Secularism, Gender and Masculinity in Nineteenth‐Century Cremation in Europe and the USA

ABSTRACT This essay explores, from transnational perspectives, the early history of modern cremation, which developed in the long nineteenth century with secularist connotations. I argue that the beginnings of modern cremation were shaped by bourgeois men who claimed certain identifiers for themselves in a gendering and Othering way. While appropriating science and technology for their cause, they turned the Christian religion – notably Catholicism – and certain social actors into their ‘Others’. To consolidate their self‐image, they devalued the latter as symbols of tradition, obstacles to progress and representatives of an outdated past. Women and men from non‐secularist backgrounds also took an interest in cremation and likewise referred to these identifiers, as this essay uncovers. Conceptually, I make use of the sociological theory model of boundary work (T. Paulitz) to discuss gendered and worldview patterns as well as different masculinities in nineteenth‐century cremation.