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Masculinity In The Industrial Revolution

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The Industrial Revolution brought about immense change in American society, reshaping not only the way many lived and worked, but also the core of social and cultural norms. With a society highly driven by the labor market, exploitation, and discriminatory ideals, a new and divided class structure quickly emerged. The divide between the elite and working class not only manifested in wealth, work, and politics– but also intensely in the identities of the classes, especially among men. The Industrial Revolution fundamentally altered the lives of American men, reshaping notions of masculinity and triggering a crisis of identity and power. As traditional roles shifted, men faced challenges to their masculinity, leading to competing versions of …show more content…

In addition, old elite men questioned the nature of masculinity and their role in society as they were exceedingly distant from the physical demands of industrial work. Men of the old elite were anxious about being displaced in a rapidly changing and highly competitive society by newer men of wealth. Men of the elite class, craving violent experiences, thus turned to “performing daring deeds, courting danger, and undergoing tests of fortitude”, such as wilderness hunting or violent sports. Many children of the elite, on the other hand, embraced strikebreaking to display an antagonism to labor and to prove one’s manhood. Strikebreaking gave men in the elite class a feeling of solidarity and violence in their manhood, causing a further divide between the ideas of masculinity in the working and elite classes. The rapidly changing and highly competitive society undermined the upper and middle classes’ assertiveness and ability to compete, thus leading many students to be consumed with “intense, violent experiences that provided feelings of power and mastery.” Strikebreaking, which was often performed in groups, provided an opportunity for intense male bonding since it served the same purpose as violent sports and other daring deeds that many men of the elite class turned

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