ABSTRACT
During the First World War, men in the belligerent nations were under extreme pressure to prove their individual masculinity by adhering to codes of honour that emphasised men’s capacity for courage, chivalry, loyalty, and fairness. The nationalisation of honour at the turn of the twentieth century meant that they were also under duress to demonstrate the collective honour of their respective nations. In the pre-war years, anti-feminists attempted to shame feminists for threatening to corrupt the masculine nature of honour codes as they demanded entry into the traditionally male world of politics. This attempted incursion into masculine realms was disgraceful. The duplicitous nature of continued feminist agitation during the war—at a time when manhood was experiencing its ultimate test—was deemed even more reprehensible. This chapter examines how British anti-suffragists attempted to expose the shame of wartime feminists—including dishonest battlefield nurses and would-be women soldiers—to oppose what they believed was their sustained attack on masculine honour codes. It also examines paradoxical claims emanating from Irish feminists that British feminists were dishonourable, not because they betrayed the political truce, but because they obeyed it, thereby proving that they prioritised nationalist male militarism over transnational feminist militancy.
