A photograph of platoon 13 of the 73rd battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Royal Highlanders of Canada, dated around the end of World War 1. The only IDed soldier in this picture goes by the name of John Clarence Ross (died at Vimey Ridge April 9, 1917), who also kept a journal/diary similar to Fraser's which described how life was like in the battalion during WW1. He is located on the far left of the back row of soldiers.
Link: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~guppyross/hist.html
A famous British music-hall song called "It's a Long Way to Tripperary" which became popular among soldiers in the first World War.
Manly Men
The Journal of Private Fraser (1914-1918), written by Donald Fraser and edited by Reginald H. Roy which was later published by Sono Nis Press in 1985, exposes subtle clues in determining, according to Fraser, social gender roles for soldiers during World War 1. Fraser’s journal intensely describes his day to day life on the Western front from 1915-1916. He was thirty-two when he first joined the thirty-first Alberta Battalion in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Fraser served for two years and fought in all of the wars that Canada participated in until he was injured, which caused him to never return to the battle field (Reginald). Although Fraser does not literally point out social gender specific norms on male soldiers, he is able to portray his views on masculinity for men through his vivid story telling. Tightly woven and worked into these journal entries are subtle signs of heroism, strength, competition, and bravery. All of which, according to Fraser, are characteristics that define a man, a soldier, in the war. Every one of those characteristics defined by Fraser seem harmless and normal according to modern society, but there are uncountable piles of evidence that Fraser portrays which show just how harmful these characteristics were for the soldiers during the war. Although masculinity is generally depicted as a positive attribute to have as a man, according to Fraser however, having too much bravery, heroism, strength, and competition between each other would actually have negative effects on the soldiers at the front-line.
In different societies, there are a set of norms that most people follow. Those norms mesh well with the society it is manufactured in. Many of which are created through the years. Masculinity plays a huge role on gender difference between males and females because it directly contradicts with femininity. Andreas G Philaretou and Katherine R. Allen describe the construction of male gender which requires an individual to acquire a masculine role which assumes autonomy, competition, and aggressiveness, and not connectedness, intimacy, and self-discloser, which are characteristics of feminine traits. Masculinity is defined, according to Philaretou, as a man who denies everything feminine. Masculinity in modern society and even ancient society describe what a man should be in their perspective societies. Some say strong and others say intelligent, but many of these characteristics that label masculinity all have a commonality in that the different societies all somewhat represent masculinity as something positive. With close analysis of Fraser’s work, clear signs of masculinity are depicted as actually having negative effects on soldiers.
Fraser’s portrayals of manliness act not as an advantage, but more of a hindrance in the trenches during World War 1. Bravery, being one of the many ways he depicts his views on masculinity, is illustrated as having a negative effect in the front lines. Throughout history, bravery has been one of the main characteristics which described a manly man. Fraser illustrates bravery and it’s negative effects when he describes his lieutenant, Foster, heroically getting up when no one else would and trying to signal Fraser forward, but was unfortunately shot by a German bullet (Reginald, pg 1). Bravery for Fraser was good only to a certain extent. According to Fraser, being too brave has its consequences, which he vividly expressed in his recollection of how lieutenant Foster got shot.
The second account in which Fraser further explains his view on the masculinity of men in the trenches is the eagerness for men to compete in strength and its' negative effects on the soldiers. Competing with one another for dominance is one of the most common characteristics for masculinity for men. Throughout history, men have shown dominance by competing with one another and winning. For example, the gladiators in the Roman Empire battled each other to achieve glory and dominance over the other competitor. Glorified competition is still in practice even today in modern day sports like boxing and American football where the winning teams are glorified with money and prestige. Competition in Western society greatly characterizes masculinity in men. Fraser also believes that competition is a masculine characteristic, but he views it having a negative effect on soldiers in the war. In one instance in his journal, Fraser describes trying to outdo his friend and seeing who was stronger by carrying more sandbags down towards the front-line, but eventually regretting it because there were just so many things to do. (Reginald, pg 1). The only thing Fraser got from trying to compete with his friend was fatigue, which did not do him any good while fighting against the Germans.
Masculinity for men, according to Fraser, is characterized by subtle hints of bravery, heroism, strength, and competition between men. He supports these claims vividly illustrating his views on how a soldier should act out on the front-line, but he also sees the negative drawbacks of masculinity for a trench warfare soldier in World War 1.
In this black and white Photo, it shows the after-math of a charge by Canadian soldiers during battle in World War 1. In the photo you can see dead soldiers covered in dirt and contorted in different positions with some laying on top of the each other. This Photo relates to Fraser's journal because it gruesomely portrays in a way what Fraser was trying to illustrate through words, which was the dangers and horrors of trench warfare.
Bibliography
Primary source
Reginald H. Roy, ed. The Journal of Private Fraser, 1914-1918, Canadian
Expeditionary Force. Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press, 1985. Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton. Selections September 1915.
Secondary Sources
Philaretou, Andreas G., and Katherine R. Allen. "Reconstructing Masculinity and
Sexuality." Journal of Men's Studies 9.3 (2001): 301. ProQuest. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Annotated Bibliography
Reginald H. Roy, ed. The Journal of Private Fraser, 1914-1918, Canadian
Expeditionary Force. Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press, 1985. Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton. Selections September 1915.
These selections in September 1915 from The journal of Private Fraser illustrate Donald Fraser’s experience in World War 1. Donald Fraser is a Canadian Soldier who enlisted in the 31st Battalion and later transferred to the 6th Brigade machine gun company. He served from 1914-1917 when he was wounded in action and was evacuated out for good. He wrote his journal during the war, while he was still enlisted, which described in vivid detail his experiences in the trenches. Many of which illustrated the hardships and the brutality of the war. Fraser wrote his journal initially with the intent of personal remembrance, and not for public view. He talks about his trudge to the trenches and his time there, he talks about all of the units on either side of his battalion both in the trenches and on the attack, and he talks about his companions with him during the war. He discusses the fatigue duties of getting rations, wire parties, trench clean up and holds nothing back when he paints the picture of what the battlefields and trenches looked like after a battle.
World War 1 Pictures in the trenches
This video clip shows images of the trenches during World War 1. This video is able to portray actual conditions in the trenches which help bring Fraser's descriptions of the trenches to life.
The Battle the Somme depicting daily life in trenches
This video is of real footage of the battle of Somme, which was England's and France's first offensive in 1916. This video is able to show daily life out in the trenches.