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 But just as Terman's categories and questions seem outdated to us, so will our own standards seem temporary to our successors.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 55
Such prescriptions transformed the carefree tenderness of male friendships in the
nineteenth century as the carefree play of youth was renounced for more
instrumental relationships. The transition to manhood, then, was a sustained loss
as ...
Such prescriptions transformed the carefree tenderness of male friendships in the
nineteenth century as the carefree play of youth was renounced for more
instrumental relationships. The transition to manhood, then, was a sustained loss
as ...
Page 136
Yet for many wilderness explorers or visitors to newly minted dude ranches —
which were often nothing more than failed cattle ranches reopened as consumer
health spas — the West had been transformed into a gigantic theme park, safely
...
Yet for many wilderness explorers or visitors to newly minted dude ranches —
which were often nothing more than failed cattle ranches reopened as consumer
health spas — the West had been transformed into a gigantic theme park, safely
...
Page 240
33 To other liberal critics the demands of corporate life had transformed potential
marketplace men into frightened "little men," as the sociologist C. Wright Mills
called them in White Collar (1953). Mills offered a relentless critique of this new ...
33 To other liberal critics the demands of corporate life had transformed potential
marketplace men into frightened "little men," as the sociologist C. Wright Mills
called them in White Collar (1953). Mills offered a relentless critique of this new ...
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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 |
Captains of Industry White Collars | 81 |
Copyright | |
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