Analysis Of Gail Bederman's, Manliness And Civilization

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In Gail Bederman’s, Manliness & Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States 1880-1917, Bederman asserts, manhood, race, and gender are three cultural issues that are inseparable and have shaped our American and human history (4-5). Bederman supports her theory using the journalistic works of those effected, political giants using these social constructions for personal gain, and through pop culture during the period being analyzed. The 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois was a congress authorized, exhibition of the progress of civilization in the New World. Bederman paints a beautiful picture of the racial tension and segregation that is blatantly flaunted. The Columbian Expo was divided …show more content…

The white middle class belief in the black rapist, developed from the Victorian ideal of the sinful sexual desires of men and the ideal of the naturally pure woman (48). Because of the popular belief of black men being severely uncivilized or even savage in comparison to the white men, any and all hinkerings of a black mans desires being thrust onto a white woman could result in that man being lynched on the spot. This social injustice lead Wells to travel to England to publicize this American practice, where she agitated against such terroristic racial violence in the United States (45). In doing this she challenged the white mans moral code, a code that has still yet to fully be broken …show more content…

Again, this theory of nature and nurture is coming into play. Tarzan being orphaned at a young age due to his parents death, left him vulnerable in the jungle of Africa, until a female ape adopts him as her own. He is then socialized as an ape and brought up in all the manly customs of an ape. Alternatively, Tarzan is the product of two white parents and has superior blood running through his veins as displayed by his cousin Mr. William C. Clayton (226). Tarzan fantasizes the balance of Tarzans nature and nurture. His manly control over the primal sexual desires captivated American culture (233). The harmony between Tarzans two components of identity was the epitome of ideological masculinity and became a model for men in the following century. Bederman’s, Manliness and Civilization, discussed the battle between manhood, race, and gender as inseparable social constructs. Bederman successfully argued these links through the history of the United States. A social hierarchy between the constructs proved violent and to stain the American appearance; breeding and natural selection was encouraged for the white Americans to create a more perfect race; popular culture took a gander at creating the perfect masculine

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