“We are men”
“We are men”
Native American and Euroamerican Projections of Masculinity During the Seven Years’ War
This chapter examines how discourses of masculinity among British, Americans, and Native Americans during the Seven Years' War informed that conflict. It begins by describing the cultural background of warfare for Native Americans, before turning to their use of masculinity tropes in their dealings with the British during the Seven Years' War. Vast cultural differences divided Indians and Europeans, not only in their technologies, tactics, and motives in warfare, but also in a noticeably dissimilar gendered order of their respective societies. Despite these disparities, Native American expressions of masculinity were readily discernible to the British. Warfare was the near-exclusive domain of men for both peoples, which provided a common reference point for intercultural communication. Both Indian and British men used manly language to reinforce their own identity as warriors and to question the martial capabilities of each other. The British in particular used masculine discourse to project their power among a Native population far from convinced about English claims of conquest during and after the Seven Years' War.
Keywords: British, Americans, Native Americans, masculinity, masculine discourse, Seven Years' War, warfare, intercultural communication
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