The article titled, “Imperialism: The Masterful Duty of the Manly Race, written by Gail Bederman is informative and insightful because the author explores the connection between manhood and race between 1880-1917. It contends that, as white collar class men effectively attempted to fortify male power, their race turned into a factor which was essential to their sexual orientation. I believe whiteness was both a tangible certainty and a masculinity perfect for these men. My main idea on this article is that is identifies very well the relationship among manliness and race.
The author argues that race, sex, and power were the characterizing qualities of the talk of human progress. She additionally argues that race and sexual orientation can't
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I believe Roosevelt had the wrong idea about government being only for man, and our progressed society demonstrates it. In recent days, we see women contributing to the U.S. government and becoming important and successful women. For example, we have Hillary Clinton who served as a U.S. Secretary of State or Dilma Rousseff who served as the President of Brazil, and these are only two examples of successful women who are participating in politics. Also, according to Roosevelt he states, “Both Indians on the Great Plains and the Tagalogs in the Philippines-would be far happier after the white man had conquered them.” This is an ideal of superiority, in other words Roosevelt is saying “because they aren't American they are dumb and die and so when white men conquer them they are actually happy,” which is not true. Every race has their own survival skills and tactics and should not be compared because they are very different. Also, there should not be a sense of superiority because we are all the same, so I disagree with this idea Roosevelt presents. Moreover, the author does reach their intended goal which is to state the connection between manhood and race in 1890-1917. The article is well-written, understandable, clear, and well researched. I understood the connection at the first reading which demonstrates the author's writing was clear and understandable. Also, she quoted very well from Roosevelt and Kipling which demonstrates that her article is well
...usion that race is deployed "in the construction of power relations."* Indeed a "metalanguage" of race, to use Higginbotham's term, was employed by colonial powers to define black women as separate from English women, and that process is deconstructed in Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, Anxious Patriarchs. However, Brown's analysis rests mainly on the shifting English concepts of gender and race imposed on colonial society by the white elite, becoming at times a metalanguage of colonial gender. Nonetheless, Brown's analysis of overlapping social constructions is instructive for understanding the ways gender and race can be manipulated to buttress dominant hierarchies.
Male supremacy was a hallmark of western society during the late nineteenth and twentieth century. For much of the Victorian Era, intellectual progress was dedicated towards the justification of the white man’s supremacy. Evolution, imperialism, and social hierarchy were all examined under the lens of already existing societal norms. While revolutionary in its concept, Charles Darwin’s explanation of evolution and the dichotomy of the sexes fit within the overarching notions on man in British Empire. With his scientific justifications in Descent of Man, Charles Darwin seeks to reinforce the dogma of male superiority. With the dawn of the twentieth century, boundaries weakened and women began to gain influence among intellectual circles. This
“I tried to demonstrate how both the cross cultural literature and the history of African American women gave the lie to the nation that gender inequality can be attributed to biological differences” (Mullings, page xvii)
In D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation the interactions between black and white characters represent Griffith’s view of an appropriate racial construct in America. His ideological construction is white dominance and black subordination. Characters, such as the southern Cameron’s and their house maid, who interact within these boundaries, are portrayed as decent people. Whereas characters who cross the line of racial oppression; such as Austin Stoneman, Gus and Silas Lynch, are portrayed as bad. Both Lynch and Lydia Brown, the mulatto characters, are cast in a very negative light because they confuse the ideological construct the most. The mixing of races puts blacks and whites on a common ground, which, in Griffith’s view, is a big step in the wrong direction. Griffith portrays how the relationship between blacks and whites can be good only if the color line and positions of dominance and subordination are maintained. Through the mulatto characters he illustrates the danger that blurring the color line poses to American society.
It has defined “manhood” in terms of it’s own interest and “femininity” likewise” (Beale, 146). Because gender roles in American society are so skewed it is viewed with negative connotation if the women is “dominant” in a relationship. Men should, in the eyes of society, be more powerful than the woman. Moynihan connects the lack of dominance in the black male with economic and educational downfall.
Over the past weeks we have learned a lot of new things. I learned about different races, ethnicities, and cultures. The world would not be the same if everyone was the same race and it is a great thing to learn about everyone and where they are from, and where they have come from. Everyone is different in their own way and it is our duty to accept everyone as a whole. I am going to talk about the social construct of race today, some of our readings, and a lot of our discussions that are always fun.
After analyzing the primary articles, this author read the closing argument of Hoganson’s arguments. This author continues to agree with Hoganson’s claim and evidence that the annexation of the Philippines was an answer to the degradation of masculinity. It is clear there is a direct appeal to a need for masculinity, but in many other factors to annex the Philippines, masculinity is displayed. The need to show the world the masculine qualities of American men had a large role in the actions in annexing the Philippines. If America did not annex, another country would take over that land and leave Americans with a weak name. The gender concerns were of high value because they had roots in many other factors to ultimately make the decision America
In Gail Bederman’s Manliness and Civilization, she aims to describe the concepts of manliness and masculinity at the turn of the century. Bederman explains that the concept of what it means to be a man is ever changing as a result of the ideology of the time as well as the material actions of the men. During the Progressive Era, many forces were at work that put pressure on the supremacy of white, middle class men. Some of these forces included the growing move toward empowered women, the unionization of the working class, and the move from self-employment to big, corporate business. She delves into the way that both racism and sexism were used to build up the concept of masculinity and the turn of the century discourse on civilization.
his Essay will analyse, introduce, and discuss the terms Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized femininity, if it still applies in modern times and the use of these concepts to comprehend the role of the man and female in Eastern Asia, in relation to post-war Japan. In order to present a clear and linear argument I will divide this essay into three parts: In the first part I will define the term hegemonic masculinity, the common traits and the influence that it has in society; the essay will continue then in explaining and outlining the term emphasized femininity. The second part will analyse the impact of the notions of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity in relation to post war Japan has. The last part will briefly identify some
In the Women’s Rights Convention of 1851, Truth repeatedly equates her worth to that of a man by her physical and intellectual abilities. Some of Truth’s statements at this convention include: “I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I can carry as much as any mean, and I can eat as much too”. These statements highlight the fact that women were thought to have less physical and intellectual ability than men, and as such were afforded fewer rights. By recurrently equating herself to men in all of these arenas, Truth displayed the commonalities between men and women. Furthermore, Truth’s views came from the stance of a former African American slave, who were not. In this speech, Truth paralleled herself, a black woman, to have the same abilities as a white man, thereby attempting to change her audience’s view of the current existing American capitalist patriarchal structure that put white men at the top and women of color at the bottom of the
There were two different time periods where Imperialism occurred. The first wave of imperialism, called the 'Old' Imperialism, lasted from around 1500 - 1800. The 'New' Imperialism lasted from around 1870 - 1914. The three main differences that we will discuss today are the differences in economics, politics, and the motive behind all of this.
Manhood had not always existed; it was created through culture. Depending on the era, masculinity claimed a different meaning. But in all of its wandering definitions, it consistently contains opposition to a set of “others,” meaning racial and sexual minorities. (pp.45) One of the first definitions was the Marketplace Man, where capitalism revolved around his success in power, wealth, and status. A man devoted himself to his work and family came second. Although this is one of the first standing definitions, it still finds its spot in today’s definition, where masculinity consists of having a high paying job, an attractive young wife, and
Adrienne Rich attacks heterosexuality as “a political institution which disempowers women” in her 1980 essay Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (Rich 23). What most see as a traditional way of life, Rich views as a societal mandate that serves as “a beachhead of male dominance,” (Rich 28). For a woman in Virginia Woolf’s time, “the one profession that was open to her [was] marriage,” and though females entered the public sphere as the 20th century progressed, “single women…are still viewed as deviant” and somewhat ostracized (Woolf 25 and Rich 30). Compulsory heterosexuality, Rich argues, is one of many institutions that historically and currently have allowed men to maintain a dominant societal position, and this institution, although seemingly unrelated, is fundamentally parallel to American slavery, which was even more compulsory for Africans than heterosexuality is to women. These institutions are strongly linked when considered with Césaire’s Discourse on Colonialism, which examines colonialism as “relations of domination and submission which turn the colonizing man into a classroom monitor, an army sergeant, a prison guard, a slave driver, and the indigenous man into an instrument of production,” (Césaire 42). His primary concern with colonization, the method by which a relationship of colonialism is established, is not the physical presence of colonists trespassing on land that doesn’t belong to them. Rather, he deplores colonialism because the relationship between oppressor and oppressed has negative consequences for both parties. “Colonization works to decivilize the colonizer,” who is acting towards a self-serving, profit-driven goal and “not [as] a philanthropic enterprise,...
Reflecting directly on the cultural attitudes and sociocultural messages explained throughout this course, it is clear that race, gender, and sexuality are all socially constructed in one way or another. Contrary to popular belief, race is actually almost completely socially constructed, it is not biological. Further, a human’s DNA does not differentiate at all to create any specific race. However, society has categorized certain things, such as skin color, to determine the race of individuals. In simpler terms, there are not specific genes that parents pass on to their offspring that determine their race; society categorizes people into specific races when they are born based on their
History shows that men have always been the head of our society. There are more woman who are receiving their education now than ever before. They are having the opportunity to become lawyers, doctors, engineers. However, the gender gap in wages are still about the same. Men are still making more money than women performing the same job. In the workplace Non-Hispanic whites still dominate the management positions. African Americans are still at a lower management position. Also in Chapter 13 it explains that men who are white males with a criminal history are able to be employed more than an African American man without a criminal history. In chapter 13 is states that " White children and Black children received different and unequal experiences