Chapter 1 - Macho Pulp and the American Cold War Man

Summary

It seemed that men faced two threats in the post-World War II era: one from global communism with its tentacles spreading into US society and the other from postwar consumerism which inspired fears of losing one’s masculinity in a cold, corporate world. The contours of these Cold War anxieties were expressed clearly in adventure magazines. Working-class readers confronted changing sexual norms, fears of being left behind as the US economy grew, and, it appeared, the boredom of suburban life. Thus, the magazines sold images of a “new American man,” one that was muscular, sexually aware, and able to overcome his working-class limits by following through on advertisements that promised easy money. Still, a sense of deep anxiety pervaded these magazine stories – and, arguably, Cold War America as a whole. The “Red” menace was cultivating unseen enemies capable of invading the body politic, even the US military according to some accounts. Fears of nuclear Armageddon were just as prevalent. And, just as importantly, men’s magazines painted a dark picture of a sexual menace being unleashed by postwar American society. Thus, these wide-ranging fears appeared to leave many American men in an uneasy state despite the victory of World War II.