Masculinity, Senses, Spirit

Masculinity, Senses, Spiritbrings together current work by leading scholars in the fields of gender studies, religion, history, and cultural studies to examine the complex interrelationship between gender, sexuality, and the realms of the spirit and the senses in the Atlantic world from the 18th century to the present. Ranging in scope from the bridal mysticism of 18th century German Moravians, through the education theories of the German 'Gymnasium,' the creation of the gendered 'gourmand,' the 'discovery' of homosexuality, and the hyper-masculinized homosocial groupings of the National Socialists, the essays explore the inflections of constructed masculinity in the religious, educational, culinary, political, and social institutions of Germany, France, and North America from the 18th century to the 20th centuries. The collection reveals the disparate and yet related worlds of masculine gender performance, recognizing the central role of the body and its relation to the spirit and senses in notions of European and Atlantic masculinity.