Manly Traditions
The Folk Roots of American Masculinities
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Indiana University Press
Published:2nd Nov '05
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
An insightful look at what it means to be a man in America.
Identifies the folkloric roots of what it means to be a man in America. This volume examines the traditions men inherit and adapt for their own purposes in contemporary life.
Take this test. You think today's sensitive, caring man is: (a) a myth, (b) an oxymoron, or (c) a moron. No matter whether you laugh at this bit of folk humor, its wide circulation bespeaks a modern predicament for American men.
Men's "manly" traditions have been shaken in an age of "sensitivity." Some observers have even referred to a crisis of masculinity for a new generation of boys. In Manly Traditions, established scholars in the fields of folklore, men's studies, and gender studies identify the folkloric roots of what it means to be a man in America. In a lively volume they examine the traditions men inherit and adapt for their own purposes in contemporary life.
Author of several studies of American folklore (e.g., Folk Nation: Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition, CH, Mar'03, 40—4184, and Piled Higher and Deeper: The Folklore of Campus Life, 1990), Bronner (Pennsylvania State Univ., Harrisburg) here brings together a diverse and engaging collection on the contemporary American male experience. Divided into two sections, Manly Displays and Performances and Manly Expressions and Texts, the 12 essays offer case studies that, taken together, explore the wide range of culturally sanctioned masculine behavior at the dawn of the 21st century. Of particular interest are the lucid and thorough essays on African American stepping, Latino culture in South Texas, Japanese American manliness, and gay men's performances in public club scenes. In the introductory essay, Menfolk, Bronner provides a cogent, well-researched analysis of how men behave in groups, and this essay alone is well worth the price of admission. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.—W. Edwards, Longwood University
* Choice(for internal use only until 9/1/0ISBN: 9780253217813
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
416 pages