Rigid notions of masculinity are causing crisis in the global Islamic community. These are articulated from the Qur'an, its commentary, historical precedents and societal, religious and familial obligations. Some Muslims who don't agree with narrow constructs of manliness feel forced to consider themselves secular and therefore outside the religious community. In order to evaluate whether there really is only one valid, ideal Islamic masculinity, The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities explores key figures of the Qur'an and Indian-Pakistani Islamic history, and exposes the precariousness of tight constraints on Islamic manhood. By examining Qur'anic arguments and the strict social responsibilities advocated along with narrow Islamic masculinities, Amanullah De Sondy shows that God and women (to whom Muslim men relate but are different from) often act as foils for the construction of masculinity. He argues the constrainers of masculinity have used God and women to think with and to dominate through and that rigid gender roles are the product of a misguided enterprise: the highly personal relationship between humans and God does not lend itself to the organization of society, because that relationship cannot be typified and replicated. Discussions and debates surrounding Islamic masculinities are quickly finding their place in the study of Islam and Muslims, and The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities makes a vital contribution to this emerging field.

Fathering is a highly contested concept in popular, media, academic and policy discourses, yet in the areas of family studies and men 's studies the leisure component of family life is under-played. This book provides a long overdue and thorough investigation of the relationship between fatherhood, sport, and leisure.

Fathering Through Sport and Leisure investigates what fathers actually do in the time they spend with their children. Leading researchers from the fields of sport, leisure and family studies examine the tensions men encounter as they endeavour to meet the new expectations of fatherhood, and the central role that sport and leisure play in overcoming this. Analyzed in relation to social trends and current policy debates, this unique collection examines fathering in a wide range of contexts including:

• parental expectation and youth sports
• fathers and daughters
• leisure time and couple time in dual earner families
• divorce, fatherhood and leisure.

The book shows how contemporary fathers use sport and leisure to engage with their sons and daughters, achieve emotional closeness and fulfil their own expectations of what it means to be a good father . Drawing on research carried out in the UK, Australia, Canada and the United States, this is a crucial text for anybody with an interest in leisure studies, family studies or fatherhood.

This book examines how, from the late nineteenth century through the 1920s, British policymakers, welfare providers, and working-class men struggled to accommodate men's dependence on the state within understandings of masculine citizenship.

Maligned as "deadbeat dadsor sexually and financially irresponsible, inner-city fathers and overlooked in discussions of poverty and family policy, economically vulnerable nonresident fathers are a greatly misunderstood population. Failing our Fathers summarizes the most recent rigorous and ethnographic research and fills in important gaps with new analyses. The result is a comprehensive picture of who these fathers are, what types of relationships they have with their families and children, and the challenges they face meeting what they, taxpayers and their children and families expect from them. The book argues that in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 Great Mancession, nearly 6 million - almost one of every eleven - men will be unable to provide financial and other kinds of support for their children who live elsewhere. This population is far larger than the inner city, unmarried, Black and Latino men who have been the focus of the debate on disadvantaged fathers. Because so few could reduce the child support obligations that built up during the mass unemployment and incarceration over the previous two decades, they have long-term debts, which they may never be able to pay. Nevertheless, they play active roles as friends, mentors, educators, and disciplinarians for their children and they want to do more. However, they face several challenges, including: time and distance, new family obligations, contentious relationships with children's mothers - who just as often have new partners and children of their own - and personal problems with drugs, alcohol and past or present jail time. Besides requiring these fathers to support their children, we must enable them to do so in ways that parallel how we require and enable vulnerable single mothers to do the same. The book lays out specific reforms required to do this and practical tips for those who are Fathering without Means.

The construction of masculinity is becoming a field of growing interest because it is opening up new and fascinating perspectives, thus adding a further dimension to Gender Studies. However, so far the analysis has focused mostly on homosexuality. By contrast, the author examines social processes and relations that constitute hegemonic masculinity, the central model that attempts to subordinate alternative masculinities, and which is the model of male domination, compulsory monogamy, heterosexuality and reproduction. It is fascinating to follow the author as he gradually unfolds this kind of masculinity in its nearly pure state. Moreover, he involves the reader in his critical reflections on the material and invites him or her to give some thought to such wider questions as whether the hegemonic male is more resistant to change in oral cultures than in urban settings, or up to which point the agents of domination are also its victims. In fact, the author concludes that the hegemonic male is an ideal model practically unattainable by any single man, which exerts over all men a strong controlling power and often forces on them ritualization of everyday behavior that leads to an impoverishment of their lives.

Sociological investigation of modernity, society and everyday life often centre on a predominately urban experience. The research in this book focuses on two areas of growing importance: masculinity as a socially-constructed gender, and the impact of place or space on identity, but considers young men living in areas that are not densely populated--rural or agricultural areas, coastal areas, lowly populated or un-developed areas--and how the characteristics of these places have impacted on their relationships, activities and identities. Examining both representations in film, print and media and ethnographic research methods, the reader is provided with evidence "straight from the horses mouth" and may reflect on the differences between popular representation and imagination and the everyday reality of existing on the physical margins of modern life.

The construction of masculinity is becoming a field of growing interest because it is opening up new and fascinating perspectives, thus adding a further dimension to Gender Studies. However, so far the analysis has focused mostly on homosexuality. By contrast, the author examines social processes and relations that constitute hegemonic masculinity, the central model that attempts to subordinate alternative masculinities, and which is the model of male domination, compulsory monogamy, heterosexuality and reproduction. It is fascinating to follow the author as he gradually unfolds this kind of masculinity in its nearly pure state. Moreover, he involves the reader in his critical reflections on the material and invites him or her to give some thought to such wider questions as whether the hegemonic male is more resistant to change in oral cultures than in urban settings, or up to which point the agents of domination are also its victims. In fact, the author concludes that the hegemonic male is an ideal model practically unattainable by any single man, which exerts over all men a strong controlling power and often forces on them ritualization of everyday behavior that leads to an impoverishment of their lives.

This book explores the emotional worlds of white working class men and why they self medicate using heroin, alcohol, crack and amphetamines. It drawn on the therapeutic work that the author undertook in Deptford South East London over a fifteen year period and highlights how familial, institutional, cultural and historical violence has shaped white working class masculinities in terms of love and violence. The book transcends current research paradigms drawing on relational theory to move beyond the 'front' presented in current social research to look at what emotions have been masked and kept secret. The book then highlights the failure of current stratgies to engage with the defined problem by taking the presenting masculine 'front' as an issue to be resolved through discipline The research draws on Alice Miller, Gitta Sereny, Klaus Thewelait, Jim Gilligan, Deleuze and Guattari to open up new ways of conceptualising violence and addiction relevant to social science researchers, criminologists, psychologists, gender studies as well as the general public.

Black Masculinity in the Obama Era provides an in-depth examination of the current state of black males and identifies the impact of living in the Obama era. In the era of the first black president, Barack H. Obama, this book gauges the status of black masculinity and provokes discourse to discover whether his election and presence has had an influential impact on black male achievement. A purposeful sample of black males was asked, what does it mean to be a black male in the 21st century? Throughout the interviews with black males, we learn that the 'Obama Effect' has not had the intended impact on black male achievement and black males continue to be plagued by structural and cultural forces that have historically burdened their plight and level of achievement.

Groundbreaking information for caregivers-and those receiving care It is more common now than ever before for partners, family members, and friends to provide informal care, yet caregiving in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities has received little attention. Caregiving with Pride is the pioneering examination of caregiving experiences in the LGBT population. This important text also provides a frank discussion of the issues involved in needing and receiving care as well. Comprehensive and up-to-date, this both a timely account of an important field and practical information for implementing change. Unique in its focus and scope, Caregiving with Pride offers readers original research and new summaries and analyses of existing literature. With a wide-ranging approach that is both readable and enlightening, this essential collection recognizes the changing nature of families as central to the issues of caregiving and LGBT communities. It features articles that insist on and illustrate the importance of taking both identity issues and socio-cultural policy contexts of caregiving into account. While maintaining a multifaceted biopsychosocial perspective that is critical to understanding the varied aspects of this topic, contributors discuss: the prevalence of caregiving with LGBT communities health issues and the needs of those requiring care the unique risk and protective factors impacting HIV/AIDS caregivers the psychological effects - positive and negative - of caregiving family and personal - "chosen family" - relationships interactions with formal systems of health and long-term care effects of history and social stigma on those needing and giving care how current social policies impede LGBT people in their access to care the ways established medical guidelines hinder LGBT caregivers in their efforts to help existing interventions and opportunities to better sever these communities and much more! While Caregiving with Pride provides a detailed perspective of the current state of this often overlooked field, it also looks ahead and outlines a practical, useable blueprint for future research, services, and policies in marginalized communities. As an informative stand-alone resource, Caregiving with Pride is essential for gerontologists, sociologists, historians, social workers, psychologists, educators, researchers, and policy makers. In addition, this collection is ideal as a supplementary text for students of aging, women studies, GLBT studies, sociology, and health studies as well as the larger GLBT community.

"Look There in the playground -- with the stroller and diaper bag It's Superdad Yes, it's Superdad--the most involved fathers in American history. And with this careful, compassionate and also critical group portrait, Gayle Kaufman has finally told their story. If you think men aren't changing--or if you think they somehow get neutered if they are changing--you need to read this book."--Michael Kimmel, author of Guyland In an age when fathers are spending more time with their children than at any other point in the past, men are also facing unprecedented levels of work-family conflict. How do fathers balance their two most important roles--that of father and that of worker? In Superdads, Gayle Kaufman captures the real voices of fathers themselves as they talk about their struggles with balancing work and family life. Through in-depth interviews with a diverse group of men, Kaufman introduces the concept of "superdads," a group of fathers who stand out by making significant changes to their work lives in order to accommodate their families. They are nothing like their fathers, "old dads" who focus on their traditional role as breadwinner, or even some of their peers, so-called "new dads" who work around the increasing demands of their paternal roles without really bucking the system. In taking their family life in a completely new direction, these superdads challenge the way we think about long-held assumptions about men's role in the family unit. Thought-provoking and heartfelt, Superdads provides an overview of an emerging trend in fatherhood and the policy solutions that may help support its growth, pointing the way toward a future society with a more feasible approach to the work-family divide.Gayle Kaufmanis Professor of Sociology at Davidson College in North Carolina.

The International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities offers a comprehensive guide to the current state of scholarship about men, masculinities, and gender around the world. The Encyclopedia's coverage is comprehensive across three dimensions: areas of personal and social life, academic disciplines, and cultural and historical contexts and formations. The Encyclopedia: examines every area of men's personal and social lives as shaped by gender covers masculinity politics, the men's groups and movements that have tried to change men's roles presents entries on working with particular groups of boys or men, from male patients to men in prison incorporates cross-disciplinary perspectives on and examinations of men, gender and gender relations gives comprehensive coverage of diverse cultural and historical formations of masculinity and the bodies of scholarship that have documented them. The Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities is composed of over 350 free-standing entries written from their individual perspectives by eminent scholars in their fields. Entries are organized alphabetically for general ease of access but also listed thematically at the front of the encyclopedia, for the convenience of readers with specific areas of interest.

This book explores men's ambiguous relationship with intimate caring work within a context where carefree and nurturing expectations for men are competing for influence. For men, to be more involved carers clashes with commonly valued expectations of them as men and this book analyses how men confront this contradictory expectation.

What is it about some men that makes them an object of our deepest desires? And how far are we willing to go in pursuit of those desires? Chasing Adonis: Gay Men & the Pursuit of Perfection delves into one of the most central mysteries of gay life: What is it gay men find attractive in other men, and why? How much is nature, how much is nurture . . . or maybe just clever marketing? This unique book examines steroid use, body image disorders, gym culture, Internet hook-ups, obsession, stalking, porn, erotic Web sites, strip clubs and everything else that makes gay men act a little bit nutty when they meet someone who drives them crazy! Frank, sexy, and controversial, it uses a light touch to examine a serious subject: how gay society objectifies the male body. Tim Bergling, author of Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior and Reeling in the Years: Gay Men's Perspectives on Age and Ageism, surveys gay men about their individual concepts of beauty and desire and about the almost unattainable Adonis standard many of them set for themselves. Teenagers, senior citizens, and the guys stuck in the middle discuss the idea of perfection, how much it changes or evolves over time, and whether the exterior package outweighs what's inside. From the author: It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful the 'd-word''(desire) can be, how it can take control of our lives and shut everything out, sometimes for just a few moments, sometimes for days or weeks at a time, depending on how badly we're smitten. Ask just about anybody, and they can likely pull up a story from their pastor their presentwhen they've done something incredibly stupid or ill-advised, or maybe just something completely out of character, in pursuit of their heart's desire. Chasing Adonis examines: obsession and rejection self-esteem issues the allure of youth preferences in body shapes, types, and sizes designer genes vs. first impressions assessing body parts narcissism or comfort level-why men chase after guys who look like them AIDS and HIV gay porn adult book stores and the Internet the Calvin Klein ad campaign featuring Marky Mark Wahlberg the Abercrombie & Fitch ads Tom of Finland gay icons weight training and fitness clubs steroids and plastic surgery circuit parties body dysmorphia and much more! Chasing Adonis: Gay Men and the Pursuit of Perfection is an entertaining and enlightening read for gay men of all ages.

Throughout most of history, deep male bonds anchored a man's life. Why, then, are male friendships so impoverished in America today? Mamet's plays and films dramatize the conflicts, contradictions, and covert affection between men. No other American playwright has explored the war zone we call male friendship with as sharp a scalpel as Mamet's. His work shows both the necessity of and the difficulty in male friendships. Using insights from psychology, sociology, anthropology, and the history of sexuality, Holmberg explores the ambiguity that drives male bonding. Personal interviews with Mamet and with the actors who have interpreted his major roles shed new light on how and why men bond with each other and complement - in an unexpected and unique way - Holmberg's close analysis of Mamet's texts.

How do boys see themselves? Their peers? The adult world? What are their aspirations, their fears? How do they feel about their own masculinity? About style, 'race', homophobia? About football? This book examines aspects of 'young masculinities' that have become central to contemporary social thought, paying attention to psychological issues as well as to social policy concerns. Centring on a study involving in-depth exploration, through individual and group intererviews, the authors bring to light the way boys in the early years of secondary schooling conceptualise and articulate their experiences of themselves, their peers and the adult world. The book includes discussion of boys' aspirations and anxieties, their feelings of pride and loss. As such, it offers an unusually detailed set of insights into the experiential world inhabited by these boys - how they see themselves, how girls see them, what they wish for and fear, where they feel their 'masculinity' to be advantageous and where it inhibits other potential experiences. In describing this material, the authors explore questions such as the place of violence in young people's lives, the functions of 'hardness', of homophobia and football, boys' underachievement in school, and the pervasive racialisation of masculine identity construction. Young Masculinities will be invaluable to researchers in psychology, sociology, gender and youth studies, as well as to those devising social policy on boys and young men. STEPHEN FROSH is Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck College, University of London, and previously Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Vice Dean in the Child and Family Department at the Tavistock Clinic, London. He is the author of numerous academic papers and several books, including For and Against Psychoanalysis, Sexual Difference: Masculinity and Psychoanalysis, Identity Crisis: Modernity, Psychoanalysis and the Self and The Politics of Psychoanalysis. He is joint author, with Danya Glaser, of Child Sexual Abuse and co-editor with Anthony Elliott of Psychoanalysis in Context. ANN PHOENIX is Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Open University. Her books include Standpoints and Differences (with Karen Henwood and Chris Griffin), Crossfires: Nationalism, Racism and Gender in Europe (with Helma Lutz and Nira Yuval-Davies), and Black, White or Mixed Race? (with Barbara Tizard). ROB PATTMAN is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Botswana. He has taught sociology in sixth form colleges and institutions of higher education in Britain and southern Africa, and published articles on whiteness, gender identities, sex and AIDS education and social theory.

Find out what it's like to be young, African-American . . . and a father Voices of African-American Teen Fathers is an insightful look at adolescent pregnancy and parenthood through the eyes of fathers aged 14 to 19. This unique book features candid interviews with thirty teens who talk about doing what I got to dohandling their responsibilities as best they can given their perceptions, limitations, and life experiences. Teens talk about how and why they became fathers, how they handle being a parent, their perceptions of fatherhood, the relationships they have with their parents and the mothers of their children, and how they deal with the everyday struggles, demands, and concerns they face. Nearly one million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant each year in the United States and most of the available research on adolescent parenthood focused on them. We know little about African-American adolescent fathers or about their perspectives on the cultural and socioeconomic conditions that define their experience. Voices of African-American Teen Fathers provides an understanding of these young fathers on their own terms and suggests theoretical frameworks, assessment tools, and effective interventions to develop a plan of action to help African-American adolescent fathers fulfill their roles. Helpful appendixes, including an interview guide and biographies of the particpants, are included, as are six tables that make complex information easy to access and understand. Voices of African-American Teen Fathers examines tough issues, including: intimate, amicable, or antagonistic relationships with their children's mothers relationships with their own mothers and fathers racism and discrimination child support loss of independence transportation problems drugs socioeconomic issues and much more Voices of African-American Teen Fathers is an invaluable resource for counselors, family educators, social service organizations, community practitioners, and social scientists.

-first book of its kind in the UK developing an intersectional understanding of QTPOC subjectivities and identities -a radical and critical intervention into psychology - melds activism and academia from an #ownvoices perspective

"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.

As the rich have got richer and households have become busier, demand for commoditized household services has increased. While much is known about maids and nannies, this book is distinctive in focusing on masculinized domestic services. Through two case-studies - Polish handymen in the UK and the households that employ them and Mexican jardineros in the USA - the book demonstrates how, by outsourcing, householders can mitigate the "father time-bind" arising from tensions between new expectations for involved fathering, economic expectations regarding working hours, and a highly gendered and neo-liberal social policy regime, and shows how the consequences of this reaches beyond the households into the lives of the migrant men who work for them. Through the focus on male domestic work, the book identifies distinctly gendered understandings of domestic work and care, and shows how these influence the differential economic value of and emotional attachment to different forms of domestic work, and the gendered identities of those supplying and buying these services. In doing so, the book reveals much about the dynamic and varied understandings of masculinity.

Do you find it hard to make time for Bible study?

You intend to do it, but before you know it, another week has passed and you haven’t picked up God’s Word. This book provides simple tools for you to open the Bible regularly and dig into God's Word—even if you only have five minutes!
 

• Minutes 1–2: Read a few verses pulled from a lengthier passage. If time allows, read the full passage listed for you in each Bible study.
• Minute 3: Understand. Consider thoughtful questions designed to help you apply the verses from the Bible to your own life. Consider these throughout your day as well.
• Minute 4: Apply. Read a brief devotional based on the scripture you read. Think about what you are learning and how you can apply the scriptural truths to your own life.
• Minute 5: Pray. A prayer starter will help you to begin a time of conversation with God.