Manhood in America: A Cultural HistoryFree Press, 1996 - 544 pages In 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 But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors.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 19
... nature in which individual morality could emerge , a contrast between virtue born of nature and vice born of luxury and refinement . In the preface to Edgar Huntley , the first work of fiction written by an American specifically about ...
... nature in which individual morality could emerge , a contrast between virtue born of nature and vice born of luxury and refinement . In the preface to Edgar Huntley , the first work of fiction written by an American specifically about ...
Page 56
... natural responsibilities and the moral sensibility ... prove conclusively that her labors should be only of a domestic nature . " 41 What these male workers also realized was that women workers would suppress wages and make it harder ...
... natural responsibilities and the moral sensibility ... prove conclusively that her labors should be only of a domestic nature . " 41 What these male workers also realized was that women workers would suppress wages and make it harder ...
Page 164
... nature and habits of it . A young man is like a male animal after all , and those who object to his rioting like a young bull are in a perpetual quarrel with Nature . " 18 Hall went further than most educators in his evocation of contra ...
... nature and habits of it . A young man is like a male animal after all , and those who object to his rioting like a young bull are in a perpetual quarrel with Nature . " 18 Hall went further than most educators in his evocation of contra ...
Contents
The Birth of the SelfMade Man | 13 |
SelfControl and Fantasies of Escape | 43 |
Captains of Industry White Collars | 81 |
Copyright | |
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