The recreation of the warrior: The transformation of the Francoist veterans’ masculinity (1939-1965)

Abstract

The establishment of the Franco regime entailed the consolidation of a set of ultra-conservative, Catholic, and fascist gender roles, as well as masculinity ideals. However, Francoist masculinity has been largely neglected by historians. This article examines the historical evolution of Francoist war veterans as a manly archetype. The article argues that this ideal of masculinity was hegemonic during most part of the dictatorship. By analysing journalistic, literary and filmic sources, and by observing the intimate and familiar dimension of the lives of men who fought and won the Spanish Civil War, the article explains the implications and transformations of such manly ideal, which drew on the driving notion of the “recreation of the warrior”. A mythical conception of the man as a war-experienced individual preserved its hegemony by fusing with other masculinity models, thus becoming a key factor to sustain social and familiar order and gender relations in Spanish society until the mid-1960s.