Sex, Soldiers and the South Pacific, 1939-45: Queer Identities in Australia in the Second World War

(Hardback, 1st ed. 2015)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Sex, Soldiers and the South Pacific, 1939-45 explores the queer dynamics of war across Australia and forward bases in the south seas. It examines relationships involving Allied servicemen, civilians and between the legal and medical fraternities that sought to regulate and contain expressions of homosex in and out of the forces.

Reviews

Smaals monograph fulfills the aims of the Palgrave Macmillan series, Genders and Sexualities in History to accommodate and foster new approaches to historical studies in the field of genders and sexualities and to focus on interconnected themes of genders, sexualities, religions/religiosity, civil society, class formations, politics and war . read his book, engage with the characters and ideas. You wont be disappointed. (Diane Bell, Honest History, honesthistory.net.au, March, 2016)

The study appears in a series on Genders and Sexualities in History and one of its strengths is its subtle treatment of this relationship. Smaal establishes the significance of gender performance in homosex during the 1940s. This book is a valuable addition to the international literature on queer sexualities. Smaal has produced an exemplary work of social, sexual, and gender history that also contributes to our understanding of the relationship of war and society. (Frank Bongiorno, Social History, Vol. 41 (2), March, 2016)

The book is a great work and interesting for sexologists, ethnologists, and historians. A comprehensive literature list and index make it round. (Florian Georg Mildenberger, Sexuality and Culture, Vol. 20, 2016)

Author Bio

Yorick Smaal is ARC DECRA Research Fellow at Griffith University, Australia. He is an Australian social historian with particular interests in sex and gender, war and society, and law and criminal justice.