White Guys: Studies in Postmodern Domination and Difference

What do men—white straight men in particular—want? In a series of witty and provocative investigations of American popular culture, Fred Pfeil exposes the contradictions in the construction of white heterosexual masculinity over the last fifteen years. White Guys probes such topics as the rock‘n’roll bodies of Bruce Springsteen, Axl Rose, and the late Kurt Cobain; the “male rampage” films Die Hard and Lethal Weapon and the films of “sensitive transformation” that followed in their wake; and the curious yet symptomatic activities of the men’s movement whose “rituals” Pfeil has investigated firsthand.

“Something rare—cultural studies you can actually use.”—Spin

“Pfeil’s wit and originality make his media exploration of men a pleasure to read.”—The Women’s Review of Books

“Pfeil is a superb writer ... His readings of the bodily iconography of the male rock star, especially Bruce Springsteen and Axl Rose, are brilliant.”—Michael Kimmel

“Among current anatomists of American pop culture, Fred Pfeil is the zestiest, the most relentless and radically intelligent. White Guys is his best—and scariest—vivisection to date.”—Thomas Disch