{{Short description|Social expectations in 19th century British Empire}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} [[File:Mens Coats 1872 Fashion Plate.jpg|thumb|right|Men's fashions in the 1870s.]] During the [[Victorian era]], there were, as in all eras, [[Gender role|certain social expectations]] that the separate genders were expected to adhere to in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] and the [[British Empire]]. The study of '''Victorian masculinity''' is based on the assumption that "the construction of male consciousness must be seen as historically specific."{{sfn|Sussman|1992|p=370}} The concept of Victorian masculinity is extremely diverse, since it was influenced by numerous aspects and factors such as [[Cult of domesticity|domesticity]], [[economy]], [[gender roles]], [[imperialism]], [[manners]], [[religion]], [[Sport|sporting competition]], and much more. Some of these aspects seem to be quite naturally related to one another, while others seem profoundly non-relational.{{Original research inline|date=August 2025}} For Victorian men,{{Which|date=February 2023}} this included a vast amount of [[Work ethic|pride in their work]], a protectiveness over their wives, and an aptitude for good [[social behaviour]].<ref name=tozerphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Leicester|title=Manliness : the evolution of a Victorian ideal|first=Malcolm David William|last=Tozer|date=1978|url=https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/10370|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.475463}}|website=lra.le.ac.uk|hdl=2381/10370|archive-date=1 December 2017|access-date=28 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033811/https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/10370|url-status=dead}} {{free access}}</ref> The concept of Victorian masculinity is a topic of interest in the context of [[Cultural Studies|cultural studies]] with a special emphasis on [[gender studies]]. The topic is of interest in the areas of [[history]], [[literary criticism]], [[religious studies]], and [[sociology]]. Those values that have survived to the present day are of special interest to critics for their role in sustaining the "dominance of the Western male".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Manliness and morality : middle-class masculinity in Britain and America, 1800-1940|date=1987|publisher=St. Martin's Press|others=Mangan, J. A.,, Walvin, James|isbn=0312007973|location=New York|oclc=15108460}}</ref>
==Origins== The study of Victorian masculinity is based on the assumption that "the construction of male consciousness must be seen as historically specific."{{sfn|Sussman|1992|p=370}}
The Victorians saw manliness as good, a form of control over maleness, which was brutish.{{sfn|Sussman|1992|p=372}} Furthermore, men increasingly formed [[secret societies]], such as the [[Freemasonry|Mason]]s and the [[Oddfellow]]s.{{sfn|Sussman|1992|p=371}}
===Christianity and patriarchy=== Christianity contributed to the Victorian concept of masculinity. The "real" Victorian man was to be [[Spirituality|spiritual]] and a [[Religion in the United Kingdom|faithful believer]]. Hence, the husband and father was considered to be the ''[[pater familias]]'' with extensive power. As the head of the household, his duty was not only to lead, but also to protect his [[Nuclear family|wife and children]].<ref name=tozerphd/>
===Industrialism=== [[File:Henry Morton Stanley (Waddy, 1872).jpg|thumb|African explorer [[Henry Morton Stanley]].]] Like in the [[private sphere]], men of the Victorian era were equally active in the [[public sphere]] (in contrast to women). [[Work (human activity)|Work]] was crucial in order to achieve a fully masculine status. This was especially true for the [[middle-class]] man; male members of the [[aristocracy]] were seen as [[Idleness|idle]] because they generally did not work. By being active in enterprise, men fulfilled their duty as breadwinners in the sense that they had to provide for their families. Since home and work were perceived as very separate spheres, working at home was a delicate matter, for example for writers, who had to fear their masculine status being threatened. Besides work, Victorian men were also active in the public sphere of clubs and taverns, indulging in [[homosociality]].
The rise of [[scientific management]] principles also change the way other spheres like sport were viewed: there was a shift away from the early Victorian discourse of "fair play" as the most important aspect of sport, to one promoting "scientific" study of sport in order to win and make money.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barlow |first=John Matthew |title=Coast to Coast: Hockey in Canada to the Second World War |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2009 |editor-last=Wong |editor-first=John Chi-Kit |location=Toronto |pages=35–85 |chapter=’Scientific Aggression’: Irishness, Manliness, Class, and Commercialisation in the Shamrock Hockey Club of Montréal, 1894-1901}}</ref>
==Muscular Christianity== {{Main|Muscular Christianity}} With the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, the picture of the ideal of manliness started to shift. Due to publications such as [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[The Origin of Species]]'' (1859), and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s philosophical claims concerning the "[[God is dead|death of God]]" (1882), the main focus in the concept of masculinity shifted from a spiritual focus on religion towards a commitment to muscle: [[Muscular Christianity]] was created. At the same time, male domesticity decreased.{{fact|date=October 2024}}
===Sports and readiness for physical combat=== The development towards a focus on muscle manifested itself in the belief that in order to educate one's mind one had to educate one's body. This assumption has its roots in the rise of [[natural science]] and especially [[biology]]. Thus, a fascination with health led to a sports and game-playing [[Fad|mania]], which was primarily acted out through the [[Public school (UK)|public school]] system for boys. The [[athlete]] was the new hero of society. This, according to [[E. M. Forster]], then led to "well-developed bodies, fairly developed minds, and undeveloped hearts".<ref>[[E. M. Forster]], ''On British Public School Boys''</ref> Another reason for such drills was that by the end of the 19th century the [[British Empire]] was perceived to be in danger and athletic public school boys made good [[Army recruit|recruit]]s.{{fact|date=October 2024}}
===Imperialism=== In the second half of the 19th century, the ideal of Victorian manliness became increasingly defined by [[imperialism]] because the subordination of non-western cultures was in its heyday in Britain. Thus, part of the concept of masculinity became military and [[Patriotism|patriotic]] virtue, which defined the ideal man as courageous and enduring like hunters, adventurers, and pioneers, all of whom were profoundly self-sufficient and independent and had broad scientific knowledge. This orientation towards hardiness and endurance was reflected by a change in clothing as well: rich colors and materials were discouraged in favor of dark colors, straight cuts, and stiff materials.{{fact|date=October 2024}}
==See also== * [[Masculinity]] * [[History of sport in the United States#Manliness|19th century American manliness]] * [[Christian manliness]]
== References == {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |title=Gender at work in Victorian culture: literature, art and masculinity |last=Danahay |first=Martin |year=2005 |publisher= Ashgate Pub.|isbn=0-7546-5292-0 |location=Aldershot, Hants, England}} * {{cite book |title=Family fortunes: men and women of the English middle class, 1780–1850 |last=Davidoff |first=Leonore |author2=Catherine Hall |year=2002 |edition=Revised |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-29064-3 }} * {{cite book |title=Manliness and Morality: Middle-class Masculinity in Britain and America, 1800–1940 |last=Mangan |first=James Anthony |author2=James Walvin |year=1991 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=0-7190-2367-X }} * {{cite journal | last = Sussman | first = Herbert | title = The Study of Victorian Masculinities | journal = Victorian Literature and Culture | volume = 20 | pages = 366–377 | year = 1992 | doi = 10.1017/S106015030000526X }} * {{cite book |title=A Man's Place: Masculinity and the Middle-Class Home in Victorian England |last=Tosh |first=John |year=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-12362-3 }} *Tozer, Malcolm, ''Physical Education at Thring's Uppingham'', Uppingham: Uppingham School, 1976. (ISBN B000XZ39VY). *Tozer, Malcolm, ''The Ideal of Manliness: The Legacy of Thring's Uppingham'', Truro: Sunnyrest Books, 2015. ({{ISBN|978-1-326-41574-7}}, hardback; {{ISBN|978-1-329-54273-0}}, paperback). {{Victorian era|state=collapsed}}
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