Masculinity at Work: Employment Discrimination through a Different Lens - Hardcover

McGinley, Ann C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814796133 ISBN 13: 9780814796139

Publisher: NYU Press, 2016

Synopsis

In late October 2013, the Miami Dolphins’ player Jonathan Martin walked out on his team and checked into a mental health institution. The original story implied that Martin could not take the professional pressure. Within days, the story changed. News sources reported that Martin’s teammates had repeatedly bullied him and as a result, the twenty-four year-old African American player suffered serious depression. The response was skeptical, and many opined the harassment involved was simply locker room banter that all players endure; essentially, that boys will be boys.

Masculinity at Work uses the Jonathan Martin case and others to analyze Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through the lens of masculinities theory. Illustrating how harassment and discrimination can occur because of sex even if the gendered nature of the behavior remains unseen to onlookers, this book educates readers about the invisibility of masculine structures and practices, how society constructs concepts of masculinity, and how men (and sometimes women) perform masculinity in different ways depending on their identities and situational contexts. Using a sophisticated mix of legal, gender, and social science analysis, the author demonstrates how masculinities theory can also offer significant insights into the behaviors and motivations of employers, as well as workplace structures that disadvantage both men and women who do not conform to gender stereotypes. Both a theoretical disposition and a practical guide for legal counsel and judges on the interpretation of sex and race discrimination cases, Masculinity at Work explains how this theory can be used to interpret Title VII in new, liberating ways.

About this title

About the Author:

Ann C. McGinley is William S. Boyd Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Review:

"In sum, I think this book did a wonderful job of accomplishing its goal. It provides sound logic and additional protections for all types of people from gender-based discrimination at work." (Sex Roles)

"Putting masculinities social science research together with antidiscrimination law, McGinley not only describes the law as it is now but also develops ways in which masculinities theory can be used to move antidiscrimination law forward towards its ultimate goal: eliminating discrimination." (Michael Zimmer,Loyola University Chicago)

"A breathtakingly innovative exploration of employment discrimination cases that show how courts construct masculinities. McGinleys examination of race and sex cases with male plaintiffs will change the way academics and practitioners think about Title VII.-Nancy Levit,Curators' and Edward D. Ellison Professor of Law, University of Missouri" (Kansas City)

"This book could be incorporated into upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in criminal justice, sociology, womens studies and psychology." (Choice)

"A groundbreaking blueprint to achieve meaningful equality. Most significantly, it brings to bear new social science research and theorizing that tackles the difficult and challenging issue of exposing and proving the presence of gender discrimination that is cultural and structural. . . . Engaging and persuasive." (Nancy Dowd,David H. Levin Chair in Family Law, University of Florida)

"Ann McGinley has long been at the forefront of work on masculinity and the law. This book represents pathbreaking work in the gendered dimensions of employment law. It will be of enormous value to scholars, litigators, courts and anyone interested in how the law can better promote gender equality and social justice." (Deborah L. Rhode,E.W. McFarland Professor of Law, Stanford University)

About this edition

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0814796133
• ISBN 13: 9780814796139
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272