It can be said that societies today know little of how gender, sexuality and love interconnect in dissimilar contexts, and how they are collectively shaped by social structures. Underpinned by the theoretical writings of Michel Foucault, Masculinities, Sexualities and Love examines a range of empirical data, including interviews with gay and bisexual men, to understand the ways in which love is constructed and conceptualized. Clearly written, the book is grounded in personal narratives and intimate stories of love, hurt, pain and heartbreak, including the author's own experiences; and analysed using theoretical frameworks such as hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and post-structuralism. Furthermore, the reader will also find insightful discourse analysis of popular films, such as Fifty Shades of Grey and The Girl on the Train, to examine the construction of love through film. Forming a timely intervention, Masculinities, Sexualities and Love offers a fresh perspective on the sociology of love and will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Gender and Sexuality Studies, Cultural Studies and Sociology.

"Male Confessions" examines how men open their intimate lives and thoughts to the public through confessional writing. This book examines writings--by St. Augustine, a Jewish ghetto policeman, an imprisoned Nazi perpetrator, and a gay American theologian--that reflect sincere attempts at introspective and retrospective self-investigation, often triggered by some wounding or rupture and followed by a transformative experience. Krondorfer takes seriously the vulnerability exposed in male self-disclosure while offering a critique of the religious and gendered rhetoric employed in such discourse. The religious imagination, he argues, allows men to talk about their intimate, flawed, and sinful selves without having to condemn themselves or to fear self-erasure. Herein lies the greatest promise of these confessions: by baring their souls to judgment, these writers may also transcend their self-imprisonment.

The chapters in this edited collection examine how the culture of masculinity intersects with issues of health, homophobia, and the suppression and silencing of anxieties about body image among men and boys. Examining the bodily dividends and trade-offs associated with male participation in physical activity is central to understanding how educators in particular might better engage all boys in healthy life practices, not only those privileged by muscularity and physicality. Contributions explore evidence of intimidation and body fears that is largely unheard and unexplored in locker rooms and classrooms. Introducing critical perspectives emerging from current evidence-based international research to shed light on curricular and policy initiatives aimed at producing healthy children, this book will powerfully inform and provoke discussion.

"Male Confessions" examines how men open their intimate lives and thoughts to the public through confessional writing. This book examines writings--by St. Augustine, a Jewish ghetto policeman, an imprisoned Nazi perpetrator, and a gay American theologian--that reflect sincere attempts at introspective and retrospective self-investigation, often triggered by some wounding or rupture and followed by a transformative experience. Krondorfer takes seriously the vulnerability exposed in male self-disclosure while offering a critique of the religious and gendered rhetoric employed in such discourse. The religious imagination, he argues, allows men to talk about their intimate, flawed, and sinful selves without having to condemn themselves or to fear self-erasure. Herein lies the greatest promise of these confessions: by baring their souls to judgment, these writers may also transcend their self-imprisonment.

In this risk-taking book, a major feminist philosopher engages the work of the actor and director who has progressed from being the stereotypical "man's man" to pushing the boundaries of the very genres-the Western, the police thriller, the war or boxing movie-most associated with American masculinity. Cornell's highly appreciative encounter with the films directed by Clint Eastwood revolve around the questions "What is it to be a good man?" and "What is it to be, not just an ethical person, but specifically an ethical man?" Focusing on Eastwood as a director rather than as an actor or cultural icon, she studies Eastwood in relation to major philosophical and ethical themes that have been articulated in her own life's work. In her fresh and revealing readings of the films, Cornell takes up pressing issues of masculinity as it is caught up in the very definition of ideas of revenge, violence, moral repair, and justice. Eastwood grapples with this involvement of masculinity in and through many of the great symbols of American life, including cowboys, boxing, police dramas, and ultimately war-perhaps the single greatest symbol of what it means (or is supposed to mean) to be a man. Cornell discusses films from across Eastwood's career, from his directorial debut with Play Misty for Me to Million Dollar Baby. Cornell's book is not a traditional book of film criticism or a cinematographic biography. Rather, it is a work of social commentary and ethical philosophy. In a world in which we seem to be losing our grip on shared symbols, along with community itself, Eastwood's films work with the fragmented symbols that remain to us in order to engage masculinity with the most profound moral and ethical issues facing us today.

Sexuality, religion and faith often have complex and conflicting interactions, on both personal and societal levels. Numerous studies have been conducted on queer subjects, but they have predominantly focused on 'Western' expressions of faith and queer identities. This book contributes to the wider scholarship on queer subjects by drawing on actual lived experiences of self-identifying gay and bisexual men in Malaysia. It discusses what we can learn from the realities of their lives that intersect with their religious, spiritual, theological or humanistic values in an Asian context. Analysed within the critical frameworks of queer theory and queer sexual theology, this study divulges the meanings ascribed to sexual identities and practices, as well as conceptualisations of masculinity, sexual desire, love and intimate physical connections. It also lays bare the complex negotiations between gender, desire and spirit, and how they can affect one another. Tying fascinating case studies and underexplored Asian theologies with wider conversations around sexuality and faith, this book will be of significant interest to scholars working in religious studies, theology, queer studies, sexuality studies and Asian studies.

The question of Muslim identity-and, more specifically, Muslim masculinities, political loyalty, and action-has become the central pivot for the debate on the place of Islam in the West, state polices on multiculturalism, and even foreign policy towards the Middle East. Young, western-born Muslim men are central figures in these questions, yet their lives and identities remain poorly understood. Political Islam and Masculinity: Muslim Men in Australia reveals important and timely insights into why young Muslim men, often from very similar social backgrounds, are pursuing such dramatically different political paths in the name of Islam. Based on an unprecedented depth of engagement and quality of sources, this book examines the key social influences behind exceptional examples of political action by young Australian Muslim men who have extended their reach into the international realm, from the streets of Jakarta to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq.

Gender is widely recognized as an important and useful lens for the study of International Relations. However, there are few books that specifically investigate masculinity/ies in relation to world politics. Taking a feminist-inspired understanding of gender as its starting point, the book: * explains that gender is both an asymmetrical binary and a hierarchy; * shows how masculinization works via 'nested hierarchies' of domination and subordination; * explores the imbrication of masculinities with the nation-state and great-power politics; * develops an understanding of the arms trade with commercial processes of militarization. Written in an accessible style, with suggestions for further reading, this book is an invaluable resource for students and teachers applying 'the gender lens' to global politics.

With essays ranging in topic from the films of Neil LaBute to the sexual politics of Major League Baseball, this diverse collection of essays examines the multi-faceted media images of contemporary masculinity from a variety of perspectives and academic disciplines. The book's first half focuses on the issue of racialized masculinity and its various manifestations, with essays covering, among other topics, the re-imagining of Asian American masculinity in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow and the ever-present image of black male buffoonery in the neo-minstrel performances of VH1's Flavor of Love. The book's second half explores the issue of contemporary mediated performance and the cultural politics of masculinity, with essays focusing on popular media representations of men in a variety of gendered roles, from homemakers and househusbands to valorous war heroes and athletic demigods.

Exploring how understandings of masculinity were constructed by British First World war servicemen through examination of their personal narratives, including letters home from the front and wartime diaries. This book presents a nuanced investigation of masculine identity in Britain during and after the First World War.

What does it mean to be a man, to be manly? How has this changed throughout history? This text examines the manly stereotype, which stresses courage and athletic comportment, which from the 18th century onwards became representative of normative modern society.

Are you interested in working with African-American male students to help them succeed beyond the classroom? If so, this book is for you! Capoeira is a martial art created by enslaved Africans in Brazil, and it combines self-defense tactics with dance movements, percussion instruments, freedom songs, sacred rituals, acrobatic maneuvers, and communal philosophies. Through this highly-anticipated follow-up book to Critical Race and Education for Black Males: When Pretty Boys Become Men, Vernon C. Lindsay illustrates how Capoeira can serve as a resource to encourage positive self-awareness, leadership, and social justice activism among African-American males. This book represents thirteen years of Dr. Lindsay's experiences in Capoeira and illustrates how a physical education class evolved into an after-school program aligned with a culturally responsive curriculum. Through research collected at a Chicago elementary school, Capoeira, Black Males, and Social Justice: A Gym Class Transformed shows how teachers can use culturally responsive curricular methods to engage African-American male students in meaningful lessons, conversations, and actions. This book is a must-read for teachers and administrators in urban school settings. It demonstrates the potential impact of schools in an era where race, gender, sexuality, economic status, and age continue to influence opportunities. Courses with the following themes will benefit from this book: critical race theory in education; African Americans and schooling; introduction to urban education; race, sports, and extracurricular programs; critical pedagogy; gender, difference, and curriculum; teaching and learning in the multicultural, multilingual classroom.

In the first comprehensive analysis of Chinese masculinity. Kam Louie uses the concepts of wen (cultural attainment) and wu (martial valour) to explain attitudes to masculinity. This revises most Western analyses of Asian masculinity that rely on the yin-yang binary. Examining classical and contemporary Chinese literature and film, the book also looks at the Chinese diaspora to consider Chinese masculinity within and outside China.

Prominent scholars in gender studies and the critical studies of men consider herein how varied institutional settings and policy influence the development of new models of fatherhood, and determine choices. The authors provide new insights from different historical and societal perspectives into the studies of men as gendered subjects, including the role of transnational and global issues on the practices of fatherhood, and the emergence of men's movements in contesting and reimaging fatherhood.

Is friendship more important than sex? On the Meaning of Friendship Between Gay Men takes readers beyond an exploration of gay sexuality into the importance of friendship, providing deep insights into a range of dimensions, including Mentorship, Spirituality, Survival, and Partnership. Leading gay authors offer a wide range of perspectives in this intimate and very accessible book. Other texts on the subject approach it from a more academic bent. But this one offers readers of all types an easy-to-read, enjoyable way to contemplate what friendship means to them. Seventeen essays grouped into eight chapters discuss diverse perspectives on the crucial and personal issue of friendship, or what Editor Andrew R. Gottlieb calls, "a family of choice." Contributors include: Eric Aoki Michael Biello and Dan Martin Jeffrey Dudgeon E. M. Kahn Neil Kaminsky Vincent A. Lankewish ThomasLawrence Long Ed Madden Jeff Mann Chris Packard Felice Picano Jay Quinn Frederick S. Roden Michael E. Thomas II Marc E. Vargo

Worldwide, men have more opportunities, privileges, and power, yet they also have shorter life expectancies than women. Why is this? Why are there stark differences in the burden of disease, quality of life, and length of life amongst men, by race, ethnicity, (dis)ability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, rurality, and national context? Why is this a largely unexplored area of research? Men's Health Equity is the first volume to describe men's health equity as a field of study that emerged from gaps in and between research on men's health and health inequities. This handbook provides a comprehensive review of foundations of the field; summarizes the issues unique to different populations; discusses key frameworks for studying and exploring issues that cut across populations in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Central America, and South America; and offers strategies for improving the health of key population groups and achieving men's health equity overall. This book systematically explores the underlying causes of these differences, describes the specific challenges faced by particular groups of men, and offers policy and programmatic strategies to improve the health and well-being of men and pursue men's health equity. Men's Health Equity will be the first collection to present the state of the science in this field, its progress, its breadth, and its future. This book is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers, students, and professionals interested in men's health equity, men's health, psychology of men's health, gender studies, public health, and global health.

Find out why the gym has become the hottest place to work up a good sweat! Muscle Boys: Gay Gym Culture is an inside look at the secret world of exercise and fitness that's become one of the country's fastest growing and most influential gay subcultures. The author, a personal trainer on the San Francisco gay gym scene for more than a decade, examines the history, sociology, and influence of bodybuilding, male body image, and beefcake media, and incorporates the results of an online study of nearly 6,000 gay and bisexual men for an in-depth look at gay body culture and its role in modern gay life. Over the past 20 years, the physical and social trends of the gay gym have traveled far from the gay "ghettos" of New York and San Francisco, thanks to the modern gay man's ability to travel - both online and off. What was once a lifestyle for a small number of trendy gay men in big cities has become a way of life for many and the gay gym has become a subculture all its own. Muscle Boys includes interviews and profiles, photographs, and research findings on masculinity, steroids, sex in the locker room, and much more! Muscle Boys examines: the history of the ancient Greek gym culture and the Greek ideal the modern male body ideal - and the gay influences that created it body image in gay culture and its effect on modern gay socialization muscle media - a history of homoerotic muscle-bound photography, pornography, and advertising popular gay cultures and stereotypes (athletes, muscle boys, circuit boys, muscle bears, muscle daddies) the gym, fitness, and HIV fitness and health for gay baby boomers and seniors gay athletics steroids sex in the locker room "and much more" Muscle Boys is a mustread for anyone interested in gay body culture and for academics working in GLBT studies, human sexuality, psychology, and gay athletics.

When Eldridge Cleaver wrote in 1965 that black men "shall have our manhood or the earth will be leveled by our attempt to gain it," he voiced a central strain of Black Power movement rhetoric. In print, as well as on stage and screen, Black Power advocates equated masculinity with their political radicalism and potency. While many observers have criticized the misogyny in this preoccupation, few have noted the challenges to it within the period in the works of authors such as James Baldwin, John Edgar Wideman, Clarence Major, and John Oliver Killens. These and other writers tested the link between masculinity and radical politics. By recovering their voices, Rolland Murray demonstrates that the movement's gender ideals were questioned more fully than scholars have acknowledged. He also examines how the Black Power era's contentious gender politics continue to play a role in contemporary African American culture and scholarship. Murray analyzes the ways in which notions of masculinity were interwoven with essential movement philosophies regarding revolutionary violence, charismatic leadership, radical rhetoric, and black sexuality. Striving to forge a more nuanced account of how masculinist discourse contributed to the movement's overall agenda, he frames masculinity both as a linchpin of the seductive politics of Black Power and as a focal point of dissent by black male authors.

Men drink too much alcohol, eat unhealthy food and avoid going to the doctors until they are seriously ill. Indeed, some say being masculine is bad for men's health. But is the situation so simple? This deeply engaging book explores both the psychological and sociological factors that affect men and their health. It investigates how notions of 'maleness' impact on the individual's approach to health and take-up of services, and provides clear foundations for best practice in care. Part 1 of the book explores and sets the theoretical scene. It asks why disparate fields have not previously been brought together and what theoretical frameworks could be utilised to assist in this process. Parts 2 and 3 consider empirical work in relation to men, health and illness, providing critical rather than simply descriptive accounts. Bringing together an international collection of contributors, Men, Masculinities and Health provides fresh ideas for practice; creating a fertile terrain for future debate that will excite all those interested in gender issues.

The definitions of fatherhood have shifted in the twenty-first century as paternal subjectivities, conflicts, and desires have registered in new ways in the contemporary family. This collection investigates these sites of change through various lenses from popular culture - film, television, blogs, best-selling fiction and non-fiction, stand-up comedy routines, advertisements, newspaper articles, parenting guide-books, and video games. Treating constructions of the father at the nexus of patriarchy, gender, and (post)feminist philosophy, contributors analyze how fatherhood is defined in relation to masculinity and femininity, and the shifting structures of the heteronormative nuclear family. Perceptions of the father as the traditional breadwinner and authoritarian as compared to a more engaged and involved nurturer are considered via representations of fathers from the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, South Africa, and Sweden.

Using an anti-deficit approach, Black Men in the Academy explores narratives of resiliency, success, and achievement for black men in the academy. This book is an important text for scholars interested in promoting success in education for underrepresented minorities.

This book compares the state of knowledge on men and masculinities in 14 countries across Europe, examining the effects of social change, Europeanization, globalization and new post-socialist configurations of Europe for men. Special attention is given to home and work, social exclusion, violence, and health.

Shifts in societal development resulting from economic and technological advancements have had an impact upon the development of human sexuality and behaviour, and with the expansion of developments such as the Internet and associated technologies, it is likely that further societal shifts will ensue. This book recognises the importance of new digital spaces for discourses surrounding sexuality, examining issues such as pornography; sex education and health; LGBTQ sexualities; polysexuality or polyamory; abstention; sexual abuse and violence; erotic online literature; sex therapy; teledildonics; sex and gaming; online dating; celebrity porn; young people and sexual media; and sexting and sextainment, all of which are prominently affected by the use of digital media. With case studies drawn from the US, the UK and Europe, Sex in the Digital Age engages in discussion about the changing acceptance of sex in the 21st century and part played in that by digital media, and considers the future of sex and sexuality in an increasingly digital age. It will therefore appear to scholars across the social sciences with interests in gender and sexuality, new technologies and media and cultural studies.

This book examines cultural representations of African American and Asian American masculinity, focusing primarily on the major works of two influential figures, Ralph Ellison and Frank Chin. It highlights the language of gender and sexuality that writers use to depict the psychological injuries inflicted by racism on men of color - a language that relies on metaphors of emasculation. The book focuses on how homosexuality comes to function as a powerful symbol for a feminizing racism, and explains why this disturbing symbolism proves to be so rhetorically and emotionally effective. This study also explores the influential concept of literature that these writers promote - a view of writing as a cultural and political activity capable of producing the most virile and racially authentic forms of manhood. In comparing African American and Asian American writings, this book offers the first scholarly account of how black and yellow conceptions of masculinity are constructed in relation to each other.

This book sets out to determine how much of the hype about the sensitive, post-feminist "new man" is based on fact, and why such images have proliferated in the media. McMahon focuses on the pivotal issue of men's relationship to the daily work of caring for people, revealing much confusion about the extent and the interpretation of change. Using statistical data, interview transcripts and media analysis, McMahon draws insightful distinctions between pleasure and performance, assistance and responsibility, consumption and production.