Studying Men and Masculinities

The late-twentieth-century anxiety about a ‘crisis in masculinity’ still persists today, particularly in English-speaking cultures. Studying Men and Masculinities offers an engaging and comprehensive overview of masculinity. Drawing on a wide range of cultural practices and texts from different genres and media, David Buchbinder examines the notion of patriarchy and the challenges to patriarchal power, including queer theory. The book considers whether crisis may in fact be built into the very structure of the masculine, and examines emergent masculinities post-9/11.

Theoretical positions within the field are clearly explained and applied to real life case studies from literature, film, and television. Interspersed in each chapter are a series of questions and tasks aimed at encouraging the reader to engage her/himself in the study of masculinities in everyday life and popular culture.

This topical and thought-provoking book will be an invaluable resource for students of masculinities studies, sexuality studies, cultural studies, and gender theory.

David Buchbinder currently holds a Personal Chair in Masculinities Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. His research interests include gender and masculinities studies, and literary and cultural studies. He has published Masculinities and Identities and Performance Anxieties: Re-presenting Men.