Miners’ Bodies and Masculine Identity in Britain, C.1900-1950

Abstract

ABSTRACT The image of the muscular manly mineworker was culturally prevalent in the first half of the twentieth century, and the trope of the hypermasculinity of miners has persisted in popular and scholarly representations. How bodies formed part of the construction of miners’ masculine identities is a crucial but overlooked aspect. This article explores miners’ embodied masculinity at different moments of the lifecycle and within the spaces of home, work, and wider community. It argues for the importance of the muscular body to constructions of masculinity amongst miners and suggests the deeper meanings of this within a wider cultural context.