# American Progress (John Gast, 1872) Was the Artist Being Ironic?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-progress-john-gast-1872-was-the-artist-being-ironic/1021778>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [August 6, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-progress-john-gast-1872-was-the-artist-being-ironic/1021778 "2025-08-06T17:00:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-progress-john-gast-1872-was-the-artist-being-ironic/1021778/101 "2025-08-13T17:50:24Z")

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> [@Johanna](#):
>
> My point exactly. Also that it was meant to appeal to the prurient male gaze under the guise of something ostensibly high-minded, like the “Biblical” nude shows popular in those days.

If you look close enough at the fearful Natives you will see one is a topless female so there’s a bit of

> **National Geographic nudity**
>
> [Nudes in the National Geographic as Art - National Geographic's Collectors Corner](https://ngscollectors.ning.com/group/outside-looking-in-how-the-world-views-the-yellow-/forum/topics/nudes-in-the-national-geographic-as-art)

as well.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-progress-john-gast-1872-was-the-artist-being-ironic/1021778/102 "2025-08-22T20:25:17Z")

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> [@Johanna](#):
>
> There’s a long history of eroticizing nationalism and war. France, with their Marianne, is the most honest about it: “Yes, we want our national personification to be a hottie.”

Or the English and that slutty John Bull.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-progress-john-gast-1872-was-the-artist-being-ironic/1021778/103 "2025-08-31T17:58:25Z")

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\*The Friday _New York Times_ had an article on the painting, because the Department of Homeland Security posted it under the heading “A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending. [sic]” The dog whistles are loud enough to be deafening.

If anyone can possibly still think that the painting represented anything other that the forced replacement of natives by whites and was seen then as now only as a defense and celebration of white supremacy, read the article. Quotes are from a range of historians, including conservative Christians.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/arts/design/gast-dhs-american-progress.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.iU8.5w6L.Gn4h4qu9iyJL&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/arts/design/gast-dhs-american-progress.html?unlocked_article_code=1.iU8.5w6L.Gn4h4qu9iyJL&smid=url-share)

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