Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Andrews, Anthony P.

Keywords

Victorian America, Masculinity, Historical Archaeology, Gender Studies

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

In addition to precipitating the rapid expansion and early settlement of a large new territory, the California gold rush facilitated an introduction of complex mandates for proper gendered behavior to the American West. Theories of masculinity within the social sciences have only been developed in recent decades. In specific regards to anthropology, a reexamination of the male role slowly began in the 1980s, as a result of feminist scholarship a decade earlier. Within historical archaeology, the affect of "separate spheres" and cults of domesticity upon nineteenth-century women have been well-documented � meanwhile, the comparative freedom of men's public identity has only been explicitly addressed by a handful of scholars. Instead of viewing this discourse as "men's turn," it instead aims to reconsider men through a gendered lens. Unlike women and other marginalized groups, heterosexual men of Western societies have been historically dominant in the archaeological record, yet their position in various societies has been largely assumed. As anthropological scholarship has redefined the role of women in revolutionary ways, so must issues concerning men, masculinity, manhood, and manliness be likewise considered. This thesis will explore the establishment of Victorianism in the American West, and will examine the influence of consumerism and material expression through an alternate perspective on masculine identities.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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