- Title:
- We walked around with holes in our sole and souls : men and masculinity during the great depression in Canada
- Creator:
- DiFrancesco, Michael
- Date Created:
- 2010
- Degree Awarded:
- Master of Arts
- Subjects:
- Depressions 1929 Gender mainstreaming Canada
- Geographical Focus:
- Canada
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- The Great Depression was a trying time for many working-class Canadian men and their families. In a society that had come to recognize and acknowledge the presence of the breadwinner ideal, the economic instabilities of the thirties pushed and stretched the family waged economy to the extreme. This study aims to engage with and reveal the experiences of working-class married men and their families during the 1930s, with a specific focus on masculinity. The collection of letters and testimonies illustrate the humiliation, shame, and disgrace that unemployment brought to many men and their families. It also shows to what extent all members of the family went to maintain the ideal, and the many beliefs associated with it. In doing so, it highlights why government policies based on the ideal remained popular and, maybe why, later on, the adoption and the maintenance of the welfare state remained such a contested affair. The study also demonstrates that if the depression-era was a time of hardship, challenge, and contradiction for government and society alike, the notion of the importance that the male breadwinner played within Canadian society showed a remarkable resilience.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- DiFrancesco, Michael. 2010. "We walked around with holes in our sole and souls : men and masculinity during the great depression in Canada", Department of History, Carleton University
- Link to this page:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_116.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.