WOLF‑WOMEN and PHANTOM LADIES 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 1 2/5/15 11:19 AM SUNY series in Feminist Criticism and Theory —————— Michelle A. Massé, editor 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 2 2/5/15 11:19 AM WOLF‑WOMEN and PHANTOM LADIES Female Desire in 1940s US Culture STEVEN DILLON 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 3 2/5/15 11:19 AM Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2015 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production, Eileen Nizer Marketing, Anne M. Valentine Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Dillon, Steven, 1960– Wolf-Women and Phantom Ladies : Female Desire in 1940s US Culture / Steven Dillon. pages cm. — (SUNY series in Feminist Criticism and Theory) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-5579-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-5581-5 (e-book) 1. American literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Women in lit- erature. 3. Desire in literature. 4. Women in popular culture. 5. Women—Sexual behavior—Psychological aspects. I. Title. PS173.W6D55 2015 810.9'352042—dc23 2014020287 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 4 2/5/15 11:19 AM To the Bangor Public Library 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 5 1/26/15 3:40 PM 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 6 1/26/15 3:40 PM Contents Acknowledgments ix 1. Introduction: Sexual Visibility, or, The Duel in the Sun 1 2. Diana Trilling, Female Desire, and the Study of Popular Culture 19 3. The Waiting Room: Female Desire in Women’s Wartime Fiction 45 4. He-Wolves and She-Wolves: From Tex Avery to Jackson Pollock 71 5. Phantom Ladies: On the Radio and Out of the Closet 105 6. White Female Desire Wearing the Masks of Color 139 7. What Young Women Want: From High School to College 177 8. The Power and the Horror: Male and Female Cultural Spaces 207 Conclusion. Two Phantom Women: Ruth Herschberger and Elizabeth Hawes 241 Notes 251 Selected Bibliography 301 Index 315 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 7 1/26/15 3:40 PM 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 8 1/26/15 3:40 PM Acknowledgments The digital universe has greatly aided my research. Cartoons, educational films, B-movies, and popular songs that would have been hard to track down ten years ago can often be found on YouTube. Google’s archived newspapers and magazines supplied numerous key examples. A spec- tacularly useful source for all things 1940s, the Internet Archive (www. archive.org) helped especially with radio programs and radio magazines. J. David Goldin’s RadioGoldindex (radiogoldindex.com), although necessar- ily incomplete, provides an extremely helpful searchable archive. My com- plete run of Tiger Girl in Fight Comics came from The Digital Comic Museum (digitalcomicmuseum.com); thanks very much! Of course the world has not yet been completely digitized. Many of my 1940s magazines were purchased at a local antiques shop, Little Orphan Annie’s, from Dan Poulin, who gave me a square deal each and every time. As far as source material goes, my greatest debt is to the Bangor Public Library, who sent Bates College hundreds of items from their enormous collection of 1940s popular books. No other Maine library—academic or otherwise—comes close to this collection, and I’m not sure how I would have completed this study without their willingness both to keep these books and then to send them out. Thanks very much to the SUNY Press readers, who gave of their time to read a long manuscript and whose excellent suggestions I have incorporated. I have also benefitted from editorial advice offered by Beth Bouloukos. Over the years I have received needed encouragement from Kathy Williamson and Liz Dillon. ix 34122_SP_DILL_FM_00i-00x.indd 9 1/26/15 3:40 PM