Formations of Masculinities in Vietnam War Fiction and Film

PRISONERS OF WAR: FORMATIONS OF MASCULINITIES IN VIETNAM WAR FICTION AND FILM DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Brenda M. Boyle, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2003 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Debra Moddelmog, Advisor Professor John Hellmann Advisor Professor Linda Mizejewski Department of English ABSTRACT This dissertation argues that the Vietnam War and social movements of the time altered the way Americans conceive of masculinity, an alteration represented in some narratives of the War. Decades after the conclusion of American involvement in Vietnam, this revision of the social gender script is still evident in narratives that are not always directly concerned with the War. This new discourse of masculinities appears in narratives not only fictional, but also in memoirs, films, and recruiting advertisements, suggesting that what Lauren Berlant calls the “National Symbolic,” or the framework through which Americans constitute themselves as Americans, has adjusted along the following lines. First, the era made it imperative to imagine a plurality of masculinities, determining that a single model of masculine gender to which men should aspire might not be desirable and probably never was possible. This explains, among other things, the disenchantment repeatedly expressed by soldiers in the narratives with the John Wayne-model of masculinity displayed in so many World War II movies, and the subsequent need to devise new forms of masculinity that would suit the particularities of the Vietnam War. In pluralizing masculinity, the narratives propose that gender is performative, amorphous, and historically contingent, often concluding that masculinities may not be reserved only for males, but that females also may choose to enact masculinity. Second, the liberation and rights movements of the era made clear that issues such as race, sexuality, and dis/ability directly impact the formations of masculinities. The truism that war makes a ii boy into a man may be simplistic only about the assumption that there is one true way to be a male; some War narratives suggest that there are many ways to be manly. Third, the combination of the two previous points, that masculinities are pluralized by their being extended to people other than white men and that they are mutable, intimates that the current binary of sex and gender–sex as chromosomal and gender as environmental–may be less definitive than the binary suggests. iii Dedicated to Kirk, Clayton, Olivia and Hannah, all of whom have put up with the most. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Most directly supportive of this project were the members of my committee. I cannot thank enough my advisor, Debra Moddelmog, for the constant and rigorous attention she paid to my work for many years. Her generous and demanding feedback was unstinting; her recommendations were always in the work’s best interests. Linda Mizejewski’s passion for film was contagious, and convinced me to include film in my study. John Hellmann’s willingness to share his deep knowledge of both the literature and the history of the Vietnam War period was remarkable. Thank you all for keeping me on track. Others on the faculty at Ohio State influenced my research interests. Phoebe Spinrad introduced me to Vietnam War narratives, helping me to see the research possibilities in such a field. Valerie Lee introduced me to critical race theory and Thomas Piontek introduced me to queer theory; I am grateful for their welcoming me, a theory neophyte, into the fold. I also want to thank Brenda Brueggeman for her unflagging efforts to develop Disability Studies as a field, and for how that lens has impacted my reading of Vietnam War narratives. There are others who have been constant in their concern for my progress and have always been willing to share ideas, especially about pedagogy and writing. I thank Mike Sasso for his consistent drive to be a better teacher. I thank Haivan Hoang for her willingness to share her insights to being Vietnamese-American. I thank Robin Rissler for her constant reality checks. I thank Akhila Ramnarayan for demonstrating the principled strength it takes to maintain one’s own ideas. I thank Kristin Risley for leading the way. And I thank Kathleen Wallace for being friendly, cheerful, funny, and thoughtful all at the same time. Those most interested in writing also helped me develop my own writing in incalculable ways: Kay Halasek, Eddie Singleton, Frank O’Hare, Beverly Moss, Roger Cherry, and Matt Cariello. Finally, I want to thank all of those outside of Ohio State who helped me psychologically and physically: Karl and Linda Sandin, all of the folks in the English Department at Denison University, and my neighbors, Yadi Delaviz and Shoreh Hossanizadeh. Last but not least, I want to thank my brothers and sisters for tolerating my “looking too deep”: Karen Collins, Cheryl Scott, David Boyle, Christine Yuengert, Charles Boyle, Thomas Boyle, Maureen Boyle, and Paula Boyle. I also want to thank my mother, Joan Boyle, and remember my father, Dean G. Boyle. They always encouraged their children not to back away from challenges. This was a big one. v VITA June 3, 1957 .............................................. Born - Lawton, Oklahoma, USA 1979 ........................................................... A.B., English, Davidson College 1979 - 1983 ................................................ Military Intelligence Officer, United States Army 1983 ........................................................... MA, International Relations, University of Southern California (Overseas) 1989 - 1990 ................................................. Tutor of English, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 1990 - 1991 ................................................. Instructor of English Composition, Valdosta State College 1992 - 1995 .................................................. Instructor of English Composition, The Ohio State University-Newark 1995 - 1999 .................................................. Instructor of First-Year Studies, Denison University 1999 .............................................................. MA, English, The Ohio State University 1998 - Spring 2003 ....................................... Graduate Teaching and Administrative Assistant, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS Halasek, Kay, Edgar Singleton, Brenda Boyle, et al, eds. 2nd ed. Writing Lives/Reading Communities. Boston: Pearson Custom, 2000. vi FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: English vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................................v Vita ................................................................................................................................. vi Chapters: 1. A Litmus Test for Masculinity: Residual Effects of the Vietnam War at the Turn of the Century.....................................................................................1 2. “Don’t Mean Nothin’”: Race in the Production of Masculinities......................................................................................................... 42 3. The Nam Syndrome: Improper Sexuality, Improper Gender ...............................................................................................................................99 4. “Phantom Pains”: Disability and Masculinity in Vietnam War Representations ................................................................150 5. Conclusion...........................................................................................................204 Endnotes .........................................................................................................................222 List of References ...........................................................................................................252 viii CHAPTER 1 A Litmus Test for Masculinity: Residual Effects of the Vietnam War at the Turn of the Century Americans cannot seem to let the sixties go gently into the night. While the 1970s disappeared before they even ended and the 1950s succumbed to a nostalgic fog, the 1960s stay hot. We make [male] politicians take a decades-old drug test and scrutinize their position on the Vietnam War–though few of us are sure what makes for a passing grade in either case. (Farber 1; emphasis added) American involvement in Vietnam began in the 1950s and drew to its infamous close nearly thirty years ago, but the social transformations evolving from the War era continue to be scrutinized in American culture, appearing in venues as disparate as national policy, homoerotica, and World War II films. The War was not the sole revolutionizing event of this period, though. Multiple liberation campaigns, including the Civil Rights, Black Nationalist, Chicano, American Indian, Gay Rights, Women’s Rights, and Disability Rights Movements, occurred nearly simultaneously to the War, and in some cases were instigated by the results of the War. Whether or not a causal relationship exists between the War and the social movements is debatable; what is most important to this project is that Vietnam War narratives manifest

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