History of Sexual Propaganda

Mind Hacks has alerted me to a fascinating webpage on the history of “Sex and Psychological Operations” in the military. The site was written by Herbert A. Friedman, a retired Sgt. Major in the US Army. It surveys a wide array of attempts to use sexually explicit text and images for propaganda purposes, usually directed at enemy soldiers, running from World War II up to the Vietnam war. Examples from a number of different countries are shown, including Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy, the USSR, Korea, Vietnam and the US.

The website is particularly notable for the large collection of rare illustrated ephemera on display.

About Christopher Green

Professor of Psychology at York University (Toronto). Former editor of the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. Creator of the "Classics in the History of Psychology" website and of the "This Week in the History of Psychology" podcast series.