Gendered geographies
- isobelaraujo
- Jan 12, 2018
- 2 min read
“What is the meaning of this persistent gendering of the imperial unknown? As European men crossed the dangerous thresholds of their known worlds, they ritualistically feminized borders and boundaries. Female figures were planted like fetishes at the ambiguous points of contact, at the borders and orifices of the contest zone.” - Women as the Boundary Markers of Empire, McClintock 1995
The feminization and personification of the Americas as a mythical, threatening, hypersexual woman in European depictions during colonization, and “persistent gendering of the imperial unknown” has a lasting, if somewhat modified legacy. This image of the Capitol Building shows how the feminization of the Americas as an abstract concept has been embraced and modified, with five different depictions of mythical female figures visible from the front of the building. The most prominent, the “Statue of Freedom” atop the dome, is a familiar female representation of freedom, not unlike the Statue of Liberty. Four other female figures are visible from this photo, one to the left, and three above the columns- and all appear to be mythical abstractions.
It is interesting to compare these figures and representations of abstract concepts of “America” with the personifications of America from the perspective of European colonizers. The Americas from the European perspective was portrayed as a hyper-sexualized, “savage”, and frightening woman who marked the edge of the known world. After conquest, and after America was no longer at the border of the European world, the feminine representation of America changed from fertile and sexual woman waiting to be conquered, to a pure and virtuous woman (or daughter?) that is constantly under threat and must be militantly protected. I would argue that the need to protect this feminine representation of freedom and liberty has been used to help justify militarization and tightening of “security” against external threats throughout American history. European imperialism is justified by a masculine right to conquest, while American imperialism, militarization, and security is justified by a masculine need to protect and securitize property and values.
Not only is it interesting to consider that this personification was modified, but also to consider how and why that modification occurred. American history conveniently and collectively erases the connection between these two personifications of America. The matrilineal heritage of America has been completely and actively erased after the conquest of European male colonizers.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court Building across the street has mostly male statues, with the two most prominent being a female figure as “Contemplation of Justice” and male figure as “Authority of Law”. American freedom is female and must be protected against all external threats, but American authority, law, and order are upheld by men. Could it be possible that the American obsession with “freedom” is really an obsession with rights to property and a masculine need to protect them?
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