Why is there so much talk of a "crisis" of masculinity? How have ideas of manhood been transformed by feminism? Does feminism hold the key to the development of more egalitarian forms of masculinity? Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory addresses central questions about the analysis and construction of masculinity in contemporary society. The volume examines the ways male privilege and power are constituted and represented and explores the effect of such constructions on both men and women. With subjects ranging from Robert Bly's Iron John to Tom Hank's "niceness," this collection overturns old paradigms about identity, victimization, and dominant and alternative forms of masculinity to advance new dialogues between masculinity studies and feminist theory. Looking particularly at literature, film, and classroom practices, Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory links the analysis of masculinities with feminism's ethical and political agenda for the future. Its authors share a conviction that such a link not only reveals the persistence, now more subtle and varied, of male entitlement but also promises to create an enriched and reinvigorated feminism for a new century. Why is there so much talk of a "crisis" of masculinity? How have ideas of manhood been transformed by feminism? Does feminism hold the key to the development of more egalitarian forms of masculinity? Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory addresses central questions about the analysis and construction of masculinity in contemporary society. The volume examines the ways male privilege and power are constituted and represented and explores the effect of such constructions on both men and women. With subjects ranging from Robert Bly's Iron John to Tom Hank's "niceness," this collection overturns old paradigms about identity, victimization, and dominant and alternative forms of masculinity to advance new dialogues between masculinity studies and feminist theory. Looking particularly at literature, film, and classroom practices, Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory links the analysis of masculinities with feminism's ethical and political agenda for the future. Its authors share a conviction that such a link not only reveals the persistence, now more subtle and varied, of male entitlement but also promises to create an enriched and reinvigorated feminism for a new century.

This collection overturns old paradigms about identity, victimization, and dominant and alternative forms of masculinity to advance new dialogues between masculinity studies and feminist theory. How are male power and privilege constituted and represented? What are the effects of men's masculinity on women and men? How can more egalitarian forms of masculinity be fostered? Looking particularly at literature, film, and classroom practices, Masculinity Studies and Feminist Theory links the analysis of masculinities with feminism's ethical and political agenda for the future.

About the Author
Judith Kegan Gardiner is professor of English and gender and women's studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. An editor of the journal Feminist Studies, she is the author of Rhys, Stead, Lessing, and the Politics of Empathy and editor of Provoking Agents: Gender and Agency in Theory and Practice.

Reviews
With this volume, 'masculinity studies'comes of age as an intellectual field both in dialogue with and in alliance with feminist theory. Judith Kegan Gardiner has assembled some of the most distinguished practitioners of both masculinity studies and feminist theory working in universities today and they have collectively thought through the different ways in which feminist theory and masculinity are related. -- Michael Kimmel (in the preface) The wisdom of this collection... is its portrayal of feminist theory and masculinities studies as partners. Choice



Book Information
ISBN 9780231122795
Author Judith Kegan Gardiner
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press