Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join the Navy
A smiling young woman in a Navy petty officer's jumper and cap says 'Gee!! I wish I were a man, I'd join the Navy,' above the line 'Be a man and do it.' The tell of transfer is the Christy Girl, a popular magazine type of American womanhood, wearing the uniform: her appeal is lent to the recruiting office, while the closing line turns enlistment into a test of manhood.
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy recruiting; Howard Chandler Christy (artist)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Gender and suffrage
- Event
- World War I
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved September 27, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain in the U.S. (published before 1931)
Christy, Howard Chandler, 1873-1952, artist. 1917. Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-40824.
Text on the object
GEE!! I WISH I WERE A MAN I'd JOIN The NAVY BE A MAN AND DO IT UNITED STATES NAVY RECRUITING STATION
The artist's cursive signature ('Howard Chandler Christy') beneath the figure is not transcribed as it is a signature, not printed prose.
