by EricAnderson (Author), RoryMagrath (Author)
Men and Masculinities is a research-informed textbook designed to introduce students to the lives of men and their changing masculinities. This is accomplished by examining primarily the sociological literature into the construction of masculinities, but also the psychological and biological. It is a bold and comprehensive scrutiny of masculinities in ways that other masculinity textbooks are not.
Individual chapters of Men and Masculinities examine what it means to socially and psychologically construct masculinity; what biologists and other scientists have to say about masculinity; and how we can make sense of research laying claim to causation. Other chapters examine the history and current theorizing of masculinities, as well as explaining how masculinity scholarship became imbedded within the social sciences. A chapter on the Gender Paradox highlights the difficulty of laying claim to a purely sociological account of gender, while mapping the rapidly changing notions of millennials' masculinity highlights the efficacy of the social.
More controversial chapters examine the privileges and disadvantages of being masculine, the harm that men cause to themselves and society, and the good that men do for their families and society. There is a thorough analysis of male privilege and peril in occupation and education, and a chapter examining how changing masculinities are leading to wholesale changes in millennial men's sexualities.
This textbook examines research from all sides of academic and cultural debates and is thus sure to unsettle taken-for-granted notions, myths and stereotypes of men and their masculinities.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 296
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 30 May 2019
ISBN 10: 1138081809
ISBN 13: 9781138081802
This engaging and accessibly-written textbook has a unique framework to study men and their masculinities in Western society. Truly interdisciplinary, it introduces the student reader to the theories, research, and debates about men within gender politics. This textbook is perhaps unique for masculinity studies because it stimulates student learning by not only examining classical men's studies research that focuses on men's harms and men's advantages, but it provides an investigation of men's good, and men's disadvantages. It is well-balanced, provocative, research-informed, and sure to keep the student reading.
- Mark McCormack, Professor of Sociology, Roehampton University, UK
This is a mandatory textbook, offering a comprehensive view on issues relevant to understanding masculinity, at a time when they are frequently misrepresented or swept under the rug. It bravely goes beyond the purely social constructionist view that dominates any discussion of gender today.
- Debra W. Soh, PhD, sex columnist for Playboy.com and The Globe and Mail