PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE and WOMEN in WORLD WAR II Laura
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FINDING MEANING IN THE STARS: PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE AND WOMEN IN WORLD WAR II Laura Lacy A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the School of Media and Journalism. Chapel Hill 2017 Approved by: Barbara Friedman Anne Johnston Joy Kasson © 2017 Laura Lacy ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Laura Lacy: Finding Meaning in the Stars: Photoplay Magazine and Women in World War II (Under the direction of Barbara Friedman) Photoplay was one of the most popular fan magazines of the 1940s, filled with seemingly authentic glimpses into Hollywood stars’ lives. Within that content, Photoplay communicated values, norms, concerns, and ideologies to women readers. Adopting the theoretical framework of cultural studies, this thesis studies Photoplay from October 1942 through November 1945, adding to the body of research about women, media, and World War II by offering an in-depth textual analysis of the magazine during the war. It examines what messages regarding women’s wartime roles and behaviors appeared, how they changed over time, how Photoplay reinforced or challenged prevailing mass-mediated notions about women’s wartime roles, and what the magazine tells us about women readers of Photoplay and historical audiences. This research reveals that a relationship deeper than one between an unknowable celebrity author and a passive reader existed behind the tales about celebrity romance, women on the homefront, and war work. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was anything but a solitary effort, and I owe so much to the people who have helped me along the way. I would like to especially thank my adviser Barbara Friedman for her continued guidance. My project would not be what it is without your expertise and support, nor would I have learned as much in the process. Thank you for helping me turn the seed of an idea about an advice column penned by Bette Davis into what it is today. To my committee members Anne Johnston and Joy Kasson, thank you for helping shape my time at UNC and this project in particular. Your insight as well as your willingness to stick with me as my project extended longer than expected is incredibly appreciated. To my family, I’m unendingly grateful for your belief that I would get to this point and your encouragement through the past five years. Mom, I hope you’re getting ready for our post- thesis celebration. To my classmates, your camaraderie has been instrumental in keeping this project moving forward. Thank you for your friendship. And, of course, to Paul, the most steadfast of supporters. Thank you for making sure that my grad school diet didn’t devolve into dinners of Skittles and Diet Coke several nights a week and, more broadly, for being ever-willing to take on new challenges and adventures with me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Background .................................................................................................................. 8 Women’s Wartime Experience .......................................................................................... 8 Magazines: Selling the War to Women ........................................................................... 15 Chapter 3: Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 27 Women as Readers ........................................................................................................... 28 Messaging to Women during World War II .................................................................... 31 Fan Magazines ................................................................................................................. 38 Chapter 4: Theory, Research Questions, and Methods ................................................................ 44 Chapter 5: Women and Romance in Photoplay ........................................................................... 52 The Early Years: Morale Boosters and War Dates .......................................................... 53 Whirlwind War Romances ............................................................................................... 67 “War Emotionalism”: A Slippery Slope to Virtue Lost ................................................... 72 Chapter 6: The Women Who Wait .............................................................................................. 88 “Guardians of the Home” ................................................................................................. 90 Motherhood as War Duty ................................................................................................. 97 Independence and Self-Sufficiency ............................................................................... 104 Loneliness ...................................................................................................................... 108 v When the Waiting Was Over ......................................................................................... 117 Chapter 7: Women at Work and Women Who Served .............................................................. 123 1942 Brings Change ....................................................................................................... 125 Calls for “Womanpower” .............................................................................................. 132 The Stars Light the Way ................................................................................................ 142 After the War, Then What? ............................................................................................ 147 Chapter 8: Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 153 Appendix .................................................................................................................................... 158 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 172 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: “How to be an Armed-Force Riot” ............................................................................. 158 Figure 2: “Chill-Chasers” ........................................................................................................... 159 Figure 3: “Here’s Your Chance!” .............................................................................................. 160 Figure 4: Photoplay July 1943 cover ......................................................................................... 161 Figure 5: “Judy—Victory Model” ............................................................................................. 162 Figure 6: Photoplay September 1943 cover ............................................................................... 163 Figure 7: Photoplay October 1942 cover ................................................................................... 164 Figure 8: Photoplay August 1943 cover .................................................................................... 165 Figure 9: Photoplay July 1944 cover ......................................................................................... 166 Figure 10: “For a Merry Christmas Give War Bonds” .............................................................. 167 Figure 11: Letter from reader about the importance of buying war bonds ................................ 168 Figure 12: Joan Crawford sorting waste paper .......................................................................... 169 Figure 13: Shirley Temple feeding soldier ................................................................................ 170 Figure 14: Carole Landis collecting clothes in Greece .............................................................. 171 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In December 1942, “Betty L.” was wrestling with a problem. A “country girl” adjusting “to the big city,” 17-year-old Betty had become involved with a 24-year-old man, who, while “very nice,” had led a privileged existence and was used to getting everything he wanted.1 The man was soon to enlist in the military and had asked Betty to marry him when he returned home from the war. She agreed, since she loved him “with [her] whole heart and soul.”2 One problem persisted in the relationship, however. This man, so used to getting his way, asked Betty to “give him the things that go with marriage” before he shipped out, rather than wait for their wedding upon his return.3 The man told her that premarital sex would be a “generous and noble” gesture on her part, as he did not know what awaited him in the war, and that to deny him was selfish.4 “Please, please tell me what to do,” Betty implored.5 None other than actress Bette Davis would heed that call, responding to Betty L. in her first of many “What Should I Do?” advice columns in the fan magazine Photoplay. Her advice to the 17-year-old? The argument “Don’t be selfish; be patriotic, be generous—I may not live 1 Bette Davis, “What Should I Do? Your Problems Answered by Bette Davis,” Photoplay-Movie Mirror, December 1942, 78. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 1 long,” was not a novel approach to