Manhood in America: A Cultural HistoryFree Press, 1996 - 544 pages In 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 But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors.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 9
... decades of the nineteenth century , though , the Indus- trial Revolution had a critical effect on those earlier definitions . American men began to link their sense of themselves as men to their position in the volatile marketplace , to ...
... decades of the nineteenth century , though , the Indus- trial Revolution had a critical effect on those earlier definitions . American men began to link their sense of themselves as men to their position in the volatile marketplace , to ...
Page 85
... decades of the cen- tury , unprecedented numbers of immigrants and recently freed blacks poured into northern industrializing cities , demanding recognition and rights , challenging native - born white men for dominance on what had been ...
... decades of the cen- tury , unprecedented numbers of immigrants and recently freed blacks poured into northern industrializing cities , demanding recognition and rights , challenging native - born white men for dominance on what had been ...
Page 230
... decade's contradictory messages were cultural - from films to comic books . Archie comics , for exam- ple , begun in 1941 ... decades of American his- tory . Reggie Mantle and Dilton Doily , for example , represent two versions of the ...
... decade's contradictory messages were cultural - from films to comic books . Archie comics , for exam- ple , begun in 1941 ... decades of American his- tory . Reggie Mantle and Dilton Doily , for example , represent two versions of the ...
Contents
Toward a History of Manhood in America | 1 |
The Birth of the SelfMade | 13 |
SelfControl and Fantasies of Escape | 43 |
Copyright | |
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American manhood arena argued Barbara Ehrenreich baseball become Boston boys celebrated century Chicago cited Civil claimed Coeducation cowboy culinity cultural feminization Culture D+N+ David decades domestic effeminacy effeminate efforts emasculated emotional fantasy Fatal Riot father fear feel female feminine feminism feminist films fraternal frontier gender George girls hero Heroic Artisan History homosexual homosocial hood Jesus John labor Leslie Fiedler Leverenz liberation lives magazine male bonding man's manly marketplace masculinist masculinity men's liberation men's movement men's rights middle-class moral mother movement Muscular Muscular Christianity nation Natty Bumppo novel parents percent play Pleck political popular Profeminist men responsibility rituals Robert Bly role Roosevelt Self-Made sense sexual social society sons sphere success Theodore Roosevelt tion traditional transformed turn urban virility virtue William wimp wives woman women workers working-class workplace writes wrote York young