When Cowboys Come Home: Veterans, Authenticity, and Manhood in Post-World War II America

When Cowboys Come Home: Veterans, Authenticity, and Manhood in Post-World War II America is a cultural and intellectual history of the 1950s that argues that World War II led to a breakdown of traditional markers of manhood and opened space for veterans to reimagine what masculinity could mean. One particularly important strand of thought, which influenced later anxieties over “other—direction” and “conformity,” argued that masculinity was not defined by traits like bravery, stoicism, and c...