HIST 1017, Seminar Week 9
Bachelors and other Disorderly Men
In this week’s seminar we return to Mark E. Kann’s A Republic Of Men, to his chapter
on bachelorhood and other disorderly men. You are probably familiar with this
trope in our world; so-called reality shows like The Bachelor feed upon the notion
that a man needs, at a certain point, to settle down and commit himself to one true
love, though in its modern form the trope emphasizes the man’s choice and the
competition among women to claim the prize. The discourses of ‘unruly men’
discussed in this article give us pause to consider the ways in which men were
pressured to live up to the model of the paterfamilias in order to regulate their
sexuality and to produce offspring for the republic, all in the name of an ordered
society.
Discussion Questions
pp. 53-56 “The English Bachelor and Redcoat”
What discourses on bachelorhood were prominent in seventeenth century England?
pp. 56-59 “America’s Vilest Race of Men”
How did the founding fathers characterize the bachelor?
pp. 59-62 “The Bachelor within All Men”
How did the founders understand male sexuality (especially in youth)? What impact
did that have on their characterization of bachelors?
pp. 62-66 “Other Disorderly Men”
What other types of “disorderly men” does the author identify alongside the
bachelor?
pp. 66-69 “Slaveholders and Slaves”
Why were slave owners potential “disorderly men”?
pp. 69- 73 “The Refuse of the Earth”
In what ways were Redcoats and other soldiers, considered “disorderly men”?
pp. 73-76 “State Coercion”
What measures did the state take to control “disorderly men”?
pp. 76-78 “Marginal Men”
In what ways were disorderly men associated with childhood?
What pressures did the discourses about disorderly men put on men to ‘settle
down’ and marry?