Material Masculinities - (Gender in History) by Ben Jackson (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book explores men's material culture and consumer behaviour in the rapid social and economic transformations of eighteenth-century England, arguing that men came to rely on their possessions to make sense of their identities during such significant historical changes.

Book Synopsis

Material Masculinities examines the material and consumer practices of over 1000 men from the middling and upper ranks of eighteenth-century society, c.1650-1850. It draws upon evidence from over 35 archives and museum collections to detail how material objects were integral for men in forming identities and shaping experiences. For men of all social ranks, ages, and geographic locations, material knowledge was imperative for masculine social identities to operate in a commercial society. Before the centralised factory and widespread mass-produced goods, men personalised and repaired their goods; products were shaped by men's attitudes and concerns. Objects were tools in men's identity formation and the exercise of social and gendered power. There was a reciprocal relationship between men and goods in this period; men were active agents of material and commercial change driving product and aesthetic innovation.

From the Back Cover

Material masculinities is the first book-length study dedicated to eighteenth-century men's material culture and consumer behaviour. Whilst scholarship has increasingly acknowledged men as active participants in consumer society, the broader implications of their material interactions have previously remained underexplored.

This timely monograph examines the complexities of men's material lives as they ascended the social hierarchy, the book studies five 'material masculinities' throughout the key stages of life - boyhood, householder, mobile man, discerning consumer, and gentleman sportsman - to highlight how material culture shaped masculine identity formation, experiences, and the dynamics of gendered power. Drawing on an extensive array of historical sources, the book reveals how men relied on goods to construct and perform multifaceted masculine identities. It also examines how their choices, desires, practices, and skills influenced and defined the consumer culture of eighteenth-century England.

Material masculinities argues that these goods played a central role in how men understood themselves during a period of profound social, cultural, economic, and political change - change that was underpinned by men's active participation in the commercialisation of British society in this pivotal period of English history.

Review Quotes

"This is an excellent book. Material Masculinities is the most wide-ranging account to date of men's material experience in the eighteenth century, taking in the whole lifecycle and a fascinating array of goods. This perspective enables Jackson to present significant conclusions about the nature of gender, material culture and the body." - Matthew McCormack, University of Northampton

"This book makes a significant contribution to the literature, going beyond masculinity as a cultural construct to explore its essential materiality. Meticulously researched and drawing on a wide array of sources on middling and elite men from across Britain, it demonstrates the importance of material goods to gendered power and illustrates the many ways in which men shaped goods through product innovation. It is sure to be essential reading for scholars of gender, material culture and consumption." - Jon Stobart, Manchester Metropolitan University

"Material Masculinities is essential reading for those interested in questions of masculinity, material culture and material practices in the eighteenth century." - Kate Smith, University of Birmingham

"A magisterial and often intimate study of eighteenth-century masculine materiality in the making across the life-course." - Karen Harvey, University of Birmingham

About the Author

Ben Jackson is a British Academy Research Fellow at the University of Manchester