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 But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors.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 66
73 Literary critic Leslie Fiedler attributes this tradition of cross - race male
bonding to a search for redemption for white guilt , but I believe it is also a way to
present screens against which white manhood is projected , played out , and
defined .
73 Literary critic Leslie Fiedler attributes this tradition of cross - race male
bonding to a search for redemption for white guilt , but I believe it is also a way to
present screens against which white manhood is projected , played out , and
defined .
Page 147
Whether painting the hurly - burly of the city streets or the rugged coast of Maine ,
Bellows ' s energetic style and rough - hewn subject matter brought appreciation
from male viewers who felt excluded by dandified aesthetes . And Eakins ...
Whether painting the hurly - burly of the city streets or the rugged coast of Maine ,
Bellows ' s energetic style and rough - hewn subject matter brought appreciation
from male viewers who felt excluded by dandified aesthetes . And Eakins ...
Page 471
Alan Alda , “ What Every Woman Should Know , ” Ms . , 1975 ; Feigen Fasteau ,
The Male Machine , p . 21 ; Herb Goldberg , The Hazards of Being Male , p . 118 .
Jack Nichols added that “ [ i ] f men were communicating with children and were ...
Alan Alda , “ What Every Woman Should Know , ” Ms . , 1975 ; Feigen Fasteau ,
The Male Machine , p . 21 ; Herb Goldberg , The Hazards of Being Male , p . 118 .
Jack Nichols added that “ [ i ] f men were communicating with children and were ...
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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 cited City Civil claimed course critic Culture David decades domestic early economic efforts equality escape example experience expression father fear feel feminine feminization fraternal frontier gender George girls hand hero Heroic homosexual ideal 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