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 But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors.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 172
44 At a time of economic stagnation and thwarted economic mobility , fraternal
orders provided a symbolic arena in which men were moving up the ladder . At
virtually every meeting someone was being initiated into the next , highest , level
of ...
44 At a time of economic stagnation and thwarted economic mobility , fraternal
orders provided a symbolic arena in which men were moving up the ladder . At
virtually every meeting someone was being initiated into the next , highest , level
of ...
Page 192
Wartime victories had allowed a generation of men to rescue a threatened sense
of manhood , and the expanding peacetime economy augured well for economic
success . In their work and in their families , middle - class men entered the ...
Wartime victories had allowed a generation of men to rescue a threatened sense
of manhood , and the expanding peacetime economy augured well for economic
success . In their work and in their families , middle - class men entered the ...
Page 217
Many of Steinbeck ' s novels center around men made marginal by economic
hardship . “ The roads became crowded with men ravenous for work , murderous
for work , ” Steinbeck wrote in The Grapes of Wrath ( 1939 ) . “ What ' s it coming
to ...
Many of Steinbeck ' s novels center around men made marginal by economic
hardship . “ The roads became crowded with men ravenous for work , murderous
for work , ” Steinbeck wrote in The Grapes of Wrath ( 1939 ) . “ What ' s it coming
to ...
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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