Darwin's bawdy: the popular, gendered and radical reception of the Descent of Man in the US, 1871–1910. (2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hamlin, Kimberly A.
• Editors: Milam, Erika Lorraine; Seth, Suman
• Is Part Of: BJHS Themes. Volume 6(2021)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 131
• Publication Date: 2021
• Subjects: Science -- Historiography -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 507.22
• DOI: 10.1017/bjt.2021.6
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2058-850X

Abstract

Abstract: Most studies of the American reception of Darwin have focused on the Origin . The Descent of Man, however, was even more widely read and discussed, especially by those outside the emerging scientific establishment. This essay maps the varied, popular and radical responses to the Descent and suggests that these unauthorized readers helped shape the formation of American scientific institutions (by encouraging scientists to close ranks), as well as ordinary Americans' perceptions of gender and sex. I argue that the radical – freethinkers, socialists and feminists – embrace of sexual selection theory provides one explanation for naturalists' scepticism of the theory.