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Faces of Masculinity: Shaving Practices and Popular Exhibitions of ‘Hairy Wonders’ in Early Twentieth-Century Prague

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Beauty and the Norm

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment ((PSGE))

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Abstract

This chapter examines the historical dynamics of normative hegemonic masculinity in relation to the management of a clean respectable appearance, namely the male beard. The author suggests that the heightened anxiety about beards and shaving in turn-of-the-century Bohemia is to be understood in the three interrelated contexts of the political and national struggles of the time, the gradual medicalization of personal appearance and the emerging market for beauty products. The figure of ‘Lionel’, a popular ‘hairy freak’ in early twentieth-century curiosity exhibitions in Prague, embodied the uncertainties about the normative masculinity of the time and pointed to a general insecurity surrounding male gender performance.

The research on which this chapter is based was supported by an SVV grant, no. 260 468, ‘Imagining “the Other”: collective representations and politics of exclusion in Czech lands after 1750’ at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Filip Herza

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  1. Filip Herza
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Claudia Liebelt

  2. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Sarah Böllinger

  3. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Ulf Vierke

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Herza, F. (2019). Faces of Masculinity: Shaving Practices and Popular Exhibitions of ‘Hairy Wonders’ in Early Twentieth-Century Prague. In: Liebelt, C., Böllinger, S., Vierke, U. (eds) Beauty and the Norm. Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91174-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91174-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91173-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91174-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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