“This cultural history offers a close, intelligent reading of WWII-era cartoons, comic strips, and posters featuring women and gender relations during and after the war. Historian Knaff assembled a treasure trove of graphic art from U.S. government civilian and military sources and two popular and influential magazines to show the profound ambivalence about women’s replacing men in factories and women’s ... Read moresupport services for different branches of the military. The author contrasts the iconic posters of Rosie the Riveter welcoming women into men’s jobs with the clearly ambivalent and at times hostile images of women in wartime cartoons and comic strips. Knaff’s history shows women encroaching on male turf, acting unfeminine and harming men. The cartoons highlight men’s fears that women will upend customary gender roles and use their sexuality in perverse and dangerous ways. Knaff argues that such notions in cartoon format provided psychological relief for the unusual and tumultuous circumstances of daily life during wartime. Summing up: Highly recommended.” - Choice Show Less