Carleton University
Beneath the "Thin Veneer of Civilization": Evolution, Masculinity, and Race in the Early Twentieth Century United States
Abstract
dc:description.abstractBy the turn of the twentieth century, many Anglo-Saxon American men of a middle class background began to define their identities by appealing to evolutionary thought. Homo erectus nordicus, they believed, was the greatest physical and mental specimen among the races of the world. Yet this narrative of evolutionary greatness through a history of Spencerian struggle in the natural world, defined by popular and scientific literature, seemed at odds with modern civilization. Their grand narrative of natural history stressed the need to engage with nature to embrace one’s authentic identity as a man, in contrast to the degenerative influences of civilization—which had been compromised, they believed, by the unnatural, growing cultural authority of women and immigrants. I argue that these evolutionary narratives of white masculinity portrayed the white male body as powerful yet vulnerable to degeneracy, setting an alarmist agenda for reclaiming a conservative cultural identity for the nation.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Master's
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- History
- Grantor dc:publisher
- Carleton University
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2014
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Massie, Guy Joseph Edward
Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- Copyright © 2014 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.
- Language dc:language.iso
- en
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/32530