Title:

Sex Exposure without Prophylaxis

Creator:

United States. Army Air Forces. Training Command

Date:

1944

Description:

Recognizing the limits of sex and moral education in generating self-restraint in soldiers, medical officers during the Second World War more openly promoted prophylaxis in the form of both condom distribution and chemical treatment for potential exposure to venereal disease. While critics suggested that anti-venereal disease campaigns should emphasize proper sexual behavior, this poster from the Army Air Forces Training Command in 1944 indicates an official understanding that within the wartime military most men would seek and find sex during their tenures. As a result, the armed forces established an efficient and practical program for treatment following possible exposure. This poster also uses a common strategy of equating venereal disease with helping the enemy, in this case suggesting that the failure to seek prophylaxis after sex was essentially a "pro-axis" decision to help the alliance between Japan, Italy, and Germany.

Publisher:

United States. Army Air Forces. Training Command

Original Repository:

The History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Posters
Slides (photographs)

Subject:

Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Public Health

Format:

Still Image

Extent:

1 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Original Repository. History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection. 11611. Free Text. This image may also be accessed from the Images from the History of Medicine (IHM).. URL. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/ihm/. IHM Order Number. A012003

Legacy ID:

VCBBBY

NLM ID:

101584655X19

Profiles Collection:

Visual Culture and Health Posters

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584655X19

Story Section:

Infectious Disease