The 19th century witnessed the development of a notion of
masculinity that tied the worth of a white man to his performance in
the workplace—from which women and other minorities were
excluded—and to his capacity to accumulate capital and advance
socially. By the turn of the 20th century, pervasive anxiety posed by
the threat of emasculation and the constant need to prove oneself as a
man fostered a sense of an ideal manliness that was cutthroat or
“primitive,” a masculinity characterized by passion, vigor, and
aggressiveness and manifested through violence, displays and abuses of
power, and alienation. Drawn from the Addison’s collection, the
works on view in this exhibition reflect the constant redefinition of
masculinity in American society during the 19th and early 20th
centuries, inviting us to think critically about the shifting
definitions of gender roles. + Google Calendar + iCal Export
collecting
1948
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20/05/2020 Last update