It is commonly observed that masculinity is in crisis nowadays. What has brought this about, and how is the problem being represented and analyzed discursively? This work addresses these questions in the course of introducing readers to some dominant discourses about masculinity currently associated with the academic institutionalization of men's studies, which has developed out of both feminist theory and gay political activist theory in the 1960s. "Masculinity" is treated here not as a singular essence common to all men at all times but as a culturally variable construction which results in a wide range of masculinities and male identities, some of which meet with disapproval in the kind of patriarchal culture which this book critiques. Topics discussed include phallocentrism, male sexuality (both heterosexual and homosexual), and socially marginal identities such as homosexuals and cross-dressers. In addition to describing and critiquing the discourse of masculinities at this theoretical level, the book also analyzes the representation of masculinities in a wide range of texts.
These include Bartok's opera "Bluebeard's castle", the films "Tootsie" and "Some Like it Hot" and recent media reports of the legal consequences of publishing without his consent a nude photograph of a Rugby League player.
- ISBN13 9780522845457
- Publish Date 30 June 1990
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 23 April 2007
- Publish Country AU
- Imprint Melbourne University Press
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 114
- Language English