Manhood in America: A Cultural HistoryIn a time when psychologists are rediscovering Darwin, and much of our social behavioral is being reduced to ancient, hard-wired patterns, Michael Kimmel's history of manhood in America comes as a much needed reminder that our behavior as men and women is anything but stable and fixed. Kimmel's authoritative, entertaining, and wide-ranging history of men in America demonstrates that manhood has meant very different things in different eras. Drawing on advice books, magazines, political pamphlets, and popular novels and films, he makes two surprising claims: First, manhood is homosocial - that is, men need to prove themselves to each other, not to women. Second, definitions of manliness have evolved in response to women's movements. When women act, men react. Originally, manliness was an internal virtue and a democratic ideal - British men were viewed as fops, and American men had to be independent, honest, and responsible. By the 1890s, however, manhood changed to masculinity, something that had to be constantly proven through the new explosion of sports, fraternities, and fashion. Finally, in 1936, Lewis Terman, the creator of the IQ test, developed an "M-F" test to analyze adolescents' masculinity and femininity. Until well into the 1960s, the test penalized boys who preferred to draw flowers instead of forests, or who knew that a teacup was used for drinking tea. But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors. |
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Page 43
What is called resignation is confirmed desperation . From the desperate city you
go to the desperate country . . . . A stereotyped but unconscious despair is
concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind .
What is called resignation is confirmed desperation . From the desperate city you
go to the desperate country . . . . A stereotyped but unconscious despair is
concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind .
Page 266
Reich ' s truncated history of America rested on the transitions in forms of
consciousness . In Republican America ( what Reich called Consciousness I )
small businessmen and farmers , heirs to republicanism and frontier
individualism , carved ...
Reich ' s truncated history of America rested on the transitions in forms of
consciousness . In Republican America ( what Reich called Consciousness I )
small businessmen and farmers , heirs to republicanism and frontier
individualism , carved ...
Page 436
And while he promoted what he called “ the flannel shirt life , " he also enjoyed
cross - dressing and , as he called it , “ skirt dancing . " See also Michael
Rosenthal , The Character Factory : Baden - Powell and the Origins of the Boy
Scout ...
And while he promoted what he called “ the flannel shirt life , " he also enjoyed
cross - dressing and , as he called it , “ skirt dancing . " See also Michael
Rosenthal , The Character Factory : Baden - Powell and the Origins of the Boy
Scout ...
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MANHOOD IN AMERICA: A Cultural History
User Review - KirkusKimmel (Sociology/SUNY, Stony Brook) applies the methodology of feminist history to the experience of being male in America. Rejecting the idea that almost every history book is about the male ... Read full review
Manhood in America: a cultural history
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictKimmel, a noted men's studies authority, coeditor of Against the Tide (LJ 2/1/92), and editor of The Politics of Manhood, reviewed below, presents in his own words the first cultural history of men in ... Read full review
Contents
The Birth of the SelfMade Man | 13 |
SelfControl and Fantasies of Escape | 43 |
PART | 79 |
Copyright | |
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American argued Artisan become believed body bonding boys called century character child cited City Civil claimed course critic Culture David decades domestic early economic efforts equality example experience expression father fear feel feminine feminization fraternal frontier gender George girls hand hero Heroic homosexual ideal independent James John labor less liberation lives male man's manhood manly masculinity means men's moral mother movement nature never novel offered organization parents physical play political popular prove race responsibility Robert role seemed Self-Made sense sexual social society sons success thing tion traditional transformed turn University Press virtue western woman women workers writes wrote York young