Men Making Home: Masculinity and Domesticity in Eighteenth‐Century Britain

Harvey, K. L.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0424.2009.01569.x

Cited by 24 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…34 The eighteenth-century male body was situated within the discourse of 'good oeconomy', uniting the management of household, economy, morality and body. 35 Gail Kern Paster's argument that power was inscribed on lowerclass and female bodies through shame about bodily functions (menstruation, lactation, urination and defecation) suggests the importance of this bodily management. 36 The distrust attached to the leaks of the female body was applied to upper-class men's flows during the eighteenth century, but with a caveat: men could control themselves.…”

Section: Humoral and Haemorrhoidal Bodies: Balanced Or Embarrassed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Body Embarrassed? Rethinking the Leaky Male Body in Eighteenth-Century England and France

Smith

2011

Gender &Amp; History

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In 1701, William Musgrave described the case of a man who, every month at the full moon from his infancy until the age of twenty-four, had a periodical evacuation of blood from his thumb. The man's health remained unaffected, but he became 'uneasie' about the 'troublesome flow' and seared his thumb with hot iron. Subsequently, his health worsened and he experienced general debility, colic and the coughing up of blood. Musgrave concluded that monthly bleeding in a man was similar to women's menses, being nature's way of keeping bodies balanced. 1 The case confounds modern expectations of bodies, but early modern ideas about humoralism and vicarious menstruation (menstrual blood seeking alternative pathways) meant that menstrual-like flows were perceivable in men. 2 Yet, the parallel with menstruation was not clear-cut. First, the patient's bleeding -from a thumb -started during his infancy. Second, the patient's desire to stop his bleeding suggests that Musgrave and his patient viewed it differently. By framing men's flows in terms of menstruation, historians have missed their contemporary ambiguities.Drawing on eighteenth-century medical consultation letters and medical literature, this article examines male bleeding within the context of men's health, considering how manly bodies were constructed and contested in England and France (c.1700-80). A declining medical belief in 'male menstruation' throughout the century was not just a rejection of its possibility, but related to the growing pathologisation of specific leaks (haemorrhoidal, urinal and seminal) in men. The discourse, shaped by age, class and culture, emphasised the importance of men's bodily control: unlike women, men could -and should -regulate their flowing bodies. Since the ability to control one's body and mind was at the core of health and manhood during the eighteenth century, leaky male bodies were, on the whole, undesirable. Uncontrolled flows indicated an inability to govern one's health and manhood; a normal masculine body could only be established by retraining the sufferer's body and mind. Contextualising male menstruationEarly modernists interested in menstruation have focused on anachronistic concerns about sex difference.

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Section: Humoral and Haemorrhoidal Bodies: Balanced Or Embarrassed?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Body Embarrassed? Rethinking the Leaky Male Body in Eighteenth-Century England and France

Smith

2011

Gender &Amp; History

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“…Several scholars give attention to aspects of domesticity. Harvey examines the interaction between masculinity and domesticity. She argues that the home and the outside world were brought together in male understanding through models of ‘oeconomy’.…”

Section: (Iv) 1700–1850 Anne L Murphy University Of Hertfordshirementioning

confidence: 99%

Review of periodical literature published in 2009

Faith

Schofield²,

Healey

et al. 2010

The Economic History Review

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“…The white silk stocking, tight fitting and flattering, acted as a beacon, focusing the eye on the well-shaped limb. 19 The value men placed upon the display of their legs was not limited geographically to the Colonies, as is articulated by the portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, Robert Craggs Nugent of 1761, painted in his Bath studio (Fig. 3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulled Tight and Gleaming: The Stocking’s Position within Eighteenth-Century Masculinity

Gernerd¹

2015

Textile History

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This article examines the cultural significance of the stocking as an essential accessory of an eighteenth-century man's attire. Rooted in a material understanding of the stocking through extant garments and archival accounts, this discussion broadens to consider the stocking as a form of cultural currency that spanned visual and popular culture in the eighteenth century. An analysis of the stocking's visual representation in painted portraiture and graphic satire reveals how it acted as a barometer for British masculinity and subsequently as a visual indicator for the health of the nation, which directly correlated with the stocking's position and pattern of wear on the leg.The origin of knit-hose reaches back to the first half of the sixteenth century and by the end of the seventeenth century the knit stocking, or 'nether sock', was an established piece of a man's wardrobe. 6 Although the stocking changed stylistically in colour, pattern and technique, the basic shape remained consistent. 7 The stocking was knit to encase the shape of the foot, ankle and calf, hugging the leg. At the anklebone, an inserted section, called a clock, appeared in the 1670s, often embroidered and in a contrasting colour. To complete the casing, the bottom of the foot was pieced in as a separate section.This article proposes to step away from the industrial and even stylistic evolution of the stocking, to probe instead how such a small and relatively inexpensive item of a man's attire would become the article by which both his character and subsequently the character of the nation were measured. 8 In addition to acting as a barometer of an individual's masculinity, particularly of the élite, the stocking was a visible articulation of the health of Britain's dominant sex, on whose legs the nation and empire stood. Furthermore, expanding the geographic boundaries of this article beyond Britain to include colonial America allows for the inclusion of additional evidence, and also recognises Julie Flavell's argument that the Atlantic Ocean was 'a highway rather than a barrier'. 9 Sartorially, Anglo-American customs and practice were primarily an extension of British modes and contributed toward the formation of a British identity, as well as an American one. 10 The stocking thus became a necessity of both British and colonial men.Opening with the stocking in its idealised form as portrayed in painted portraiture, this article will approach the stocking as a medium of cultural currency that transcended the class and geographical barriers of British society and crossed material, visual and textual culture. Broadening from the painted ideal, an examination of extant garments and archival accounts will reveal the varied palette of the stockings men actually wore, adaptable to circumstance and personal expression. Tracing the stocking from its upright and archetypal representation in eighteenth-century portraiture through its material lifecycle to its decline down the leg in graphic satire, this discussion aims to expose the historical weight...

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Men Making Home: Masculinity and Domesticity in Eighteenth‐Century Britain

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

The Body Embarrassed? Rethinking the Leaky Male Body in Eighteenth-Century England and France

The Body Embarrassed? Rethinking the Leaky Male Body in Eighteenth-Century England and France

Review of periodical literature published in 2009

Pulled Tight and Gleaming: The Stocking’s Position within Eighteenth-Century Masculinity

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