Manhood in America: A Cultural HistoryFor more than three decades, the women's movement and its scholars have exhaustively studied women's complex history, roles, and struggles. In Manhood in America, Second Edition, author Michael S. Kimmel--a leading authority in gender studies--argues that it is time for men to rediscover their own evolution. Drawing on a myriad of sources, including advice books, magazine columns, political pamphlets, and popular novels and films, he demonstrates that American men have been eternally frustrated by their efforts to keep up with constantly changing standards. Kimmel contends that men must follow the lead of the women's movement; it is only by mining their past for its best qualities and worst excesses that men will free themselves from the constraints of the masculine ideal. Condensed and revised in this second edition, Manhood in America features updated chapters and examples that extend its coverage through the Bush administration. Touching on issues of masculinity as they pertain to current events, the book discusses such timely topics as post-9/11 politics, "self-made" masculinities (including those of Internet entrepreneurs), presidential campaigns, and gender politics. It also covers contemporary debates about fatherlessness, the biology of male aggression, and pop psychologists like John Gray and Dr. Laura. Outlining the various ways in which manhood has been constructed and portrayed in America, this engaging history is ideal as a main text for courses on masculinity or as a supplementary text for courses in gender studies and cultural history. |
From inside the book
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Page 5
10 Such a bold claim does not mean that women are incidental to men ' s efforts
to prove their manhood . Far from it . As I will show in the pages that follow , men
often go to elaborate lengths and take extraordinary risks to prove their manhood
...
10 Such a bold claim does not mean that women are incidental to men ' s efforts
to prove their manhood . Far from it . As I will show in the pages that follow , men
often go to elaborate lengths and take extraordinary risks to prove their manhood
...
Page 6
And many of our actions , on both the public and private stages , have been
efforts to ward off these demons , to silence these fears . I argue that there have
been certain patterns to these actions : American men try to control themselves ;
they ...
And many of our actions , on both the public and private stages , have been
efforts to ward off these demons , to silence these fears . I argue that there have
been certain patterns to these actions : American men try to control themselves ;
they ...
Page 124
83 TR consistently opposed coeducation and praised G . Stanley Hall ' s efforts to
stem the tide of feminization . Although he supported woman suffrage “ tepidly , ”
he was more fervent in his support of women as mothers and furious at college ...
83 TR consistently opposed coeducation and praised G . Stanley Hall ' s efforts to
stem the tide of feminization . Although he supported woman suffrage “ tepidly , ”
he was more fervent in his support of women as mothers and furious at college ...
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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 | 11 |
SelfControl and Fantasies of Escape | 30 |
Captains of Industry White Collars and | 57 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
American argued Artisan became become believed body boys called celebrated century character child Christian cited City Civil claimed course cultural decades domestic economic efforts equality especially example experience expressed father fear feel female feminization fraternal frontier gender George girls groups hand hero Heroic homosexuality increasingly industrial John labor less liberation lives look magazine male man's manhood manly masculinity mean men's middle-class moral mother movement natural never observed offered organization parents percent perhaps physical play political popular Press problems prove responsibility role seemed Self-Made sense sexual social society sons success things traditional transformed turn University University Press virtues western woman women workers writes wrote York young
References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | Manhood in America: A Cultural History |
| Authors | Michael S. Kimmel, Professor Michael Kimmel |
| Edition | 2, illustrated |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2006 |
| Original from | the University of Virginia |
| Digitized | 9 Jul 2008 |
| ISBN | 0195181131, 9780195181135 |
| Length | 322 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |