Men and Masculinities current issue

En-trenched Manhood: War and Constructions of Masculinity in George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia

Karpinski, E. C. — 2008-08-07

Using feminist approaches to life writing and subjectivity elaborated by Sidonie Smith, Leigh Gilmore, and Marlene Kadar, this article examines George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia as an example of complex and conflicting negotiations of masculinity in the extreme situations of war and political trauma. Orwell's constructions of male subjectivity reveal both complicity and resistance to traditional discourses of militarism and are less monolithic than usually assumed in feminist interpretations of his work. Orwell's male subject is viewed as a site of contradictory interpellations of ethnicity, class, and physicality of the body. Finally, it is argued that through his rhetoric, Orwell manipulates hegemonic and nonhegemonic notions of manhood and sacrifices a heroic potential of his war narrative to increase his political credibility in the cause of a socialist revolution.

Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't: Tensions in Nicaraguan Masculinities as Barriers to Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion

Sternberg, P., White, A., Hubley, J. H. — 2008-08-07

This article documents the authors' efforts to listen to Nicaraguan men and to explore with them the foundations of their sexual behavior and masculinities. In 1999 and 2000, the authors conducted focus groups involving ninety men from the Pacific side of Nicaragua. From analysis of the text of these interviews, five discourses were identified: a traditional patriarchal discourse (machismo), a Catholic discourse, a Western progressive (liberal feminist) discourse, a pro-feminist discourse, and a medical discourse. The authors argue that these discourses construct a series of tensions within Nicaraguan masculinities that greatly affect Nicaraguan men's ability to play a role in change and suggest strategies through which the men may be helped to resolve these tensions and therefore play an active role in the social and political changes that are profoundly affecting the positions of both women and men in Nicaraguan society.

Presidential Wounds: The JFK Assassination and the White Male Body

Warren, C. A. — 2008-08-07

Much of the literature about the assassination of John F. Kennedy focuses on and fetishizes the physical body of the president. This article examines how the president's wounded body—as represented in the Zapruder film and the autopsy photos especially— has become the subject of an enduring pornography of violence. In particular, the essay considers how his body has aroused in some white men feelings of not only horror and anxiety but also of exhilaration and guilty pleasure. By studying these contradictory impulses at work, we can draw closer to understanding why the damaged white male body has become, since the 1960s, an object of fantasy for many thousands of Americans.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Will Truman?: The Feminization of Gay Masculinities on Will & Grace

Linneman, T. J. — 2008-08-07

Although many gay men do not engage in effeminate behavior, they still may be feminized in social interaction. This article illustrates the importance of this distinction through a two-method study of the popular sitcom Will & Grace. The show includes multiple representations of gay masculinities, from the effeminate gay man to the more masculine "very straight gay." However, a comprehensive content analysis shows that both gay primary characters frequently are feminized by other characters on the show, often in efforts to castigate them. Very few of these feminizing moments occur as a result of the characters acting in effeminate ways, thus emphasizing the immanent femininity of gay men. Focus group participants' interpretations of this phenomenon include obliviousness to these moments, anger over their inclusion, and acceptance of their role in the show and in real gay life.

Inclusive Masculinity in a Fraternal Setting

Anderson, E. — 2008-08-07

This ethnographic research uses thirty-two in-depth interviews and two years of participant observation on a large chapter of a national fraternity to examine the construction of masculinity among heterosexual men. Whereas previous studies of masculine construction maintain that most men in fraternities attempt to bolster their masculinity through the approximation of requisites of hegemonic masculinity, this research shows that there also exists a more inclusive form of masculinity institutionalized in the fraternal system: one based on social equality for gay men, respect for women, and racial parity and one in which fraternity men bond over emotional intimacy.

Three Generations of Yankees: Masculinity, Memory, and War in an American Family, 1842-1975

Gorham, D. — 2008-08-07

This paper addresses the connection between war and masculinity through a case study of three generations of men in one family—the author's own. Gorham's great-grandfather, Charles Edward Gorham, born in 1842, served in the Union army during the Civil War. Her grandfather Henry Wilson Gorham wished he could have served in the First World War. Her father, postwar novelist Charles Orson Gorham, served in the Second World War. Using such primary sources as the Charles O. Gorham papers housed at the Howard Gottlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University; family papers in her possession; local history sources in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; as well as secondary literature on a variety of topics; Gorham presents an account of the experience of these three men. The case study is intended to contribute to a wider analysis of the intersections between dominant American conceptions of masculinity on the one hand, and war and violence on the other.

Book Review: de la Mora, Sergio. (2006). Cinemachismo: Masculinities and Sexuality in Mexican Film. Austin: University of Texas Press

Irwin, R. M. — 2008-08-07

Book Review: Horlacher, S. (2006). Masculinities: Konzeptionen von Mannlichkeit im Werk von Thomas Hardy und D. H. Lawrence. Gunter Narr Verlag, Tubingen, 721 pp., 78,00

Reichardt, U. — 2008-08-07

Book Review: Espana-Maram, L. (2006). Creating Masculinity in Los Angeles's Little Manila: Working-Class Filipinos and Popular Culture, 1920s-1950s. New York: Columbia University Press

Bonus, R. — 2008-08-07

Book Review: Gallagher, M. (2006). Action Figures: Men, Action Films, and Contemporary Adventure Narratives. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan

Donovan, B. W. — 2008-08-07

Book Review: Mansfield, H. C. (2006). Manliness. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press

Ritter, G. — 2008-08-07

Book Review: Phillips, K. J. (2006). Manipulating Masculinity: War and Gender in Modern British and American Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Lea, D. — 2008-08-07