The “new world body" is written and defined by the European travelers. They view anything different from their norms to be strange, and this is expressed through their writings. The Natives are viewed as barbarous savages with animal like behaviors. These bodies torture entire groups of other savages and then abuse the dead bodies physically and sexually. They are viewed as complete, uncaring bodies. They eat food completely different from the travelers and fall easily to disease. They are promiscuous in their dress and actions. Shelvoke states that the bodies are “swarthy gentlemen quite naked.” This explains that the Native Americans chose to wear less than the norm. This less modest body exposes more skin and sex is not taboo. Sex is natural and easily shared with strangers to trade for materials desired. They wear less ornamentation than the European travelers, which causes concern in distinguishing the leaders from the followers by outside groups. The “ideal” female body is strong and can work under any circumstance, even directly after childbirth. Hearne accounts that a woman suffered for 52 hours during childbirth. He states that ”…the poor creature took her infant on her back and set out with the rest of the company; and though another person had the humanity to haul her sledge for her (for one day), she was obliged to carry a considerable load beside her little charge…” This completely contradicts the weak, innocent beauties of the women normally seen by the travelers in their home country. However, definitions and observations of these bodies would completely transform if they were written from another observer. If the “new world body” would write about the travelers, the travelers’ bodies would not be the “norm.” Every individual holds a unique definition and no one defines people exactly the same.
The map illustrates a similar body of the “new world.” The people definitely show more skin than the “norm.” They eat differently as illustrated with the huge pieces of meat hanging near the bodies. The women have a bigger body build, which means that they do more strenuous work, like expressed in the definition above. There are a couple differences, however. The first difference is that the men are not all naked or close to it. Some of them are wearing longer robes and ornamentation. The other difference is that these bodies do not look like savages. They are having peaceful conversations and look like nonviolent people.
About Me
- Aubrey
- San Francisco, CA, United States
- Public Relations Professional and The University of Texas Alum - Hook 'em! I am a recent graduate from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Public Relations.
2 comments:
I agree with your definition of the "New World Body". The settlers were stunned by the bodies they encountered in this new land. They had been accustomed to European ways and when they stumbled across these barbaric bodies they had a negative reaction. Every example you used was a perfect reflection of how their eyes saw these foreign bodies.
On the other hand, I don’t feel that the images on the map adequately expressed your definition of the “New World Bodies”. Your definition, and that given in the Travel Writings, represents these bodies as savage like creatures. I feel that the map reflects them as civilized, clothed, weapons in hand.
I realized that we defined the "New World Body" similarly! We both defined them in terms as being different based on gender. The "New World Female Body" was quite interesting to me! The beauty that Samuel Hearne found in these female bodies, not only contradict the European norm but also contradict our norm today. The point I found really interesting was that you looked for this "masculine" build (as described in the Travel Writings) to be depicted on the pictures on the map. I did not think about looking at that! After reading your blog, I went back and looked at the pictures and realized that your absolutely correct! Especially the picture on the bottom right, where both the male and the female bodies are naked. They look exactly the same except their reproductive organs are different! This is the one aspect of the Travel Writings that can actually be seen on the pictures!
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