Manhood in America: A Cultural HistoryOxford University Press, 2006 - 322 pages For 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 present 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 65
... rituals of self - mutilation by the men would begin . Warriors would slice open the skin on their chests , pass rawhide skewers through these cuts , and then tie the rawhide to poles . At a signal , they would step back forcefully from ...
... rituals of self - mutilation by the men would begin . Warriors would slice open the skin on their chests , pass rawhide skewers through these cuts , and then tie the rawhide to poles . At a signal , they would step back forcefully from ...
Page 210
... Rituals are deeply embedded in cultural life , and taking them out of that context was at least myopic , if not disingenuous . Mythopoets celebrated cultures with elaborate rituals for men , all the while protesting that such rituals ...
... Rituals are deeply embedded in cultural life , and taking them out of that context was at least myopic , if not disingenuous . Mythopoets celebrated cultures with elaborate rituals for men , all the while protesting that such rituals ...
Page 211
... rituals of the others in his platoon , rituals that include the gang rape and murder of a young Vietnamese woman . Renouncing male bonding through violence and rape immediately brands him as less than a real man , his heterosexuality is ...
... rituals of the others in his platoon , rituals that include the gang rape and murder of a young Vietnamese woman . Renouncing male bonding through violence and rape immediately brands him as less than a real man , his heterosexuality is ...
Contents
The Birth of the SelfMade Man | 11 |
SelfControl and Fantasies of Escape | 30 |
Captains of Industry White Collars and | 57 |
Copyright | |
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