Masculinities and Culture

By John H. Beynon

Book Overview

An exploration of how masculinities, or ways of being a man, are anchored in time and place; the products of socio-historical and cultural circumstances. The book examines the emergence of a masculinity fit for Empire in the mid to late 19th century and, by way of contrast, the more recent media-driven, commercial New Man and New Lad masculinity. The author considers some of the media discourses shaping masculinities today, and the formation of specific masculinities in specific settings (such as prisons, hospitals and schools) which both define, and in turn are defined by, strongly held conceptions of acceptable masculine behaviour. He concludes by reviewing a range of ways in which masculinities might be researched, from fieldwork and auto/biographical and life history approaches through to semiotics and the use of film and literary texts. This is a comprehensive introduction to contemporary debates concerning masculinities as gendered constructions, along with the means of researching and theorizing them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0335199887
• ISBN13: 9780335199884
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Open University Press
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.8" x 9.1"