmarried women who showed independence. This response to the changes in post-war America was one of a range of responses, but an important one. By exploring the relationship between anticommunism and a critique of gender, we better understand the nature of the Cold War, and how it was focused not only on political battles but also cultural ones concerning gender roles. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In writing this thesis, I am indebted to all of the History Faculty at Western Washington University. In particular, I could not have written this thesis without the patience and detailed comments provided by Dr. Kevin Leonard. His help in drafting this work was invaluable and informed the direction of the entire project. As well, the insight Dr. Johann Neem provided was instrumental into crafting this work's argument into its present form. Dr. Kathleen Kennedy also provided exceptional commentary, forcing me to confront issues that I would not have if not for her help. In addition, Dr. Mart Stewart, Dr. Amanda Eurich and Dr. Laurie Hochstetler all shaped how I examine historical events and served in a significant advisorial capacity throughout my graduate career. Furthermore, I am grateful for the contributions Christopher Anderson, Loren T. Cowdry, Christopher Nofziger, Michael Keith Jewitt, Marilee Akland, Alexandra Kattar, Lily Fox, Sam Cross, and all my other colleagues provided while I worked on this project. Lastly, I am grateful for the support provided by Dr. Roger A. George and Ms. Michelle Y. George throughout this project. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Acknowledgments v Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Marrying Stalin: The Communist Attack on the Post-War Family 24 Chapter 3: Reds, Robots, and Renegades: Masculinity in Modern Society 67 Chapter 4: Sexual Battlefronts: Soviets and the Single Woman 106 Epilogue: Fighting the Cold War 142 Works Cited 158 vi Chapter 1 Introduction I Invasion USA! In 1952, Columbia Pictures released a low budget film entitled Invasion USA!. This film depicted the a fictional invasion of the United States by the Soviet Union. Using extensive stock footage of planes and paratroopers to depict the actual invasion, the film shows Russian airplanes flying over the West Coast. Dialogue references the atom bombs exploding across the nation, obliterating cities, destroying dams, and flooding cities. The president of the United States warns every American to fight the Soviet invasion, but when contrasted to the news reports of Soviet victories, his words seem ineffectual. It seems that nothing can stop the Soviets from winning the war and destroying the American way of life.1 Interspersed with the stock footage of the invasion, the film presents depictions of how the Soviet invasion personally affects Americans. The film focuses on showing the impact of the invasion not by showing the destruction created, but by showing the reactions of five Americans sitting in a New York bar when the invasion begins. One of those Americans is a Congressman named Harroway, whose story links the Soviet invasion to an attack on the American government. When the invasion starts, Harroway rushes back to Washington, DC, in order to do whatever he can there to repel the invasion. However, despite giving a rousing speech urging Congress to resist the Russians, in the end Harroway, like the 1 Invasion USA, DVD, Directed by Alfred E. Green, 1952; Synapse Films, 2002 1 rest of Congress, is killed by the invading Soviet troops.2 On the one hand, the entire plot line revolving around Congressman Harroway should not be particularly surprising. In a film about a Soviet invasion, showing the Soviet Union taking over Congress might be expected, at least for its symbolic connotation of the United States falling to an enemy power. But there is another, equally important, side to the depictions of communism in this film. Prevalent throughout Invasion USA! are suggestions that alongside the threat of invasion was also the danger that communists might affect the ability of men and women to perform properly masculine and feminine roles. For instance, one of the other four people who respond to the invasion, a farmer named Ed, sees the Soviet invasion in terms of its danger to his family. Upon hearing about the invasion, he rushes home to find his wife and children so he can drive them to safety. Despite his valiant efforts, however, he cannot protect his family from the impact of the Soviet invasion. He, his wife, and his children are overtaken by a flood resulting from a burst dam and are washed away by the torrent of water. Though he does everything he should have done, his ability to protect his family, and thus be a husband and father, is put in danger by the Soviet threat. Another story, of a man named George, shows how the communist invasion means he loses control of his tractor factory. His refusal to work for someone else, and thus to become subservient to someone else, leads to his death at the hands of the invaders. And the last story is no less suggestive. In this plot, the film focuses on the lovers Vince and Carla, who meet in the bar before the invasion and try to start a relationship. However, this romance ends abruptly when Soviet troops shoot Vince in the back and attempt to rape Carla, 2 Invasion USA 2 forcing to her to jump out of a window to her death.3 What these scenes suggest is that understanding how Americans thought about the Cold War, and the dangers that it represented to them, requires understanding more than what was politically at stake in the war. Invasion USA!, for instance, interlinks the Cold War with anxieties over performing gender: it shows a man unable to protect his family, a man unable to independently run his own business, and a man unable to protect his lover. In all three cases, masculine gender roles are at stake, and Invasion USA! seems to be warning its male viewers of how communism will assault their masculinity. But this film is by no means the only example of gender taking center stage in depictions of the Cold War. Other Cold War books and films that explored anticommunist themes also connected anxieties over masculine and feminine roles with the Cold War. In doing so, these films and books took part in a societal discussion of gender; together with other cultural productions of the 1950s, these films and books presented different interpretations of how Americans should act as men and women in the post-war United States.

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