Across the Great Divide: Cultures of Manhood in the American West / Edition 1

by Matthew Basso

Overview

From Custer and Geronimo to John Wayne and the Marlboro Man, American notions of masculinity have been deeply interwoven with our ideas about the West. But there's more to the relationship between manhood and the frontier than a simple tale of cowboys and Indians,

ruggedness and civilization. In Across the Great Divide, some of our leading historians look to both the history of masculinity in the West and to the ways that this experience has been represented in movies, popular music, dimestore novels, and folklore. Ramon Gutierrez

(When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away) describes the culture of machismo in early New Mexico; Susan Lee Johnson (Roaring Camp revenge, and convicted outlaws walking to the gallows, among other characters. Intriguing, provocative, and important, Across the Great Divide makes us rethink easy assumptions about the nature of American masculinity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900415924718
Publication date:	01/11/2001
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Matthew Basso is a Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at the University of Minnesota.Laura McCall is Associate Professor of History at Metropolitan State College in Denver, and a co-editor of A Shared Experience: Men, Women, and the History of Gender. Dee Garceau is Assistant Professor of History at Rhodes College and the author of The Important Things in Life: Women, Work & Family in Wyoming.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

IntroductionLaura McCall

'Tell Me With Whim You Walk and I will Tell you Who You Are':Honor and Virtue in Eighteenth-Century Colonial MexicoRamon A. Gutierrez

Bulls, Bears and Dancing Boys:Race, Gender and Leisure in California

GoldrushSusan Lee Johnson

Manly Gamblles:The Politics of Risk on the Comstock Lode, 1860-1880Guther Peck

Cool to the End: Public Hangings and Western ManhoodDurwood Ball

White Men, Red Masks: Appropriations of Indian Manhood in Imagined

WestsDavid Anthony(Tyee-me)Clark and Joane Nagel

A Distinction and Antagonistic Race: Constructions of Chinese Manhood in the Inclusion Debates, 1869-1878Karen Leong

Nomads, Bunkies, Cross-Dressers, and Family Me: Coyboy Identity and the Gendering of Ranch

WorkDee Garceau

Domesticated Bliss: Ranchers and Their AnimalsKaren Merrill

Man-Power: Montana Copper Workers, State Authority, and the (Re)Drafting of Manhood in World War IIMatthew Basso

On The Road: Cassady, Kerouac, and Images of Late Western

MasculinityCraig Leavitt

'All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes':The Utilization of Cowboy-Hero Image in Contemporary Asian American LiteratureSteven Lee

'I guess your warrior look dosen't work every time': Challenging Indian Masculinity in the

CinemaBrian Klopotek

Tex-Sex-Mex: American: American Identities, Lone Star, and the Politics of Radicalized SexualityJose Limon

years to come." (Vicki Ruiz, Arizona State University)

Great Divide will be an engrossing read." (Elizabeth Jameson, University of Calgary )

Perdue, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

examines several great divides: male/female, white/non-white, working class/middle class, east/west. The book is a must for anyone interested in gender, diversity, the west-and great stories. (Elaine Tyler May, University of Minnesota )

Editorial Reviews

Historians and anthropologists examine the gender systems, analyses of masculinity, and revisionist scholarship in western US history. The topics include honor and virtue in 18th-century colonial New Mexico, the politics of risk on the Comstock Lode from 1860 to 1880, public hangings, constructions of Chinese manhood in the exclusionist debates of 1869-78, ranchers and their animals, the utilization of the cowboy- hero image in contemporary Asian-American literature, and challenging Indian masculinity in the cinema. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"...the collection offers scholars of gender studies and the West a benchmark for future work...[an] important contribution to a broader understanding of the history of gender in the West." -- Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Provocative, engaging and masterful, Across the Great Divide is simply superb. Bringing together essays from distinguished scholars and rising stars, this benchmark collection is an exciting contribution to the study of gender, one that will be read and discussed for years to come." -- Vicki Ruiz, Arizona State University
"This path-breaking collection of the best new scholarship on manhood in the American West takes us a refreshing distance across the great divide between myth and history. For anyone who finds real men more interesting than desperados and the Marlboro Man, Across the Great Divide will be an engrossing read." -- Elizabeth Jameson, University of Calgary
"These essays make an important contribution to our understanding of how masculinity was constructed and contested in the American West, a process that contributed to a national construction of gender that linked racism, nationalism, and masculinity in complex ways." -- Theda Perdue, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
"In this expansive and path-breaking collection, western manhood escapes from all stereotypes. Brilliant essays offer fresh insights into the meanings of manhood for a wide range of westerners from diverse class, ethnic and racial backgrounds. Across the Great Divide examines several great divides: male/female, white/non-white, working class/middle class, east/west. The book is a must for anyone interested in gender, diversity, the west-and great stories." -- Elaine Tyler May, University of Minnesota
"Useful insights in this publication." -- American Historical Review
"I hope this fine volume will inspire further scholarship and additional collections of accessible essays... (an) important contribution to a broader understanding of the history of gender in the West." -- American Studies

From the Publisher