Toasting and Gender in Great-Britain in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

Historians of eighteenth-century Britain have used toasting as evidence of the construction of socio-political allegiances and signs of dynastic, religious political divides. This presentation examines the construction of toasting norms within the paradigm of politeness, ascendant in the early part of the century and culminating in the ideal of the "polite gentleman", which may be understood as a model of hegemonic masculinity. Toasting, a ritual of male bonding, strengthened homosocial groups and included some males at the expense of other males and all women. Secondly, this paper explores the dimension of competitiveness and aggression always lurking below the veneer of polite masculinity. Toasting rituals served to channel violence into socially acceptable forms and can be seen as substitutes for duelling or brawling. The third moment of this paper qualifies claims about women's exclusion, showing they could engage in toasting, in domestic settings but also in some public contexts, especially from the end of the century. Femininity was also increasingly seen as a moderating, civilizing form that would restrain the excesses of all-male drinking.