What is manliness? Is it a trait only men possess? Do all men "naturally" have it? all military men? Can women be manly?

[S]peaking of gender does not mean speaking only of women. As a critical term "gender" invokes women only insofar as in its absence they are essentially invisible. And it brings them up not only for their own interest but to signal the sexed nature of men as well, and beyond that the way the sexed nature of both women and men is not natural but cultural. (Critical Terms for Literary Study 44)

What does it mean to say "the sexed nature of both women and men is not natural but cultural?" How do images and texts from the Civil War reflect this understanding? What happens to women who have performed men's roles when the war ends? These are some of the questions you might think about while looking at some Civil War era photographs and images, as well as some texts by Walt Whitman and by Louisa May Alcott.