‘The last refuge of male chauvinism’: print culture, masculinity, and the British Antarctic Survey (1960-1996)

Abstract

In 1996, the British Antarctic Survey opened Halley Research Station (Halley) to women researchers, thereby officially giving women equal access to all Antarctic bases. A main reason that Antarctic researchers insisted that women be excluded from British Antarctic research stations was fears that they would disrupt base cohesion. Through examining magazines produced by the men stationed at Signy and Halley, the author offers evidence that alongside this exclusion, the men developed a homosocial culture, using overt sexualisation of women to perform masculinity. Rather than becoming more respectful, many of the clipping from erotic magazines, references to prostitution, pornographic stories and jokes, and sexual fantasies became more explicit as the integration of women drew nearer. The print culture at British Antarctic research stations demonstrates social and cultural norms predicated on simultaneous objectification and exclusion of women.

Keywords:

• Antarctica
• gender
• polar
• pornography
• United Kingdom

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the reviewers as well as the many people who read early drafts of this work especially Ashley Kerr, Quiyarra McCahey, Michael Robinson, and Rebecca Scofield.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniella McCahey

Daniella McCahey is Assistant Professor of Modern British History at Texas Tech University, Texas, USA. Her research focuses primarily on the history of Antarctica and she is currently revising a book manuscript on the history of science in the Falklands Islands and Ross Dependencies during the International Geophysical Year (1957–58). She is also working on several smaller projects addressing various topics including the British monarchy, the history of modern earth sciences, Antarctic whaling and sealing, the histories of Antarctic botany and volcanology, the environmental and economic history of the island of South Georgia, and the place of the Southern Ocean in the British Empire. She is also interested in public history and both writes for public audiences and has consulted on polar history for museums around the world. She completed her PhD in 2018 at the University of California, Irvine.