The Bay of the Thousand Girls 1916

Joseph Pennell’s drawing captures the interior of a factory, likely from the early 20th century, filled with women producing munitions. The women are arranged in rows, surrounded by stacks of artillery shells in various stages of completion. The image is filled with rows and stacks of phallic artillery shells, symbols of masculine aggression. Yet they are being produced by an army of women. These women seem to have replaced men, who are absent from the scene. The historical context gives these symbols more weight; the drawing may have been produced during a time when traditional gender roles were disrupted by war and societal upheaval. This echoes earlier myths and archetypes like the Amazons, all-female warriors who defied traditional gender roles. The image also taps into deep-seated psychological associations between creation and destruction, fertility and death. This cyclical progression shows that these symbols and motifs are not bound by time, but resurface and evolve with new meanings across different historical contexts.