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Report: German Studies Association Conference 2003 Session 62: Masculinities in Margins: Gender and Masculinity in Central Europe between 1800 and 1914. Moderator: Vera Lind, German Historical Institute, Washington D.C. "Men Dancing, Men Walking: Defining Male Habitus in Early Nineteenth-Century Germany" Heikki Lempa, Moravian College "Mens sana in corpore sano: Masculine Ideals in the German Turnverein and Czech Sokol" Claire Nolte, Manhattan College "Masculinity and Morality: Catholicism, Confessional Conflict, and the Debate over Clerical Celibacy in Imperial Germany" Derek Hastings, Oakland University Commentator: Till van Rahden, Universitaet Koeln In light of the increasing number of recent works that have addressed the development of normative ideals of masculinity in modern German history, this panel strove to provide new insights and to suggest alternative approaches by examining Central European masculinity from the margins. By focusing explicitly on forms of masculine comportment that have often been overlooked or excluded from considerations of German _Maennlichkeit_, the panel's three papers emphasized the variegated and historically-specific nature of the masculine imagery and identities that developed in Central Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Heikki Lempa's paper, "Men Dancing, Men Walking: Defining Male Habitus in Early Nineteenth-Century Germany," departed from the standard focus on aggressive militarism and the culture of male gymnastics to examine the nature of a specifically "sensitive" form of masculine identity as it was cultivated in early nineteenth-century Germany. In tracing the development of the ideal of the sensitive man from its gender-neutral origins in late eighteenth-century salon culture, Lempa emphasized the importance of investigating the institutional settings within which early middle-class ideals of male sociability were cultivated. It was, Lempa argued, through such performative practices as dancing and walking, and in such eminently respectable environments as ballrooms, spas, and promenades - and not merely in gymastics halls - that the art of proper male bodily comportment was formulated and perfected. Lempa noted that the more aggressive and overtly virile forms of masculinity typically associated with the gymnastics movement have been credited (correctly) with helping shape the course of German nationalism throughout the nineteenth century, and should be seen as essentially relegating the model of the sensitive man increasingly to the private realm of leisure. In the end, however, Lempa concluded that the very existence of such an alternative vision of _Maennlichkeit_ is evidence of the inescapably contested and constructed nature of middle-class masculine identity in Germany. Claire Nolte's paper, "Mens Sana in Corpore Sano: Masculine Ideals in the German Turnverein and Czech Sokol," which was read in her absence by Till van Rahden (Nolte was unable to attend due to illness), examined the interesting confluence of gymnastics and nationalism in the nineteenth century, as seen both in the German _Turnbewegung_ and in the Czech Sokol movement. After discussing the masculine ideals represented by the two leading figures of the early German gymnastics movement, Johann Christoph GutsMuths and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, Nolte demonstrated how the Czech Sokol, founded decades later (in the much different atmosphere of the 1860s) and led by Miroslav Tyrš, both emulated and adapted the imagery and ideals of the German movement, while also asserting a decidedly Slavic identity in regard to its public symbolism. There were other major differences: whereas Jahn had advocated a measure of manly crudeness in homage to an imagined ideal of the German peasant past, Tyrš attempted to imbue the Sokol movement with the virtues of mid-nineteenth century bourgeois respectability. Importantly, also, whereas the early German gymnastics movement had openly emphasized and formulated quite specific ideals of German manliness, the rhetoric of the Czech Sokol was essentially devoid of any theorization or sustained discussion of masculinity. In the end, Nolte concluded, this divergence was due primarily to the differing historically-specific contexts within which the two movements originated, illustrating clearly the fundamental temporal contingency both of gender ideals and national identity. Derek Hastings' paper dealt with the gendered nature of confessional conflict in the Wilhelmine era through the prism of reform-oriented Catholics intent on launching a wide-ranging nationalization and "re-masculinization" of German Catholicism. Since the era of the Kulturkampf, Protestant nationalists had tended to frame their attacks on German Catholics in gendered terms, portraying Catholics not only as lacking in patriotic fervor but also as childish and strangely feminized. In the course of their opposition to hegemonic Protestant-based images of German masculinity, the progressive Catholic nationalists who drove the "re-masculinization" movement made use of the atmosphere of scandal surrounding a number of sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic clergy in 1902 to spark an inner-Catholic debate over the issue of mandatory clerical celibacy. According to Hastings, this debate gained much of its particular urgency from the fact that the nationalistic Catholic opponents of mandatory celibacy were able to connect the celibacy issue to larger and more pressing anxieties and concerns - ranging from a rather irrational castration phobia that equated priestly celibacy with the emasculation of German Catholicism to a _voelkisch_-oriented discourse that condemned clerical celibacy for preventing racially-healthy Catholic priests from contributing to the national gene pool in a crucial period of Darwinian struggle. Hastings concluded by suggesting a tentative connection between the _voelkisch_-Catholic critique of clerical celibacy in prewar Munich and the development of the early Nazi movement in the same city a few short years later. In his commentary, Till van Rahden began by noting the current pervasiveness of relational approaches to gender identities, as evidenced by the encouraging fact that the study of masculinity is now widely acknowledged as indispensable to understanding histories of feminine identity (and vice versa). Then, after raising several specific informational questions regarding the individual papers, van Rahden offered a number of insightful general comments and reflective broader observations. These included the question of how the conceptions of masculinity raised in the three papers, which dealt primarily with the public sphere, related to developments in the domestic sphere. To what extent were martial ideals of masculinity related to the so-called "flight from domesticity" that characterized much of European culture in the late nineteenth century? On the other hand, to what extent were images of men as loving husbands and nurturing fathers circulated? Van Rahden also noted that despite the relative marginal status of the forms of masculinity examined in the papers, each was virtually hegemonic (or at least solidly mainstream) in its own way. What about truly marginal forms of masculinity, such as Jewish or homosexual masculinity? Van Rahden concluded by calling for a history of masculinity that would allow historians to analyze the pervasive heteronormativity of the German past, while also problematizing and critiquing its continuing legacy in the present. In the brief amount of time that was left for general discussion, a central question was raised concerning the origins and nature of the more general operational models of German _Maennlichkeit_ that existed in the nineteenth century, against which these marginal forms of masculinity defined themselves. Other audience members asked further questions about the religious dimensions of masculine identity (including especially Jewish male identity), and about possible connections between clerical celibacy and sexual abstinence more generally. In the end, much of the discussion was carried on after the session was dismissed. Derek Hastings Oakland University For a complete listing of all sessions at the 2003 German Studies Association Conference, please visit <http://www.g-s-a.org>.
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