The Introverted Detective

Spies were in every war. Espionage was how you got information about the next enemy attack and their strategy, as well as who was in charge of what and anything else that made a difference in the war. Knitting Stitches were a way of sending coded messages. When it came to WWI and II this meant hiring women to be 'code girls'. These women would go home and tell their folks they pushed pencils and were personal secretaries, when they were actually breaking codes for the military. WACs and WAAVs were hired to do this, though WAAVs got cooler uniforms and more perks. This wasn't the only espionage that went into these wars. Men and women were both spies, through code-breaking and undercover work. Today I'm here to tell you all about them. WWI Mata Hari Exotic dancer Mata Hari did strip teasing and was shot for spying for the Germans. She was Dutch, but claimed to be raised as an Indian temple dancer. She performed under the name Lady Gresha MacLeod, ...

The Civil War, two sides fighting each other over the issue of slavery. This war was filled with female spies. Who else could get closer to a general or an officer than a 'harmless' woman? There were dresses that held secrets in their underskirts and women wouldn't be frisked. It was genius! In the Civil War women weren't equal to men, according to society, so women could get real, real close to diplomats, politicians, officers, and leaders in the community and pass on what they overheard to the side they actually supported. A little charm, some romance here and there, maybe some listening at doors, and you already have a lot of information at your fingertips. As for messages being hidden, try hiding a message in your hair or underskirts. Most men are not going to frisk a young or aged woman. Women spies were caught, in some cases, but by then the other side had gotten quite a bit of information if the spy was smart. Some got messages out despite house arrest. ...

In a previous blog post, I talked about propaganda toward women. Today is propaganda directed toward men. Propaganda is political, biased information put out to influence the public through any media source possible, sometimes subtle in nature and other times extremely obvious. The Disney Cartoon Private Snafu  - WWII era propaganda from Warner Brothers I'm starting from the Civil war and ending on today's propaganda, because believe me, propaganda is still out there. It just isn't as obvious as the 1950s carpooling posters and offensive appliance ads. I'd encourage all of you out there to analyze the messages in your daily dose of media to see what comes up over and over again. You might be surprised. Civil War proslavery propaganda The civil war, as most know, was within one country over the issue of slavery. Most of the propaganda was in the form of songs, songs that sang that real men went off to fight. Some propaganda toward men was in the newspap...

Every war came with propaganda, and most wars told men and women different messages. Today's post is all about what women were told from the civil war up until now. Next week is going to be what men were told up until now. WWII propaganda for carpooling and saving gas What is propaganda? Propaganda is promoting a political point of view through the use of posters, movies, and any other media source possible. It is usually biased and probably not reliable information. Now that we all know what propaganda is, let's dive in. Civil War The civil war was one country fighting itself over the issue of slavery. There were two sides, Confederate and Union (South vs. North). The South was for slavery and the North was not. It divided families and brothers fought brothers.  We think about propaganda for WWI and WWII, but why not dig into propaganda during this war? Every war had it and used it to rally support for their side. In this case, it began long before the fig...