The History of Men

Michael S. Kimmel

Description

In this collection, one of the world's leading scholars in the field of masculinity studies explores the historical construction of American and British masculinities. Tracing the emergence of American and British masculinities, the forms they have taken, and their development over time, Michael S. Kimmel analyzes the various ways that the ideology of masculinity—the cultural meaning of manhood—has been shaped by the course of historical events, and, in turn, how ideas about masculinity have also served to shape those historical events. He also considers newly emerging voices of previously marginalized groups such as women, the working class, people of color, gay men, and lesbians to explore the marginalized and de-centered notions of masculinity and the political processes and dynamics that have enabled this marginalization to occur.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1 Invisible Masculinity

American Masculinities
2 Born to Run: Fantasies of Male Escape from Rip Van Winkle to Robert Bly
3 Consuming Manhood: The Feminization of American Culture and the Recreation of the Male Body, 1832–1920
4 Baseball and the Reconstitution of American Masculinity, 1880–1920
5 Men’s Responses to Feminism at the Turn of the Century
6 The Cult of Masculinity: American Social Character and the Legacy of the Cowboy
7 From “Conscience and Common Sense” to “Feminism for Men”: Pro-Feminist Men’s Rhetoric of Support for Women’s Equality

British Masculinities
8 From Lord and Master to Cuckold and Fop: Masculinity in 17th-Century England

Mundus Foppensis and The Levellers
9 “Greedy Kisses” and “Melting Extasy”: Notes on the Homosexual World of Early 18th-Century England as Found in Love Letters Between a certain late Nobleman and the famous Mr. Wilson

Love Letters Between a certain late Nobleman and the famous Mr. Wilson . . .

Notes
References
Index

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791483824
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

THE HISTORY OF MEN

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THE HISTORY OF MEN Essays in the History of American and British Masculinities

Michael S. Kimmel

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2005 Michael S. Kimmel

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including elec tronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, record ing, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Dana Foote Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Kimmel, Michael S. The history of men : essays in the history of American and British masculinities / Michael S. Kimmel p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–7914–6339–7 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 0–7914–6340–0 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Men—United States. 2. Men—Great Britain. 3. Masculinity—United States. 4. Masculinity—Great Britain. 5. Sex role—United States. 6. Sex role—United States. I. Title.

HQ1090.3.K552 2005 305.31'0973—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2004060670

For Lillian and Hank, and the families we create

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Preface

Acknowledgments

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Invisible Masculinity

Contents

Introduction

American Masculinities

Born to Run: Fantasies of Male Escape from Rip Van Winkle to Robert Bly

Consuming Manhood: The Feminization of American Culture and the Recreation of the Male Body, 1832–1920

Baseball and the Reconstitution of American Masculinity, 1880–1920

Men’s Responses to Feminism at the Turn of the Century

The Cult of Masculinity: American Social Character and the Legacy of the Cowboy

From “Conscience and Common Sense” to “Feminism for Men”: ProFeminist Men’s Rhetoric of Support for Women’s Equality

British Masculinities

From Lord and Master to Cuckold and Fop: Masculinity in 17thCentury England

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1

3

3

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7

6

7

1

3

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1

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Contents

M UNDUS F OPPENSISAND T HE L EVELLERS

“Greedy Kisses” and “Melting Extasy”: Notes on the Homosexual World of Early 18thCentury England as Found in Love Letters Between a certain late Nobleman and the famous Mr. Wilson

L OVE L ETTERS B ETWEEN A CERTAIN LATE N OBLEMAN AND THE FAMOUS M R . W ILSON . . .

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9

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Index

References

253

231

241

Notes

Preface

The title of this collection,The History of Men,is intended to be somewhat ironic. The essays contained here hardly constitute a fullscale history of American and British men. Indeed, much of my historical work has been to join with others in beginning such a project, to begin to see historical devel opments involving men through a gender lens—much the way feminist women had been viewing women’s historical and contemporary experiences for the past three decades. The title is also intended to be somewhat provocative. In no way is a his torical interrogation of American and British masculinities the same thing as a history of actual, corporealmen.These essays investigate the various ways that the ideology of masculinity—the cultural meanings of manhood—have been shaped by the course of historical events, and in turn, how ideas about masculinity have also served to shape those historical events. (I emphasize this only because the single negative review of my book,Manhood in America,con fused the two, as a graduate student in creative writing seemed incapable of understanding the distinction betweenmenandmanhood,and thus accused me of writing a onedimensional history of men.) Even though it is about masculinities and not about men, this work can not even begin to encompass the history of the idea of masculinity in Britain and the United States. In part, I think, it’s because the field of Gender Stud ies has expanded so dramatically over the two decades in which these essays were written. It’s an exciting time in intellectual history, as the voices of those who have been so long silenced and marginalized are finally being heard. Women, workingclass people, people of color, gay men, and lesbians are all demanding to be included in the historical pageant; indeed their silencing and marginalization constitute some of the most important stories in that great historical narrative. These groups are at last becoming historically and cultur ally visible. This struggle has opened a space for those who have historically been superordinateto begin to retheorize their invisibility. While white people, men, heterosexuals, and middleclass people have been hypervisible—indeed, the traditional narrative contains nothing but those groups—these superordinate groups have also been invisible asspecifically constituted groups.To be white, or male, or heterosexual was to be “American,” to occupy the only raced, gen dered, or sexual space available in the great story. In a sense, what happens to superordinates is the obverse of what hap pens to subordinates. For years, minorities and women would try and explain

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