The Men and the Boys

by R. W. Connell

Overview

Questions about men and boys have aroused remarkable media attention and public interest in recent years. But what have we learned about masculinity, and where is our thinking on the subject headed? In this important book, R. W. Connell continues her pioneering work by taking the next step in understanding the dynamics of contemporary masculinity: incorporating the international dimension. The first sustained discussion of masculinity and globalization, The Men and the Boys links cutting-edge theory with fascinating case studies to point us toward change—in scholarship and public policy as well as in the lives of individual men.

This powerful book looks at a range of intriguing and controversial subjects, including the question of sex between men, men's bodies and health, education, the prevention of violence, and much more. It includes the voices of many men, both straight and gay, in a series of vivid life histories that include a compelling account of "iron man" Steve Donoghue and many others who describe coming to terms with their sexuality, their childhoods, and their experiences at school and work. As she reveals the price men and boys across cultures pay for patriarchy, Connell makes a persuasive case for men to change their conduct in order to create a more cooperative and peaceful world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520228696
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	03/20/2001
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1260L (what's this?)

About the Author

R. W. Connell is Professor of Education at the University of Sydney in Australia. She is author of Masculinities (California, 1996), as well as fifteen other books.

Table of Contents

PART 1 EXAMINING MASCULINITIES

1 Debates about men, new research on
masculinities
Issues about men and boys
The new social research on masculinity
Key conclusions of recent research

2 New directions in theory and research
Current debate: Concepts of gender and
approaches to masculinity
The gender relations approach
Conceptualizing masculinities
Agenda for research

PART 2 GLOBALIZATION

3 Masculinities and globalization
The world gender order
The repositioning of men and the remaking
of masculinities
Globalizing masculinities
Masculinity politics on a world scale

4 Globalization and men's bodies

Understanding men's bodies
Imperialism and men's bodies
Contemporary globalization and men's bodies
Implications for gender reform

PART 3 BODIES AND DESIRES

5 An iron man
Being a champion
Soft path, hard goal
The body and the self
Wanting to win: The ideology of competitive sport
Reflections

6 'I threw it like a girl': Some difficulties with
male bodies
Looking at jelly: Adam Singer
Burning up the body: Tip Southern
Reflections

7 Man to man: Homosexual desire and practice
among working-class men (written with
M.D. Davis and G.W. Dowsett)
The working-class setting
The social framework of male-to-male sex
Sexual practice
Desire and identity
The HIV I AIDS epidemic
Reflections

PART 4 PRACTICALITIES

8 Cool guys, swots and wimps
Getting into trouble
Knowing where you stand
Over the hump
Dry sciences
Reading feminism
Reflections

9 Teaching the boys
Schools and gender
Schools as agents in the making of masculinities
Pupils as agents, school as setting
Educational strategies in work with boys
The process of change

10 Men's health
Research evidence on men's health
Sex differences in health
The health of specific groups of men
How some masculinizing practices damage bodies
Attempts to make men's bodies healthy
The 'cradle to grave' health disadvantage of men
Reflections

PART 5 CHANGING MASCULINITIES

11 The politics of change in masculinity
The historical moment
Men's interests
Purposes
A men's movement?

12 Arms and the man: The question of peace
Why war?
The problem of men and violence
Implications of masculinity research
Global patterns
Peace strategies and masculinities

Acknowledgments and sources
References
Index