The “New World Body” was one that was very different from what the Europeans had ever seen before. Therefore, because of their curiosity and at times disgust, the settlers wrote about their first accounts with these bodies. Just because they were different, the “New World Body” was strange. The Europeans saw them as uncivilized savages. John Lawson described them as being strange, disproportionate, poor and lazy. They do not have the material status or technology that the Europeans do. They don’t dress lavishly with ornamentation or shave their beards and cut their hair. They do not have the weaponry that the Europeans do; therefore, to the Europeans they are poor and lazy. According to Lawson, not only do the Europeans think they are the superior race, but the Native Americans do as well. He says it esteems them to have a white man’s child. The “New World Body” is definitely a gendered body. The women are treated as objects to the men and are expected to give their bodies up to them. Lawson accounts on how the women offer themselves to the European men as if it were expected, something the white men were not used to.
George Shelvocke described the “New World Body” as one that comes in large numbers. He says they are “quite naked”, had a “savage appearance” and were “wild” (p.338-339). William Bartram compares his encounter with a Seminole Indian with his encounter with an alligator. This implies the “New World Body” to be animal-like and a predator. They also show to be violent bodies in Samuel Hearne’s account of the savage massacre that he witnessed where they even sexually abused women’s dead bodies.
So overall, the “New World Body,” as described in the Travel Writings by white Europeans, was not normative. The European body is the right body; it is the normal body and powerful body. The images on the map do not seem to be similar to my definition of the “New World Body.” They do not have to physical appearance of Native Americans. I have trouble being able to tell if they are supposed to be Native Americans or Europeans in some of the pictures. I think the bodies are described differently in that they are clothed more with more ornamentation and weapons, and they don’t seem to be very savage or wild.
1 comment:
I may be going out on a limb here, but I feel differently about the reasons you describe the New World body as being gendered. There are accounts in Laweson's writings that the society of the Native American tribe he experienced was patriarchal, and that the women were objectified. This may be true, but I don't think it justifies the definition of the New World body being gendered. Also, in Samuel Hearne's writings, he does describe the men having the upper hand, however, the woman are playing an integral role in society, evinced in the fact Hearne writes about them at great lengths. Their great representation in the writings thusly earns them a place in the definition of the New World body, regardless of their role in the Native American society. Not trying to discredit your post, I felt that it was very thoughtful, however, that point struck me and I figured I'd offer it up instead of just supplying a run-of-the-mill comment that rehashes ideas already included in your post.
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