insideMAN

15 articles about men and war that will make you think again

by 3 Comments

Since we launched insideMAN in the Summer of 2014, the subject of men and war has been a theme we’ve touched upon on many occasions. As today marks the 100th anniversary of the the Battle of the Somme, we decided it would be a good opportunity to re-post a series of our articles about men and war.

1. Why Kitchener’s finger gives me the arsehole

Dan Bell’s insightful critique of the famous Lord Kitchener poster—Your Country Needs You—is one of our most popular posts, you can read it here.

2. Do I look like I’m ready for war

To help us think about the experience of teenage boys going to war, we asked a 17 year old Josh O’ Brien to give us his views on conscription, you can see his video here.

3. Gaza: Why does it concern us more when women and children die?

In July, Glen Poole asked: “if 80% of people killed in the Gaza airstrikes are male, why is no-one talking about gender”. You can read the article today here.

4. So why are men disposable?

In a follow up to our Gaza article, reader Darren Ball asked “why are men disposable”. To find out what he said read his article here.

5. Who wants to hear about the psychological damage that war does to men?

Mike Payne, who supports men living with the wounds of armed conflict, gave us a personal insight into the damage that war does to men. You can read what he shared with us here.

6. This is what war is still doing to young men (and why you don’t know about it) [GRAPHIC IMAGES]

Wounded soldiers are not allowed to speak to the press unless given permission by their chain of command. Find out what Dan Bell saw when he visited a military rehabilitation centre in this article here.

7. Why did so many men volunteer to fight in 1914

Historian Toby Thacker explains why so may young men volunteered to fight in World War 1. Read what he had to say about this here.

8. Yoga helps veterans with post  traumatic stress disorder

Flora Lisica of The Conversation reveals how researchers are finding that yoga is helping men affected by war to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder. You can find out more about this research in this article.

9. Do men start wars? 

If you’re trying to make sense of gender and war then try Glen Poole’s philosophical piece, Do men start wars?

10. Why are some young men drawn to terrorism

As we tried to make sense of why some young British men are drawn to violent terrorism, this article from David Plummer of Griffith University in Australia helped shape our thinking. You can read David’s article here.

11. He refused to fight: the bravery and brutality of being a conscientious objector 

Read about the “The White Feather Diaries” project that serialises the diaries of conscientious objectors who faced the shame of refusing to fight in World War 1 here.

12. How the local media shame male readers into fighting in WW1

As part of our ongoing conversation about the “shaming” of men into war, we take at look at the role that local newspapers played in this process in World War 1 in this article here.

13. Why does Sky’s comedy series Chickens think it’s funny to humiliate men who didn’t fight in WW1?

Another popular piece questioning our modern views on conscientious objection as depicted in Sky’s TV comedy “Chickens”, which you read about here.

14. 100 years after WW1 the UK still sends teenage boys to fight its wars 

In 1914 the official age for joining the army was 18, though boys as young as 12 were sent to war. Today the UK is the only country in the EU that recruits boys aged 16 as this article revealed. 

15. This Remembrance Day, remember men aren’t to blame for war

What do you remember on Remembrance Sunday? Glen Poole says he counts his blessing that he wasn’t born a man at a time of conscription. Find out why here.

YOU CAN SEE ALL OF OUR ARTICLES ON MEN AND WAR BY FOLLOWING THE MEN AND WAR TAG.

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  • paul parmenter

    I have read these articles and want to thank the writers for their collective research, insight and compassion. The subject of men and war is of course a huge one that will probably continue to be discussed and batted back and forth for many years to come. But for a good summary from the viewpoint of the sex that bears the brunt of war and violence, this collection takes some beating.

    I have always found it difficult to contain and deal with my emotion when I see pictures and read some of the descriptions of the horrors and the injustices inflicted on young men who have barely had a chance to know anything of life before they are pressed into putting their own in the way of severe harm and death. But two things give me hope that one day this wanton and heartless destruction will end: firstly recognition of the fact that men and boys are real people with feelings who should all start out on their roads with a basic right to life and happiness; and secondly that our desire for peaceful co-existence will eventually completely outweigh our urge to believe that reaching what we deem to be some form of “success” can only be achieved by the destruction of other men. Our first step on this long road is to recognise both of these hopes as true and desirable.

  • Groan

    I have to agree with Paul that this is an impressive and thought provoking collection. I think WW1 is particularly important because the popular narrative regards it largely as pointless. The very fact WW2 has a narrative as a “just war” gives it a different focus. I suspect we really would have a different society if it was the norm to believe men and boys have the same human rights to life and happiness as their sisters. I was dismayed to see a number of Eastern European nations re-introducing various forms conscription. Obviously in response to bellicosity from Russia. The really dismal bit is of course that reporting and discussion rarely point out that this is “slavery” or forced labour. Not least because international law specifically excludes the forced labour of men into the armed forces from its protections from forced labour and slavery. It is largely forgotten but the introduction of conscription in Britain (and later in the US) occasioned heated debate often about the fact it was an introduction in those cultures of force that was completely new and many regarded as unconstitutional.
    As another observation I noted that the recent programming around the Somme was one of the few times one hears discussion of “men” rather than “people” in the context of death and misery.
    If boys and men were simply regarded as having the same choices rights protections and responsibilities as their sisters we’d inhabit a very different world. What most commentators (except when reminded historians) said was that the men that died and were wounded were conscripted. Yet the truth is that the soldiers were “volunteers”. The Pal’s regiments and replenished regular army were not full of forced labour but men who believed that putting themselves in the way of harm was a good. As far as one can tell a belief largely shared by their women folk. The question is why will boys and men so willingly submit so far as to walk into hell, be it military or industrial?