I'm gearing up to teach a unit in my IS class in a few weeks on the emergence of new ideas about gender and sexuality in the Modern age - flappers, gender-bending, end of the Victorian age, etc. In my search, I came across this book review from the Atlantic Magazine, Universal Hunks: a Pictoral History of Muscular Men Around the World.
Low and behold, it is topical for our class as well. The authors trace how the male body served as a platform for nationalist display. Each country attempted to assert its power in the 20th century. Like this guy:
The emergent field anatomy [who's taking anatomy?], closely related to the science of eugenics at this time, also used the male figure as a scale to measure the progress of civilization. Matt Jacobson is sitting in his office, feeling very pleased about the influence of his "Parables of Progress" idea.
Low and behold, it is topical for our class as well. The authors trace how the male body served as a platform for nationalist display. Each country attempted to assert its power in the 20th century. Like this guy:
The emergent field anatomy [who's taking anatomy?], closely related to the science of eugenics at this time, also used the male figure as a scale to measure the progress of civilization. Matt Jacobson is sitting in his office, feeling very pleased about the influence of his "Parables of Progress" idea.
Other pieces in the book, explore the growing acceptance of "The Hunk" in popular culture as an illustration or referent to an emergent post-war gay subculture.
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