Bederman frames critical conversations about masculinity through Foucaltian discourse - in other words, the theory that the hegemonic assumptions of what is true inform every conversation about “truth”, even those critical of that truth. It is in this way that feminist and African-American critiques of white masculinity in the Progressive Era never made the argument that the hegemonic masculinity was something to be dismantled. Instead, white feminist critics argued that ideas of “white civilization” should be expanded to encompass white women and their achievements. Similarly, African-American critics argued that African-American men fit the mold of contemporary ideas of masculinity just as well, if not better than, white men. In both cases, critics of the hegemonic masculinity engaged with it on its own terms. (Nick Thodal)

This chapter displays that the public discourse around the match between Jack Johnson, a black man, and Jim Jeffries, a white man, highlighted racial attitudes surrounding gender at the time. For example, white men were outraged at Johnson's victory and felt it showed that he was a better man than the white Jeffries which led to race riots to erupt across cities in America. Additional salt on the wounds of these angered white men was found in how Johnson had a white ex-wife and a white lover at the time of the match making these men fell like their manhood was being undermined by him taking “their women”. (Henry Prior)

This chapter claims that due to changes to traditional ideals of manhood, men started to create a new version where it would fit with their position as middle-class men. They emphasized participation in organizations like the free masons and the odd fellows. Additionally, these men sought to turn their young boys into men by making engage with organizations like the boy scouts and the YMCA. (Henry Prior)

From a conceptual perspective, G. Bederman argues against two historiographically prevalent views of manhood: as an intrinsic essence and as a collection of traits. Partially inspired by Foucauldian discourse analysis, Bederman offers a substantial critique of these approaches, insisting that they oversimplify the mechanisms of gender and power relations. Instead, he suggests that manhood should be understood as a process of producing “men” by connecting anatomy and identity to the broader discources of power and authority. - Nikolai Kotkov

Bederman argues that depending on the overarching social, economic, and cultural changes of the time, manhood as been constantly redefined in order to maintain white supremacy. Hence, why Jack Johnson was such a controversial figure. With each shifting version of manhood, he adjusted. For example, he was physically very strong and a heavyweight champion to align with the idea of physical power meaning peak manhood; and he was also a successful suburban self made man. He aligned with both major versions of manhood at the time basically proving that white men weren't superior. Therefore, in order to prevent him from dismantling the link between white supremacy and manhood in this time period, there was efforts to get rid of him. (Katherine Hamilton)

Bederman explains that the self control that defined Victorian manhood became irrelevant due to industrialization and urbanization, thus, manhood had to be redefined. This is another example of how factors such as unpredictable economic changes leads to social changes which can contribute to the end of an era which then contributes to new shifts in social, economic, and cultural factors. All of these changes and shifts feed into each other hence why Bederman states that manhood is constantly being remade rather than manhood being a constant list of characteristics. (Katherine Hamilton)

In order to demonstrate use of the ideology of civilization in practice, Bederman details the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago that depicted the “White City” and the “Midway Plaisance” in both gendered and racialized ways. The White City was meant to portray the advancement of white civilization, which happened to almost entirely exclude women, invoking both whiteness and manhood as essential to civilization. Meanwhile, the Midway Plaisance portrayed the “underdeveloped barbarism” of uncivilized “dark races.” This portrayal linked racialized barbarism to a total lack of manliness, contrasting heavily with White City's linking of civilization with powerful manhood and whiteness. (Noah Rutkowski)

Civilization exists in this time as a hierarchical system which was the dominant way to distinguish groups of people, rather thsn culture. In this system, Civilization is on top, with barbarism below it, and finally at the bottom is Savagery. Civilization was largely based on non-coercive social diferentiwtion, specifically sex differentiation. Barbarism was seen as “almost civilized”, as if all they needed was a bit of help to reach the point of civilized. They had gender differentiation and technology, yet they were still seen as living in a world shaped by violence and coercion. This was mostly used with Asian countries. Finally is the category of Savagery. This group was directed towards people in their “primative state”, often in tribes or groups that europeans didn't see as having any structure. One of the biggest problems that Bederman lays out with Savagery is that Europeans couldn't ditinguish strict gender norms or sex differentiation. -Caroline Cochran

Bederman explains that during the late 19th century the idea of civilized vs uncivilized people and societies was used to further justify white supremacy. However, he also argues that lower class customs as well as racial customs of non-Anglo-Saxons were deemed uncivilized and inferior. Further, immigrants and non-Anglo-Saxons due to discrimination tended to be lower class, and thus being lower class and non-Anglo-Saxon was linked. Therefore, their painted inferiority was two-fold and only made the ideal of the middle class Anglo-Saxon stronger. (Katherine Hamilton)

For Bederman's explanation on how racial difference can bring the types of civilization in a very clear way. That for Anglo-saxon's who were believing that they had the highest racial advancement, they were the most civilized, since their women stayed at home and did not perform hard labor, and their men were providing the ability to keep their families and wives at home and away from the labor. The gender expectations for everyone to partake in made the racial aspect for how a society is civilized or uncivilized due to how different societies and races viewed the division of labor for men and women. (Sage Milton)

In the chapter, it is claimed that the Victorian idea of masculinity was self control in the face of sexual desire. It was seen as unmanly to participate in masturbation, commercial sex, and rape making people see black men as less manly due to the black rapist myth. However, in marriage, it was seen as masculine to have a powerful sexual passion with a forceful virality and strong manliness. (Henry Prior)

Bederman explains the idea that civilization was used to argue that the advancement of humans is dependent on race instead of sex, however, discourse surrounding “civilization” always involved both race and gender. “Civilization” is a fluid ideology and can be used to reinforce differing political agendas like validating white supremacist ideas and challenging the dominance of men. In a racial sense, “civilization” is used to reinforce definitions of manhood, specifically in the late 19th Century where Theodore Roosevelt introduced frontier civilization ideology. The frontier was used to showcase conflicts between savages and civilized people. The identifying feature that separates the two is racial identity. Americans were identified as white masculine expansionists and the center of white superiority. Traits of these men included physical strength, resourcefulness, and showcased traditional gender roles as a protector. On the contrary, indigenous people were seen as brutal savages and the conceptualization of this group allowed American men to justify violence against them. The American man during this period used conquest and conflict with “savages” to contribute to the definition and portrayal of manhood. (Reiley Gibson)