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 But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors.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 322
Male bonding , we are told , is certainly not a good thing for womenand it may not
be a very good thing for men either , promoting excesses of violence and brutality
, groupthink imperatives that obliterate individual responsibility , and an ...
Male bonding , we are told , is certainly not a good thing for womenand it may not
be a very good thing for men either , promoting excesses of violence and brutality
, groupthink imperatives that obliterate individual responsibility , and an ...
Page 354
3 - 2 0 2 - 2 + + 1 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 0 In each comparison below draw a circle
around 1 or 2 or S to show how well you like the things mentioned . Around 1 , if
you like the FIRST thing better . Around 2 , if you like the SECOND thing better .
Around ...
3 - 2 0 2 - 2 + + 1 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 0 In each comparison below draw a circle
around 1 or 2 or S to show how well you like the things mentioned . Around 1 , if
you like the FIRST thing better . Around 2 , if you like the SECOND thing better .
Around ...
Page 457
Taken together , then , Wylie ' s mom - bashing in Generation of Vipers and this
novel suggest that it ' s a good thing when adult women act as moral constraints
on adult men ' s excesses but a dreadfully feminizing thing when mothers act to ...
Taken together , then , Wylie ' s mom - bashing in Generation of Vipers and this
novel suggest that it ' s a good thing when adult women act as moral constraints
on adult men ' s excesses but a dreadfully feminizing thing when mothers act 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