Within the field of the history of technology, much has been written about the so-called "prosthesis boom" of the First World War. Most of these studies claim that the main motive of the mass supply of artificial limbs to amputee soldiers was primarily aimed at restoring the work force. However, because these studies often lack a gender perspective, it stays unmentioned to what extent this also served to reconstruct a hegemonic masculinity that had become fragile, if not destroyed by the consequences of the war. Especially genital injuries-prevalent during World War I and II as well as today-and their treatment and rehabilitation were (and still are) often largely taboo. Because of this silence, there have been no comprehensive studies or artifact collections on the cultural and technical history of male genital prosthetics. By presenting different examples of potential artifacts for such a history, the article suggests an object-based approach to fill this academic void. These thoughts are based on the assumption of a "doing gender through technology", hence that gender and sex are constantly constructed and modeled through (medical) technological practices.
Keywords: Doing gender; Genital prosthetics; Masculinity; Prostheses; World War I.