Here's the link to the Facebook page, where the image is quite large and clear and it's easy to read the comments. The government's caption is: "A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.""Proud"? "Worth defending"? This sets some people off.Even if you like that European-Americans moved across the continent and made it their own — and now your own — you may be taken aback to see America symbolized by a gigantic white woman in a diaphanous gown that whirls and swirls in the breeze — but doesn't slip off of her tenacious left tit — as she brings light, a telegraph line, and a school book westward.
The painting, "American Progress," was done by John Gast in 1872. Here's the Wikipedia article. The piece is very well composed and executed, and it's a good thing to stare at to contemplate Manifest Destiny. The Department of Homeland Security is challenging us to step up and feel proud, to see the westward expansion as beautiful... as beautiful as a half-naked woman.
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96 (na) komento:
Well, women are beautiful; clothed, half naked or naked.
I would add two things:
1. I think that woman is in Nebraska; and
2. It was the Creighton brothers who built the telegraph lines. That was the source of their money used to found Creighton University; the greatest enterprise in the world today.
First O'Sullivan, now Xi.
…the correct people are being set off.
Well, I don't know about the naked bits (more modest certainly than Liberty leading the French Revolution), but a white female was the symbol of the country for a long time, certainly still in 1872. Wiki "Columbia, also known as Lady Columbia or Miss Columbia, is a female national personification of the United States. It was also a historical name applied to the Americas and to the New World. Columbia is a Neo-Latin toponym, used since the 1730s to refer to the Thirteen Colonies that would form the United States. It originated from the name of the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus and from the Latin ending -ia, common in the Latin names of countries"
Gigantic white women have been the subject of public art and sculptures in Europe and the near-East since the Bronze Age. See the Greek gods. See the Minoan bare-breasted snake handlers. The US still has an awful lot of white Europeans.
She needs snakes. More snakes!
"A fifty foot woman's never satisfied"
- Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman by The Tubes
You have a very different idea of "half" than I do.
If only he had the "progressive" foresight 100+ years ago to paint her with blue/pink hair, a bull nose ring, and a penis, the leftitst could have froth and riot slightly less about it now.
How is she keeping that thing covered? Did they have gaffer tape back then?
About the painting: I don't like it. It's too utterly romantic. It's not just that it's going to "trigger" some people - it's that it really does take willful blindness to celebrate Manifest Destiny without acknowledging that some people and some groups were harmed by it, at least initially (even if, or maybe I should say even though, those same groups now reap benefits from the products of Western Civ in their lives). I guess I've never been a big fan of the victory lap or the thumb-and-forefinger L to the forehead.
We are at an interesting time where things people would publicly state to gain social status or to feel noble about themselves like, "America is racist," "America is sexist," etc. are losing their cachet. Among younger folks, so perhaps mid-30's and below, it is becoming more to publicly admire America and to want to admire America. An American flag hanging on a streamer's wall or ceiling is not an uncommon sight. And among the young it seems the groups that have more energy and are cooler are the ones that are actually proud to be American. Patriotism is waxing, national faithlessness is waning.
Stacey Abrams disagrees.
The hair ... Trump would love it. Better than Selena Zito.
"You have a very different idea of "half" than I do."
19th century half. They wore a lot of clothes back then.
Women as a personification of abstract ideals - countries in particular - has a long history. Dressing them in flowing robes meant as a callback to classical civilizations and symbolizing the timelessness of the ideal they are representing is a common Western thing.
If people no longer recognize Columbia (as a figure from history if nothing else) and what she stands for, I guess Lady Justice is next.
Since the beginning of human civilization, civilizations that were more technically and organizationally advanced took resources and land from less advanced civilizations. Viewed in a static moral frame (A takes from B), this is “wrong.” However, this dynamic produced a set of incentives that dramatically increased human welfare. Civilizations that failed to adopt these innovations were generally subjugated and often perished. And while you may argue that societies built on technology and complicated organizational structures are not morally superior, the migration of people is only one way from the technologically backward to the technologically advanced. Moreover, there is moral value in increasing life expectancy and decreasing misery. So yes, I am a proud defender of western civilization - warts and all.
Imagine putting up telegraph wires dressed like that.
A chubby, half-naked woman does not leave me with feelings of expansion, pro or con.
If you have the name of the painting and you google it, you'll easily get to the Wikipedia article linked in the post, and there's more detail about her, e.g., the term "Columbia." I chose to leave that out of the text of the post and say only "America symbolized." Please don't attribute to me a lack of knowledge of those details.
One interesting note from the Wiki: the painting is tiny. Really: 11.50 by 15.75 inches.
Here's columbia in another context https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Puck_cover2.jpg
If only they could've forseen the future, they would have stopped and gone back to NYC.
To be "triggered" by this painting, is to be triggered by history. To be triggered by history, is to want to deny the real world and to live in your own artificial one.
Not seeing half naked in the picture. Most of the women I see on the street during the summer show more skin.
"To be "triggered" by this painting, is to be triggered by history. To be triggered by history, is to want to deny the real world and to live in your own artificial one."
That might work for someone whose agenda is to eradicate nationalism.
Heading for the sunny climes of So. Calif. to establish/work in adult films.
It was painted in 1872. So she's not "half-naked". She's "déshabillé"
Thanks. For my daily dose of Roman Empire, I thought of Ostrogoths and Visigoths.
A half-naked white woman in flowing robes is a perfectly reasonable basis for a form of government.
"Commie Videos and You a Law Professor said...
A half-naked white woman in flowing robes is a perfectly reasonable basis for a form of government."
So long as she's not tossing out swords from a lake.
There's no way DHS under Biden headed by Mayorkas would've used this painting. Mayorkas was determined to flood the USA with illegal aliens from all over the world. Not to do his job as DHS secretary and enforce the immigration laws.
Hunter and Joey Biden, of course, agreed completely. None of the blowback from massive illegal and legal immigration hurts him or his family - so its OK.
The conservative to the Leftwing attacks on Western art is to talk about "what are you a snowflake?". This just means you shouldn't care about art. Which the left does.
BTW, I love how the painting has bears and wolves fleeing the advance of the pioneers.
Our ancestors were proud to be in a USA that needed them.
They actually named their babies George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to honor our history. In my case one was George Washington Collier ( called Wash) and one was Thomas Jefferson Donaldson ( called Captain Tom). On mother’s side there was a George Washington Hazel.
A good history of the era can be found in a books such as Steinbeck’s East of Eden and Twain’s Life on the Mississippi.
They had no shame for being educated former Europeans here in a free land. Free thanks to Washington, Jefferson and especially Andrew Jackson.
Anybody that sees that as a 'half-naked woman' shouldn't be making public policy, and anybody that is 'triggered' by such art should be forced to write a long essay explaining why they ought to be allowed to remain a citizen of the US - the examination of which, will decide whether they can.
She should be wearing a cross.
a Greek goddess, perhaps Roman, perhaps Athena,
19th century half. They wore a lot of clothes back then.
@Althouse, quite true. Today some women wear beach cover-ups that show more skin. Guys upthread who complain about the woman’s chubbiness unconsciously assume that standards of feminine beauty are fixed and timeless. In the 19th century a few extra pounds, especially in the tush, were regarded as signifying that one was sufficiently affluent to eat regularly. Oversized breasts, in the other hand, were regarded as low class, coarse, and vulgar.
Manifest Destiny prolonged slavery? That's silly. The expansion West was a constant reminder to the South that their enterprise was a geographic ghetto.
It is an instance (a late one) of the European (and the US is a totally a Euro spin-off) "explosion" into the world, that dominated human history for the last 500 years. And ended up dominating shared human culture besides. A huge and unavoidable fact. The 150-foot woman (huge, yeah) may be a bit of a clumsy symbol but there are worse. Europe is full of awkward symbolic personifications.
Coinage has some of the better ones. Britannia on the old British penny is one.
Me, I think it was all great. Any Euro or part-Euro people complaining about it are mentally unbalanced. Anyone else should be thinking of ways to surpass their conquerors. Some are going there.
Some readers feel that measuring up to "the beauty of a half-naked woman" is a sufficiently high bar. Others may differ.
Someday I will query my accountant (and wife) while she is half naked, and see what she thinks of the matter. She will likely dismiss me as a no-account should I do so, tbh.
I've mentioned before that I'm an immigrant, and I not only understand the appropriateness of the imagery for the era of its creation, I agree with it. The spirit of the vastness of the exploration and settlement of an entire continent in a relatively short period of time by ordinary people/families is breathtaking - heroic even, given the mores, technology, etc. of the era. To judge that applying such considerations of our current era is absurd.
I'll go further. Even in the current era, America is an admirable country, and one worthy of pride by its citizens. In fact, the entire world owes a debt of gratitude and not just admiration to America. We have been living through a century at least of an era that will be recognized in future millennia as the "Pax Americana" for planet Earth.
I prefer tits that are slightly less tenacious.
Header: 'in the discussion a painting."
Proud American. Not sorry.
I thought she had the Bible in her arm. But it’s a school book. Very cool painting.
That image has been used in every American History textbook I've ever seen--because it does a lot of work.
Britannia has been mentioned, but of course the Frogs have Marianne and the Krauts claim Germania. All familiar stand-ins in cartoons in the period 1870s-1920s at least.
For my part, I'm a fan of the image and the reality. The Indians may have had their admirable qualities, but they weren't really competitive and lived poorly among riches.
"...tenacious left tit" inspires interesting thoughts...
"Moreover, there is moral value in increasing life expectancy and decreasing misery. So yes, I am a proud defender of western civilization - warts and all."
Hear, hear!
they lost the wars, its been more than a hundred years, and despite the virtue signaling of woke cowboy Taylor Sheridan, they weren't going to amount to much
… a diaphanous gown that whirls and swirls in the breeze — but doesn't slip off of her tenacious left tit…
Wasn’t that Jennifer Lopez wearing Versace at the Grammy Awards?
She may not know but she is heading for Hollywood
The tot represents the tenacity of the settlers first busting sod in Nebraska. These new Americans didn't have the full Delacroix handed to them on a plate.
Tit not tot.
And with the prevalence of female tattoos, the term “tit for tat” has taken on an entirely new meaning.
a Greek goddess, perhaps Roman, perhaps Athena,
Some fundamentalists have criticized her as a pagan idol leading America away from God. You just can’t make everyone happy.
How is she any different from that whit broad in New York harbor? In fact. It is probably the same broad.
I wouldn’t trust a man who isn’t inspired by tenacious left tits.
@Jamie - if these are your expectations for a painting from 1872, I advise you to avoid visual art produced before 1919, and all the relics of the “humanities” of Western Civ pre-1970
Her flowing garment should be of no surprise to anyone flying West: the Jet Stream worked its way on airborne objects even in the 19th Century.
the leftward march of a nation... toward... darkness
I'm NOT going to toss out the phrase, "tenacious left tit" at my spouse no matter her state of dress.
As to historical eras I just got into an on line joust with my (way) left leaning brother who (to bash Trump) conflated our paternal grandparents to today's illegal immigrants. He questioned if they were here legally (the fact they were screened through Ellis Island was lost to him). Of course the laws maybe changing just a weeee bit in 100+ years wasn't relevant enough to consider. He questioned were our parents illegals too just because they were born in the US. Then he opined he may be an illegal too. But then he concluded he was safe because he is white.
A public school teacher. Math and physics no less. Feh.
The big, beautiful blonde is Althouse leaving NYC and heading West with her school books and her internet cable.
I have no comment on the tenacity of her tits.
It's exploring the physics of the strapless evening gown.
Her left nipple is a bolt
Too wholesome. We need something like that famous French painting by Delacriox.
Jamie, I understand what you're saying. But I think one can learn more -- including from your perspective -- by immersing yourself in the iconography and politics, the statistics, the propaganda, and the nature of sincere faiths of the time. The deeper you dig, the more you find that many of these impoverished and/or entrepreneurial Americans fleeing old Europe and the eastern states to own their own land or have more growing seasons (see similar appeals for Florida settlements) were well aware of what we would call the ironies of this picture, along with its deeply unique promise. And while I generally agree with those here who don't believe that we were unilaterally trampling a benevolent culture, you might be interested to find the same debates being vigorously discussed among the settlers and politicians of the time. Why have propaganda in the first place if it isn't needed?
I am always surprised by history.
Foolish post by DHS, but no worse than anything else that comes out of Washington D.C.
Wikipedia tells us (without giving any source) that Gast's "American Progress" has been considered the American equivalent of Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People." Similar concern about the décolletage for one thing. You can also go to Delacroix's North African paintings for speculation about Manifest Destiny and colonialism.
I remember the picture of "Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap" on the cover of my older brother's 1960s history textbook. Similar message, though suitable for children. The look of grim determination on Boone's face (and even grimmer Stoicism on his wife's) contrasts with Gast's airy giant fairy fantasy.
We need something like that famous French painting by Delacriox.
I always laugh when I see the boy waving the pistols.
Note the tiny tee-pees in the larger zoom-in. Are the Indians fighting the settlers or waving at them? Laura Ingalls Wilder, in her fiction, memoirs, and letters, has a lot of interesting things to say about Natives.
A rough choice of a painting to put up. Nothing says, 'we rolled 'em' quite like paintings of manifest destiny.
We're not perfect but a hell of a lot of what's good and beneficial in this world exists because of all the crazy-ass white people who came over here a long time ago with a will to dream and do anything that was possible; even what seemed impossible.
Fuck White Guilt. Work hard. Do good.
Work hard. Do good.
Lefties regard these as fighting words.
Rocco said...
Tenacious C(olumbia) and the tit of (Manifest) Destiny
My grandfather is George Washington Duffield, born in 1868.
My mother's dad was Alexander Hamilton [Redacted]. We chose Alexander for our son's first name but never used it, and he doesn't like it.
A progressive painting depicting America - would be:
streets lined with transient tents, rage filled activists holding up angry fists, antifa thugs throwing Molotov cocktails, Rachel Maddow, Brennan and Adam Schitt w/ glowing angel wings, and stephen colbert dancing with a syringe.
I am reminded of my brother's 1960s history textbook which had a picture of Daniel Boone leading the pioneers through the Cumberland gap. Same message, but safe for the classroom.
Wikipedia references Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People." Similar decolletage. If you're looking for a colonialist or imperialist message, try his North African paintings.
My earlier message was probably held up because I used the phrase "airy fa*ry" (in a non-homophobic sense) to describe the woman. I was thinking of Tolkein's ethereal elves and contrasting the woman with the much grimmer actual pioneers.
What does fairy have to do with transgenderism? Homophobia is a transphobic projection with albinophobic symbols and rhetoric.
Divine entities are white or pure and inclusive. Black is a hole... whore h/t NAACP or abortive with sequestering properties.
The textbook is a reflection of charity or privilege, perhaps audacity.
Note the Brooklyn Bridge, which was opened in 1883. Construction began in 1870 and stringing the cables began in 1876. Gast was ahead of his time.
@ Narr
Thanks
De nada.
Both the settlers and the very small (always small) group of Natives endured the Dust Bowl. And by then, both had adopted earlier practices of driving buffalo off cliffs.
Who is at fault? Life is complicated. So is biomass. Come on.
Do any of you people understand pioneer life for settlers or Natives? It wasn't a cakewalk for anyone, and cooperation was very common. Jesus wept, do you read anything published before 1969?
chuck said...
"Note the Brooklyn Bridge, which was opened in 1883. Construction began in 1870 and stringing the cables began in 1876. Gast was ahead of his time."
To draw the Brooklyn Bidge in 1870, all someone had to do was draw the Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati. When it opened in 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. The designer, John A Roebling, simply scaled it up a little bit when he built the Brooklyn Bridge as well.
Kirk Parker said...
"You have a very different idea of 'half' than I do."
Recently I watched an episode of a show set in 1913 Toronto. They had a gag about a lurid tabloid of the time that had a sketch of a woman who had gone hatless in public.
A healthy woman with YUGE tracks of ... land.
Thomas Berger. "Little Big Man" and "Return of Little Big Man."
Get them. Read them.
Columbia the gem of the ocean, hurrah for the Red, White and Blue! From sea to shining sea! This land is your land, this land is my land, this was made for you and me. Westward Ho! Hail Columbia! Of thee I sing. May the impure blood water our fields ...good song, not ours, but they do have Bardot as Marianne. I'm eternally greatful my ancestors took the chance and planted us here. Their blood and bones are in our soil and this is our last stop. Thus be it ever.
The swirls in her scarf trailing behind her look like Botticelli, the goddess' hair in 'Birth of Venus' - great post!
This reminds me of a beautiful sculpture titled “Diginity” located in South Dakota.
https://www.travelsouthdakota.com/trip-ideas/story/dignity-earth-sky
An excellent follow-up is the book, The Worst Hard Time.
Liberty is depicted as a woman on early American coins. In fact one of our early one cent coins is referred to as ," The Flowing Hair Cent."
Nice image, but compared to the Madonna of the Trail statues, it is hardly in the same league in describing the westward expansion of the United States.
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