Manhood in America : a cultural history / Michael S. Kimmel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kimmel, Michael S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Men--United States--Psychology.

Men.

Masculinity--United States.

Masculinity.

Psychology.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 322 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Summary:

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 idea.

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 mandhood 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.

Contents:

Introduction: Toward a History of Manhood in America 1

Part 1 The Making of the Self-Made Man in America, 1776-1865

Chapter 1 The Birth of the Self-Made Man 11

Chapter 2 Born to Run: Self-Control and Fantasies of Escape 30

Part 2 The Unmaking of the Self-Made Man at the Turn of the Century

Chapter 3 Men at Work: Captains of Industry, White Collars, and the Faceless Crowd 57

Chapter 4 Playing for Keeps: Masculinity as Recreation and the Re-Creation of Masculinity 80

Chapter 5 A Room of His Own: Socializing the New Man 105

Part 3 The New Man in a New Century, 1920-1950

Chapter 6 Muscles, Money, and the M-F Test: Measuring Masculinity Between the Wars 127

Chapter 7 "Temporary About Myself": White-Collar Conformists and Suburban Playboys, 1945-1960 147

Part 4 The Contemporary "Crisis" of Masculinity

Chapter 8 The Masculine Mystique 173

Chapter 9 Wimps, Whiners, and Weekend Warriors: The Contemporary Crisis of Masculinity and Beyond 192

Chapter 10 From Anxiety to Anger Since the 1990s: The "Self-Made Man" Becomes "Angry White Men" 216

Epilogue: Toward Democratic Manhood 254.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 258-308) and index.

ISBN:

0195181131

OCLC:

58729329

Publisher Number:

9780195181135