Gendering the Great Depression: rethinking the male body in 1930s American culture and literature

Armengol, Josep M.

doi:10.1080/09589236.2012.750237

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Previous work on the Depression in American life has focused on the manner in which American men, in particular, experienced a crisis of confidence with the capitalist system and man's place within it (Armengol, 2014). Felt particularly strongly among white populations, a point discussed by Stephen Meyer (2016), the Depression and economic climate of the 1930s encouraged a partial rethinking of white American masculinity.…”

Section: Building Husky Menmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building husky men: Strenuous masculinity in post-depression America

Heffernan

2021

European Journal of American Culture

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Examining American fitness entrepreneurs from the 1930s, this article examines efforts to reform young, and white, masculine identities through new bodybuilding systems. Centred on Mark Berry, Bob Hoffman and Charles Atlas, three of the decade’s most successful entrepreneurs, the article examines the communities, methods and discourses used to attract customers and create a highly specified form of self-fashioning. In doing so, the article highlights the masculine communities and multiplicities of masculinities operating during this decade for American weight trainers. Importantly all three entrepreneurs focused on a very specific kind of American body, and stemming from this, American masculinity. For Berry, ‘husky’ men came to represent men of physical, moral and mental standing. The ability to withstand pain in exercise, to engage in strenuous activity and gain bodyweight was presented as a metric of one’s success in the world. Likewise, Bob Hoffman focused on the ‘weight lifter’, said to be an ambitious young man capable of succeeding in multiple terrains. Finally, there was Charles Atlas, who made ‘he men’ using his system of dynamic tension. In highlighting the lengths young, white, often affluent, American men went to in order to achieve these identities, the article contributes to the growing interest in American masculinities and the fitness systems they used during times of considerable upheaval.

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Section: Building Husky Menmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building husky men: Strenuous masculinity in post-depression America

Heffernan

2021

European Journal of American Culture

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“…The Great Depression seriously threatened American masculinity. In the late 1920s, the ideal of the self-made, economically successful man, who was the household head and breadwinner very much characterized male self-identity (Armengol 2014; Kimmel 1996). Then, the stock market crashed in late October 1929, businesses failed, banks closed, and the economy tanked.…”

Section: The 1930s: a Massive Shock To Manhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Armengol (2014) contends that popular art and culture in the 1930s propagated a visual “remasculinization” campaign. The hundreds of murals commissioned by the Roosevelt Administration’s Works Progress Administration for post offices and federal buildings often featured quite muscular, working-class male bodies in utopian worlds that celebrated past male authority (Abbott 2006).…”

Section: The 1930s: a Massive Shock To Manhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male Compensatory Consumption in American History

Witkowski

2020

Journal of Macromarketing

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The overcompensation thesis posits that men react to gender insecurities by demonstrating their masculinity in extreme ways, some of which include highly gendered forms of consumer behavior known as male compensatory consumption. Though such consumption can be relatively benign, even healthy and positive, several forms of male compensatory behavior might harm public safety, the environment, and social accord. Support for the thesis exists, but is not overwhelming and further research is needed. This article approaches compensatory consumption in the United States from a historical perspective. It presents evidence from four separate periods – circa 1900, the 1930s, the 1950s, and circa 2000 – showing cultural continuities and change in the meaning of masculinity, but also similarities and differences in the perceived threats, the groups of men most affected, and their responses. These historical findings provide macromarketing insights into the societal consequences of market behavior.

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“…Critics sized up that women were allegedly taking occupations that should have been reserved for men. In addition, The Roosevelt administration intended to promote masculinity in American culture by depicting several images of 'hard' bodies at the labour that could be found in numerous New Deal public murals (Armengol, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The portrayal of female character in John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums: A stylistic analysis

Silalahi

Romala²

2022

diksi

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This research presents a stylistic analysis of a short story entitled The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck. At the grammatical level, transitivity is employed to achieve the objective of this research. This research is conducted to observe the transitivity process in the short story. By using the transitivity process, this research reveals the portrayal of the main female character. This research applies a qualitative method based on the type of data collected in this research. Based on the findings, there are six types of transitivity processes found, they are material, mental, relational, verbal, existential, and behavioural. Material process portrays the masculine manner of Elisa Allen, Mental process shows the boundaries between Elisa and her husband in their productive outlet, Relational process represents the masculinity in Elisa’s appearance, Verbal process represents Elisa as a straightforward person, Existential process expresses Elisa’s responsibility in fulfilling her husband’s needs, and Behavioral process represents Elisa as a sensitive figure. The dominance of the material process emphasizes Elisa’s way of defending herself from an environment that does not value her. Thus, the research findings concluded that Elisa Allen represents a woman who tries to express herself but is often not appreciated in a world dominated by men.Keywords: female character, SFL, stylistics, transitivity

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Gendering the Great Depression: rethinking the male body in 1930s American culture and literature

Cited by 11 publications

References 3 publications

Building husky men: Strenuous masculinity in post-depression America

Building husky men: Strenuous masculinity in post-depression America

Male Compensatory Consumption in American History

The portrayal of female character in John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums: A stylistic analysis

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