Since the early 1990s, evolutionary psychology has produced widely popular visions of modern men and women as driven by their prehistoric genes. In Gender, Sexuality and Reproduction in Evolutionary Narratives, Venla Oikkonen explores the rhetorical appeal of evolutionary psychology by viewing it as part of the Darwinian narrative tradition. Refusing to start from the position of dismissing evolutionary psychology as reactionary or scientifically invalid, the book examines evolutionary psychologists' investments in such contested concepts as teleology and variation. The book traces the emergence of evolutionary psychological narratives of gender, sexuality and reproduction, encompassing: Charles Darwin's understanding of transformation and sexual difference Edward O. Wilson's evolutionary mythology and the evolution-creationism controversy Richard Dawkins' molecular agency and new imaging technologies the connections between adultery, infertility and homosexuality in adaptationist thought. Through popular, literary and scientific texts, the book identifies both the imaginative potential and the structural weaknesses in evolutionary narratives, opening them up for feminist and queer revision. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of the humanities and social sciences, particularly in gender studies, cultural studies, literature, sexualities, and science and technology studies.

Men and Masculinity: The Basics is an accessible introduction to the academic study of masculinity which outlines the key ideas and most pressing issues concerning the field today. Providing readers with a framework for understanding these issues, it explores the ways that masculinity has been understood in the Social Sciences and Humanities to date. Addressing theories which view masculinity as being in a permanent state of flux and crisis, it explores such problem areas as: the male body men and work men and fatherhood male sexuality male violence. With a glossary of key terms, case studies reflecting the most important studies in the field of masculinity research and suggestions for further study, Men and Masculinity: The Basics is an essential read for anyone approaching the study of masculinity for the first time.

As the world changes, so sexual identities are changing. In a context of globalisation, mass communication and technological advances, individuals find themselves able to make lifestyle choices in new and different ways. In this increasingly confusing world, sociologists have argued that identities are in flux, and that traditional patterns of identity and intimacy are being disrupted and reshaped, with all the implications for sexual identities that this suggests. Changing Gay Male Identities draws on the powerful life stories of twenty-one gay men to explore how individuals construct and maintain their sense of self in contemporary society. The book draws upon theoretical debates on topics such as gender, performance, sex, class, camp, race and ethnicity, to explore four aspects of identity: the role of the body in who we are relationships and communities performing in everyday life reconciling different aspects of our selves (such as religion and sexuality). In Changing Gay Male Identities Andrew Cooper assesses the magnitude of these social and sexual changes. He argues that although there are many opportunities for new forms of identity in a changing world, the possibilities can be significantly constrained, and that this has major implications for the freedoms and choices of individuals in contemporary societies. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, sexuality studies, gender studies, and GLBTQ studies.

This book draws upon data collected over an 18 year period with over 1000 boys and young men across Northern Ireland. Providing critical reflections on violence, masculinity and education, it uses the voices and experiences of young men to inform and influence research, practice and policy.

Bodybuilding has become an increasingly dominant part of popular gym culture within the last century. Developing muscles is now seen as essential for both general health and high performance sport. At the more extreme end, the monstrous built body has become a pop icon that continues to provoke fascination. This original and engaging study explores the development of male bodybuilding culture from the nineteenth century to the present day, tracing its transformations and offering a new perspective on its current extreme direction. Drawing on archival research, interviews, participant observation, and discourse analysis, this book presents a critical mapping of bodybuilding's trajectory. Following this trajectory through the wider sociocultural changes it has been a part of, a unique combination of historical and empirical data is used to investigate the aesthetics of bodybuilding and the shifting notions of the good body and human nature they reflect. This book will be fascinating reading for all those interested in the history and culture of bodybuilding, as well as for students and researchers of the sociology of sport, gender and the body.

Masculinities in Contemporary American Culture offers readers a multidisciplinary, intersectional overview of masculinity studies that includes both theoretical and applied lenses. Keith combines current research with historical perspectives to demonstrate the contexts in which masculine identities have come evolved. With an emphasis on popular culture -- particularly film, TV, video games, and music -- this text invites students to examine their gendered sensibilities and discuss the ways in which different forms of media appeal to toxic masculinity.

Men, It's Time to Master your EmotionsToo often Men are told to bottle up how they feel which leads to emotional numbness. Men, take the reins back and master your emotions with this guide to emotional healing. Every man has a deep bed of emotions. Emotions and feelings shouldn't be ignored. To get the great and healthy relationships you desire, you need to change the way that you manage your emotions. David Kundtz has created this full guide to steer you towards emotional healing. Men, master your emotions. Emotions are diverse, learn all of different ways to spot your emotions and how to better express emotions. Become comfortable with your emotions, tune in to the emotions around you, and learn good communication skills. Men, this book is for you. This motivational book is dedicated to teenage boys, young men, fathers, and grandfathers. Build your emotional confidence and your communication skills. The language, tools, and the exercises inside of this book are designed to help you express the deep, vibrant and ever-present emotions that you hold inside of you. Nothing's Wrong is packed with: Processes to identify and master your emotions Information for teenage boys, young men, fathers, and grandfathers Tips and Tools to aide you on your path towards emotional healing If you enjoyed motivational books like Cry Like A Man, Master Your Emotions, or The Mental Toughness, then you'll love Nothing's Wrong.

For every female suicide in Ireland, there are five male suicides. This book is based on fieldwork done in and around Cork, Ireland between 2008 and 2012 among some forty young lads, aged 18-34. This anthropological approach aims to help explain why some groups in a specific society or community are more prone to commit suicide than others. In addition to suicide, this book focuses extensively on related issues such as alcohol, drug abuse, and other self-destructive behaviors prominent within Irish lad culture. This includes peer pressures and loyalties, chauvinistic jargon, homophobic bullying, humor, and the culture of mocking so as to grasp the cultural expectations of this particular form of masculinity. The everyday workings of gender segregation and gender-appropriateness is examined in detail by informants while addressing the underlying question whether increased gender equality-which includes men-could lessen young men's vulnerability to self-destructive behaviors and suicide in Ireland.

A brief commentary on the necessity and the impossibility of black men's participation in the development of black feminist theory and politics, Black Men, Black Feminism examines the basic assumptions that have guided-and misguided-black men's efforts to take up black feminism. Offering a rejoinder to the contemporary study of black men and masculinity in the twenty-first century, Jared Sexton interrogates some of the most common intellectual postures of black men writing about black feminism, ultimately departing from the prevailing discourse on progressive black masculinities. Sexton examines, by contrast, black men's critical and creative work-from Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep to Jordan Peele's Get Out- to describe the cultural logic that provides a limited moral impetus to the quest for black male feminism and that might, if reconfigured, prompt an ethical response of an entirely different order.

"To Raise a Boy is a clear-eyed and sometimes shocking view of the world that we have created for boys, and a call for change." --Peg Tyre, author of the New York Times bestseller The Trouble with Boys "A stunning work of investigative journalism that looks at the systems and structures that have failed our boys." --Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her A journalist's searing investigation into how we teach boys to be men--and how we can do better. How will I raise my son to be different? This question gripped Washington Post investigative reporter Emma Brown, who was at home nursing her six-week-old son when the #MeToo movement erupted. In search of an answer, Brown traveled around the country, through towns urban and rural, affluent and distressed. In the course of her reporting, she interviewed hundreds of people--educators, parents, coaches, researchers, men, and boys--to understand the challenges boys face and how to address them. What Brown uncovered was shocking: 23 percent of boys believe men should use violence to get respect; 22 percent of an incoming college freshman class said they had already committed sexual violence; 58 percent of young adults said they've never had a conversation with their parents about respect and care in sexual relationships. Men are four times more likely than women to die by suicide. Nearly 4 million men experience sexual violence each year. From the reporter who brought Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's story to light, To Raise a Boy combines assiduous reporting, cutting-edge scientific research, and boys' powerful testimonials to expose the crisis in young men's emotional and physical health. Emma Brown connects the dots between educators, researchers, policy makers, and mental health professionals in this tour de force that upends everything we thought we knew about boys. Johns Hopkins chair of the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health Robert Blum says, "The story of boys has yet to be told, and I think it's a really important story." Urgent and revelatory, To Raise a Boy begins to tell that story.

The Gentleman's Magazine was the leading eighteenth-century periodical. By integrating the magazine's history, readers and contents this study shows how 'gentlemanliness' was reshaped to accommodate their social and political ambitions.

An original and timely study of men's experiences of depression in which the author tackles the discursively constructed relationship between the self and depression showing its linguistic and social complexity and analyses the relationship between depression and masculinity.

This book looks at masculinity and markets in the urban South. In ""Brothers of a Vow"", Ami Pflugrad-Jackisch examines secret fraternal organizations in Antebellum Virginia to offer fresh insight into masculinity and the redefinition of social and political roles of white men in the South. Young Virginians who came of age during the antebellum era lived through a time of tremendous economic, cultural, and political upheaval. In a state increasingly pulled between the demands of the growing market and the long-established tradition of unfree labor, Pflugrad-Jackisch argues that groups like the Freemasons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Temperance promoted market-oriented values and created bonds among white men that softened class distinctions. At the same time, these groups sought to stabilize social hierarchies that subordinated blacks and women. Pflugrad-Jackisch examines all aspects of the secret orders - from their bylaws and proceedings to their material culture, to their participation in a wide array of festivals, parades, and civic celebrations. Regarding gender, she shows how fraternal orders helped reinforce an alternative definition of southern white manhood that emphasized self-discipline, moral character, temperance, and success at work. These groups ultimately established a civic brotherhood among white men that marginalized the role of women in the public sphere and bolstered the respectability of white men regardless of class status. ""Brothers of a Vow"" is a nuanced look at how dominant groups craft collective identities, and it adds to our understanding of citizenship and political culture during a period of rapid change.

"Turley presents a thoroughly-researched literay and cultural history of the transgressive pirate figure in the early eighteenth-century."
--"Journal of Folklore Research"

Despite, or perhaps because of, our lack of actual knowledge about pirates, an immense architecture of cultural mythology has arisen around them. Three hundred years of novels, plays, painting, and movies have etched into the popular imagination contradictory images of the pirate as both arch-criminal and anti-hero par excellence. How did the pirate-a real threat to mercantilism and trade in early-modern Britain-become the hypermasculine anti-hero familiar to us through a variety of pop culture outlets? How did the pirate's world, marked as it was by sexual and economic transgression, come to capture our collective imagination?

In Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, Hans Turley delves deep into the archives to examine the homoerotic and other culturally transgressive aspects of the pirate's world and our prurient fascination with it. Turley fastens his eye on historical documents, trial records, and the confessions of pirates, as well as literary works such as Robinson Crusoe, to track the birth and development of the pirate image and to show its implications for changing notions of self, masculinity, and sexuality in the modern era.

Turley's wide-ranging analysis provides a new kind of history of both piracy and desire, articulating the meaning of the pirate's contradictory image to literary, cultural, and historical studies.

From the 14th-century king consorts of Navarre to the modern European prince consorts of the 20th century, the male consort has been a peculiar yet recurrent historical figure. In this impressively broad collection, leading historians of monarchy analyze how male partners of female rulers have negotiated their unique roles throughout history.

The last two decades have seen a significant revolution in fatherhood in Norway and the Nordic countries. Statutory paternity leave has been introduced, men write books about how wonderful it is to be a father, Prime Ministers are photographed holding their babies, new websites are continually appearing for fathers, and most importantly, statistics show that the average man now participates in the care of his children in a completely different way than previously. Fathers seem to have a real desire to take their place in the home, and to be with their families and children.The first study of its kind, this book traces 150 years of the history of fatherhood in Scandinavia and shows how Scandinavian gender equality policy has important implications for the rest of the world. Among other interesting findings, Jorgen Lorentzen reveals that the modern-day rise in equality fathering can be traced back to the 19th century. Ultimately, the main aim of this study is to offer an understanding of fatherhood; how those who wrote, wrote about it, and what their texts can tell us about the changes in the thinking that surrounded this absolutely vital subject.

Many scholars have documented and decried the "crisis" in American masculinity. There is a preponderance of evidence showing that males suffer from many physical, emotional, and social ills due to the gender scripts with which they were raised and which continue to govern men's lives. Throughout the millennia and across cultures, initiation rites of passage have been utilized as an effective means of transitioning young males into manhood. Modern culture suffers from a dearth of rites of passage leaving many boys stuck in puerile attitudes and behaviors and unable to make a wholesome transition into mature masculinity. Crossing into Manhood is a much needed guide on assisting late-adolescent boys' transition into manhood; it proposes a school-based curriculum and rite of passage paradigm to help young men make the difficult passage into manhood. Utilizing resources from diverse academic disciplines, this book surveys the psychoanalytic, the social constructionist, and the essentialist perspectives on masculine gender. As a result, a men's studies curriculum has been formulated-one that offers a balanced bio-psycho-social conceptualization of masculine identity. "Dr. Chris Mason's deftly reasoned and inspiring book arrives at a propitious time for all those who care about boys and their education ... The intellectual harvest of a seasoned and experienced educator with a deep wisdom about boys and schools, Chris Mason's book is an important contribution to that growing body of thinking about practice. It deserves close reading." - Bradley Adams, Executive Director, International Boys' Schools Coalition

What kind of men were missionaries? What kind of masculinity did they represent, in ideology as well as in practice? Presupposing masculinity to be a cluster of cultural ideas and social practices that change over time and space, and not a stable entity with a natural, inherent and given meaning, Kristin Fjelde Tjelle seeks to answer such questions.Using case studies of Norwegian Mission Society members the author argues that missionary masculinity was the result of a complex dialogue between the ideals of male 'self-making' associated with the late nineteenth century and the Christian ideal of self-denial. This masculinity was also the product of the tension between male missionaries' identity as modern professional breadwinners and their identity as 'pre-modern' patriarchs whose calling demanded the integration of their private lives and their public roles as missionaries. Missionary manliness (or appropriate mission masculinity) supported the upward social mobility of Norwegian men from fairly humble backgrounds and, more importantly, gave them power - but power that was always threatened by the dangers of inappropriate mission masculinity - or unmanliness.

..".an overdue first step in recognizing that men's role in contemporary human reproduction - from their gametes to their psyches - has been a neglected realm of scientific and scholarly pursuit." . Robert D. Nachtigall, M.D., Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco

Extensive social science research, particularly by anthropologists, has explored women's reproductive lives, their use of reproductive technologies, and their experiences as mothers and nurturers of children. Meanwhile, few if any volumes have explored men's reproductive concerns or contributions to women's reproductive health: Men are clearly viewed as the "second sex" in reproduction. This volume argues that the marginalization of men is an oversight of considerable proportions, and thereby seeks to break the silence surrounding men's thoughts, experiences, and feelings about their reproductive lives. It sheds new light on male reproduction from a cross-cultural, global perspective, focusing not only upon men in Europe and America but also those in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Both heterosexual and homosexual, married and unmarried men are featured in this volume, which assesses concerns ranging from masculinity and sexuality to childbirth and fatherhood. Thus, men are brought back into the equation, as reproductive partners, progenitors, fathers, nurturers, and decision-makers.

Marcia C. Inhorn is William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs in the Department of Anthropology and the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. She is also the past-president of the Society for Medical Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association. A specialist on infertility and assisted reproductive technologies in the Muslim Middle East, she is the author or editor of six books on the subject.

Tine Tjornhoj-Thomsen is a Social Anthropologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen. She has done extensive research into infertility, reproductive technologies and kinship in Denmark. In 1998 she received a prize for the work relating to her PhD thesis, Stories of Coming into Being: Childlessness, Procreative Technologies and Kinship in Denmark.

Helene Goldberg is a Social Anthropologist whose research on male infertility in Israel has won several prizes. She is associated with the Department of Health Development in Guldborgsund, Denmark, where she focuses on health behavior and lifestyle illnesses.

Maruska la Cour Mosegaard is a Social Anthropologist and has recently finished research on homosexual fatherhood in Denmark. She is currently working at KVINFO, the Danish Center of Information on Women and Gender Research. She is coauthor of a children's book that introduces the various ways children today come into being in single-parent, heterosexual, and homosexual families; it will appear in December 2008 in both Danish and Swedish."

This book discusses the significance of social geography, a multi-dimensional concept encompassing social health, social security and social ethos. It presents the socio-spatial dynamics of the population in India through an understanding of the various issues related to migration, urbanisation, unemployment, poverty and public health. With a thorough analysis of various social indicators relating to health, education, income and employment, the volume presents a detailed picture of the social geography of India. It discusses in detail, The origin, nature and scope of social geography, its relations with other social sciences and applications The nature and importance of social well-being along with welfare geography and the role of welfare state in ensuring social well-being The population of India and its attributes The status and spatial patterns of various social indicators relating to health, education and income and employment The composite indices which aggregate several social indicators such as the Human Development Index, Multidimensionally Poverty Index, Global Hunger Index, Gross National Happiness, Sustainable Developmental Goals Index and Freedom Index in the context of India. This comprehensive book will be useful for students, researchers and teachers of social geography, human geography, population geography, demography and sociology. The book can also be used by students preparing for exams like civil services, UPSC, PSC and other competitive exams.

This book provides wide-ranging commentary on depictions of the black male in mainstream cinema. O'Brien explores the extent to which counter-representations of black masculinity have been achieved within a predominately white industry, with an emphasis on agency, the negotiation and malleability of racial status, and the inherent instability of imposed racial categories. Focusing on American and European cinema, the chapters highlight actors (Woody Strode, Noble Johnson, Eddie Anderson, Will Smith), genres (jungle pictures, westerns, science fiction) and franchises (Tarzan, James Bond) underrepresented in previous critical and scholarly commentary in the field. The author argues that although the characters and performances generated in these areas invoke popular genre types, they display complexity, diversity and ambiguity, exhibiting aspects that are positive, progressive and subversive. This book will appeal to both the academic and the general reader interested in film, race, gender and colonial issues.

Both research and policy on balancing work and family life have tended to focus on mothers' lives. There has been a general lack of comparative research to the complex intersection between old and new forms of masculinity; and between fatherhood, work-life balance, gender relations and children's well-being. As a result, men's fathering roles and their struggle with work-life balance have often been neglected. These cultural challenges should be better theorized within family and social policy research. This volume examines how fathers fulfill their roles both within the family and at work and what institutional support could be of most benefit to them in combining these roles.

Because of his lengthy screen resume that includes almost eighty appearances in such movies as Camille and Waterloo Bridge, as well as a marriage and divorce to actress Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor was a central figure of Hollywood's classical era. Despite this, he can be regarded as a "lost" star, an interesting contradiction given the continued success he enjoyed during his lifetime. In Robert Taylor: Male Beauty, Masculinity, and Stardom in Hollywood, author Gillian Kelly investigates the initial construction and subsequent developments of Taylor's star persona across his thirty-five-year career. By examining concepts of male beauty, men as object of the erotic gaze, white American masculinity, and the unusual longevity of a career initially based on looks, Kelly highlights how gender, masculinity, and male stars and the ageing process affected Taylor's career. Placing Taylor within the histories of both Hollywood's classical era and mid-twentieth-century America, this study positions him firmly within the wider industrial, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts in which he worked. Kelly examines Taylor's film and television work as well as ephemeral material, such as fan magazines, to assess how his on- and off-screen personas were created and developed over time. Taking a mostly chronological approach, Kelly places Taylor's persona within specific historical moments in order to show the complex paradox of his image remaining consistently recognizable while also shifting seamlessly within the Hollywood industry. Furthermore, she explores Taylor's importance to Hollywood cinema by demonstrating how a star persona like his can "fit" so well, and for so long, that it almost becomes invisible and, eventually, almost forgotten.

Tracing the influence of masculinity on fictional form and theme through an era of dizzying social change, this timely new book conducts a close analysis of English novels selected for contrasting definitions of the male gender, from the allegedly "Angry Young Men" to the contemporary confessions of Nick Hornby. The literary period since 1950 is interpreted as one of intense political and stylistic negotiation by male authors with the gendered subject-positions both of fictional characters and those who read about them.