Gregory Daddis's Pulp Vietnam: War and Gender in Cold War Men's Adventure Magazines is a fantastic book that delves into the creation, reinforcement, and perpetuation of “martial masculinity” in the Cold War and its impact on the U.S. war in Vietnam. Daddis defines martial masculinity as the idea that men must prove their manhood through military service, sexual conquests, and domination over minority populations. Men's adventure magazines, also known as “pulps,” were a prominent channel through which American males, both young and old, established and reinvigorated martial masculinity. Daddis argues that “men's adventure magazines from the post-World War II era crafted a particular version of martial masculinity that helped establish and then normalize GIs’ expectations and perceptions in Vietnam” (p. 5).
The pulps offered a haven for the disappearing ideals of martial masculinity in the early Cold War. When the masculine conception of war—based on stoicism, independence, and strength—declined in...