Sexual Frustration and Fighting Spirit in the U S Army.

[ilkley remembers]

Something for the weekend?

 

Thought that forum menbers might enjoy this little gem which I came across...ahem...whilst looking for something entirely different.

 

Its taken from the journal of the History of Sexuality and reported here by the University of Cambridge

 

https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/usa-sexually-teased-troops-in-first-world-war-to-make-them-fight-harder?fbclid=IwAR2I6Ij4dPySuAlLZvNC-f5uabWcktZCGi55_Ak_Z7DAQORb0ZGHSvN3nac

[phil andrade]

So much for Monty’s insistence that soldiers should enjoy their “ horizontal refreshment “ then !

 

Actually, didn’t Julius Caesar opine - in his account of the Gallic War- that women were a weakening influence on his troops’ fighting prowess ?

 

On the other hand, the allure of seizing women for sexual gratification has been a feature of the spoils of war through the ages.

 

Boxers and other athletes advocate different views about sexual abstinence : some argue that indulgence enhances performance, others that it damages it.

 

Remember those old “ Rocky” films when the coach denied his charge contact with the ladies, with his slogan “ women weaken legs “ ?

Using unfulfilled sexual appetite as a means of enhancing martial aggression is a controversial thing to assess. 
 

How many of Leslie Thomas’s Virgin Soldiers would there have been, desperate to “get laid” before risking their lives ?  A deterrent to combat, rather than an incentive, I would think.

And how reconciled were the authorities to their young soldiers taking the matter into their own hands, so to speak?

 

Phil

[healdav]

1 minute ago, phil andrade said:

So much for Monty’s insistence that soldiers should enjoy their “ horizontal refreshment “ then !

 

Actually, didn’t Julius Caesar opine - in his account of the Gallic War- that women were a weakening influence on his troops’ fighting prowess ?

 

On the other hand, the allure of seizing women for sexual gratification has been a feature of the spoils of war through the ages.

 

Boxers and other athletes advocate different views about sexual abstinence : some argue that indulgence enhances performance, others that it damages it.

 

Remember those old “ Rocky” films when the coach denied his charge contact with the ladies, with his slogan “ women weaken legs “ ?

Using unfulfilled sexual appetite as a means of enhancing martial aggression is a controversial thing to assess. 
 

How many of Leslie Thomas’s Virgin Soldiers would there have been, desperate to “get laid” before risking their lives ?  A deterrent to combat, rather than an incentive, I would think.

And how reconciled were the authorities to their young soldiers taking the matter into their own hands, so to speak?

 

Phil

Stalin said, when complaints were made about Russian troops raping and pillaging as they went, "They have fought hard for 4 years. Now they can have some fun".

[phil andrade]

Interesting allusion in the original cited article to the US plan carefully excluding black soldiers from being exposed to this experiment , on the grounds of their alleged licentiousness and promiscuity.

 

Mangin, the French commander of Senegalese soldiers, took a contrary view, insisting that the black warriors must be allowed access to brothels which had thereto  been off limits to them.

 

Phil

1 minute ago, phil andrade said:

 

 

Edited 11 December , 2022 by phil andrade

[stevenbecker]

Mates,

Of caused another view was the high VD rates amoung Troops in certain areas (Aussies show Egypt and the UK, as high VD areas, but also France)

The enforcement of canteens for other things (bless the savo's) for soldiers to keep out of trouble.

Not to mention the other dug that we get into in pubs, also can lead us astray.

Of cause as a former soldier it was not unknown as a young man, to have a few drinks and head to the houses of ill reput

One, because of the girls, but also they also had so called free beer, to keep us there with the girls.

S.B

[phil andrade]

Something too easily forgotten about that terrible war, I suppose, is the enormously liberating influence that was unleashed on legions of young men who, hitherto, had lived very constrained lives consisting of poverty and  unremitting toil, under the sway of social and sometimes religious hierarchies.  Now they had money to spend, and encouragement to sample things that had not been readily available in their dreary pre war lives. For those who were spared the terrors of frontline service - and we need to remember how many served  in LOC and rear areas - the entertainments and distractions of estaminet and brothel were ever present and eminently affordable.

 

Phil

[nils d]

On 11/12/2022 at 09:58, phil andrade said:

So much for Monty’s insistence that soldiers should enjoy their “ horizontal refreshment “ then !

 

Actually, didn’t Julius Caesar opine - in his account of the Gallic War- that women were a weakening influence on his troops’ fighting prowess ?

 

On the other hand, the allure of seizing women for sexual gratification has been a feature of the spoils of war through the ages.

 

Boxers and other athletes advocate different views about sexual abstinence : some argue that indulgence enhances performance, others that it damages it.

 

Remember those old “ Rocky” films when the coach denied his charge contact with the ladies, with his slogan “ women weaken legs “ ?

Using unfulfilled sexual appetite as a means of enhancing martial aggression is a controversial thing to assess. 
 

How many of Leslie Thomas’s Virgin Soldiers would there have been, desperate to “get laid” before risking their lives ?  A deterrent to combat, rather than an incentive, I would think.

And how reconciled were the authorities to their young soldiers taking the matter into their own hands, so to speak?

 

Phil

Dear Phil ,     Trying to build a theory on sexual behaviour based on the examples of certain movies is a slippery slope my friend!

[stevenbecker]

 

So for every one answer there's always another question.

Happy New Year

S.B

Edited 31 December , 2022 by stevenbecker