Sex and war at the army museum

The Invalides military complex is a pretty fusty place. The armies museum, which occupies much of it, contains the usual assortment of captured Ottoman helmets, arrangements of 18th century rifles, and endless rows of model soldiers in uniform. What a surprise and joy then to visit its new exhibition: "Loves, Wars and Sexuality 1914 - 1945". This is a fascinating exploration into an important topoic: the close links between sex and war, as experienced in the two world wars. For anyone worried about bringing children, have no fear. There is very little that is explicit. I was surprised to find out that of what we would recognise today as pornography there was very little, even in World War II. Instead soldiers exorcised their lust on magazine pin-ups, or created their own fantasies. One exhibit shows the inside of a German bunker on the French coast, where a love-lorn soldier drew an image of an ecstatic young beauty in a shower. We see how governments used images of sexuality to whoop up war fever; the pain of separation between couples; the tenderness between same-sex couples in POW and concentration camps. And we also see how wartime governments controlled sex. Mishandled, it could lead to venereal disease and spy scandals. Handled carefully it created obedience. We see the official bordellos set up by the German and French authorities, as well as the VD check-ups and packets of US army issue condoms. But of course -- at the very end of the exhibition -- there is the theme that underlies everything that comes before: sex and violence. Rape. The curators I think handle this very sensitively. There is no avoiding it, because of course rape existed in the world wars as it has existed since time immemorial. What they do is show a small collection of black and white snapshots, images of a rape found on a German POW by the Russians. They are the only actual depiction of the sex act in the exhibition, and they are utterly devastating.