Masculinity Lessons

Masculinity, as both performed and studied, continues to be a particularly productive site for understanding cultural dynamics. Contemporary work within women’s and gender studies programs recognizes that potential, regularly exploring masculine, bisexual, and transgendered subjectivities in the classroom and in scholarship. This collection of essays on masculinity offers a unique perspective on the topic by featuring articles ranging from early work in biological science and gender behavior to contemporary sociocultural readings of feminist pedagogy, gender violence, and global masculinities. The anthology provides specific insight into critical conversations on masculinity as they have unfolded over time and in the pages of Feminist Formations. Structured around highly readable essays on a wide range of topics and disciplines, it provides a basic introduction to the question of masculinity before moving on to studies of masculinity, science, and the body. The volume closes with two parts that discuss performing masculinity in global and domestic contexts. This survey of masculinity relates to a number of diverse subject areas, including biology, film, literature, economics, and political science. As such, the book is ideal both as a primary text in women’s and gender studies courses and as a reference for faculty and students outside the discipline applying gender issues to their teaching and research.

There's no wrong way to be a woman. There are countless wrong ways to be a man. James Breakwell should know. He's tried just about all of them. Journalism. Pig ownership. Felony lawn gnome theft. Whatever masculinity is supposed to be, this can't be it. But can you really fail at something no one can quite define? Apparently. Now, in a series of funny, sharply observed, and occasionally poignant essays, everyone's favorite internet-famous father of four daughters lays down a lifetime of lessons in what it means to be a man. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll wonder what really happened to those creepy lawn gnomes on that deserted country road. (Spoiler alert: They're right behind you.) If you ever wanted to know how to fail at altruism, dodge the priesthood, and stumble your way into unexpected wisdom, this book is for you. How to Be a Man (Whatever that Means) presents a vision of manhood that looks very different from what you'll see on TV. And that's a good thing. Probably.

This book offers a provocative sociological examination of masculinity, class and music education within the context of a unique and fascinating culture: the classical musical world of choirboys. The myriad cultural meanings embodied in the ‘boy voice’ are unravelled through compelling musical narratives of young choirboys, their mothers, and their teachers. The book investigates how boys negotiate dominant gender-class discourses and the various pedagogies involved in producing middle-class masculinities during primary school and early years contexts. Drawing on the theoretical resources of Bourdieu to develop the concept of ‘musical habitus’, the continued symbolic distinction of the choirboy is analysed in order to better understand how culture is simultaneously reproduced and evolving through music. This interdisciplinary work at the juncture of pedagogy and culture will appeal to social science researchers, educators and arts practitioners interested in the sociocultural dynamics of music.

“Sam Keen is one of the most creative, profound thinkers of our time. I personally have learned and benefited immensely from his books. He brings to the men's movement a new kind of practical wisdom that should help both men and women.”—John Bradshaw, author of Homecoming How does one become a “real man”? By joining a fraternity? Getting a letter in football? Conquering a lot of women? Making a lot of money? With traditional notions of manhood under attack, today's men (and women) are looking for a new vision of masculinity. In this groundbreaking book, Sam Keen offers an inspiring guide for men seeking new personal ideals of strength, potency, and warrior-ship in their lives. What does it really mean to be a man? Fire in the Belly answers that question by daringly confronting outdated models that impoverish, injure, and alienate men. It shows instead how men can find their own path to understanding the unique mysteries of being male and in the process rediscover a new vitality and virility that will energize every aspect of their lives. Here is a look at men at work, at play, at war, and in love, moving from brokenness to wholeness and building nurturing, satisfying relationships with one another, their mates, and their families. At no time in history have there been so many men looking for new roles, new attitudes, and new ways of being. In this powerful and empowering book, author Sam Keen retells for modern times the ancient story of the search for what it means to be a man—a man with fire in his belly and passion in his heart. “This book taught me things i didn't know, thawed out some feelings that had been frozen, and made me remember things I thought I wanted to forget. The growing men's movement has added a voice and a book that captures the problems of being male and the promises of manhood achieved. I didn't want it to end.”—John Lee, author of The Flying Boy

Through examining practices of torture, extra-judicial assassination, and first person accounts of soldiers on the ground, Bonnie Mann develops a new theory of gender.

Annotation Through an exploration of a boys' baseball league in a gentrifying neighbourhood of Philadelphia, this book reveals the accommodations and tensions that characterize multicultural encounters in contemporary US public life. Protecting Home offers an account for racial accommodation in a space that was previously known for conflict and exclusion.

There is a significant problem in our schools: too many boys are struggling. The list of things to concern teachers is long. Disappointing academic results, a lack of interest in studying, higher exclusion rates, increasing mental health issues, sexist attitudes, an inability to express emotions.... Traditional ideas about masculinity are having a negative impact, not only on males, but females too. In this ground-breaking book, Matt Pinkett and Mark Roberts argue that schools must rethink their efforts to get boys back on track. Boys Don’t Try? examines the research around key topics such as anxiety and achievement, behaviour and bullying, schoolwork and self-esteem. It encourages the reader to reflect on how they define masculinity and consider what we want for boys in our schools. Offering practical quick wins, as well as long-term strategies to help boys become happier and achieve greater academic success, the book: offers ways to avoid problematic behaviour by boys and tips to help teachers address poor behaviour when it happens highlights key areas of pastoral care that need to be recognised by schools exposes how popular approaches to "engaging" boys are actually misguided and damaging details how issues like disadvantage, relationships, violence, peer pressure, and pornography affect boys’ perceptions of masculinity and how teachers can challenge these. With an easy-to-navigate three-part structure for each chapter, setting out the stories, key research, and practical solutions, this is essential reading for all classroom teachers and school leaders who are keen to ensure male students enjoy the same success as girls.

In this deeply learned book, poet and translator Robert Bly offers nothing less than a new vision of what it is to be a man.Bly's vision is based on his ongoing work with men and reflections on his own life. He addresses the devastating effects of remote fathers and mourns the disappearance of male initiation rites in our culture. Finding rich meaning in ancient stories and legends, Bly uses the Grimm fairy tale "Iron John," in which the narrator, or "Wild Man," guides a young man through eight stages of male growth, to remind us of archetypes long forgotten-images of vigorous masculinity, both protective and emotionally centered.Simultaneously poetic and down-to-earth, combining the grandeur of myth with the practical and often painful lessons of our own histories, Iron John is a rare work that will continue to guide and inspire men-and women-for years to come.

Kojo Baffoe embodies what it is to be a contemporary African man. Of Ghanaian and German heritage, he was raised in Lesotho and moved to South Africa at the age of 27. Forever curious, Kojo has the enviable ability to simultaneously experience moments intimately and engage people (and their views) sincerely, while remaining detached enough to think through his experiences critically. He has earned a reputation as a thinker, someone who lives outside the box and free of the labels that society seeks to place on us. Listen to Your Footsteps is an honest and, at times, raw collection of essays from a son, a father, a husband, a brother and a man deeply committed to doing the internal work. Kojo reflects on losing his mother as a toddler, being raised by his father, forming an identity, living as an immigrant, his tussles with substance abuse, as well as his experiences of fatherhood, marriage and making a career in a fickle industry. He gives an extended glimpse into the experiences that make boys become men, and the battles that make men discover what they are made of, all the while questioning what it means to be ‘a man’.