Influenced by the gendering of religion in the European culture wars, an alleged “feminization” became problematic within catholicism around the turn of the century. In the aftermath of the First World War, when a militarist masculinity claimed hegemony in the public sphere, calls for a more “masculine” religious rhetoric and ...
(Show more)Influenced by the gendering of religion in the European culture wars, an alleged “feminization” became problematic within catholicism around the turn of the century. In the aftermath of the First World War, when a militarist masculinity claimed hegemony in the public sphere, calls for a more “masculine” religious rhetoric and practice gained urgency, as catholicism was otherwise deemed to be in danger of marginalization. Hence a new strand of religious literature for men and – more fervently – the catholic young men’s movement adopted the project of masculinization.
This project was carried out on three levels: linguistic, iconographic, and performative. Linguistically, the virility of being a catholic was confirmed by attributing male-coded metaphors and concepts (like “soldier”) to religious practice. Iconographically, masculinity was emphasized by new representations of Christ and by the predominance of a muscular physicality in illustrations. Masculinity was also performed in symbolic actions: by reinforcing christocentrism within devotional practices, by emphasizing male camaraderie in associations, and by choosing paramilitary parades as self-representations of the youth movement.
However, as the Third Reich was established, it was the strategy of masculinization – formerly intended to distinguish catholicism from the extremist right –, which gave catholic men a strong impetus to integrate into NS-institutions like the “Reichsarbeitsdienst” and the “Wehrmacht” since the church accepted them as domains in which they should prove their worth as men.
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