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Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Films, cinema
The superhero permeates popular culture from comic books to film
and television to internet memes, merchandise, and street art.
Toxic Masculinity asks what kind of men these heroes are and if
they are worthy of the unbalanced amount of attention. Contributors
to the volume investigate how the (super)hero in popular culture
conveys messages about heroism and masculinity, considering the
social implications of this narrative within a cultural
(re)production of dominant, hegemonic values and the possibility of
subaltern ideas, norms, and values to be imagined within that
(re)production. Divided into three sections, the volume takes an
interdisciplinary approach, positioning the impact of
hypermasculinity on toxic masculinity and the vilification of
"other" identities through such mediums as film, TV, and print
comic book literature. The first part, "Understanding Super Men",
analyzes hegemonic masculinity and the spectrum of hypermasculinity
through comics, television, and film, while the second part, "The
Monstrous Other", focuses on queer identity and femininity in these
same mediums. The final section, "Strategies of Resistance", offers
criticism and solutions to the existing lack of diversity through
targeted studies on the performance of gender. Ultimately, the
volume identifies the ways in which superhero narratives have
promulgated and glorified toxic masculinity and offers alternative
strategies to consider how characters can resist the hegemonic
model and productively demonstrate new masculinities. With
contributions by Daniel J. Connell, Esther De Dauw, Craig Haslop,
Drew Murphy, Richard Reynolds, Janne Salminen, Karen Sugrue, and
James C. Taylor.
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