1st Edition

Changing Men, Transforming Culture Inside the Men's Movement

By Eric Magnuson Copyright 2007
    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    The men's movement is a fascinating and vexing phenomenon that is part of the important history of gender change in the United States and the world. Men are finally engaging the challenges of feminism and rethinking what it means to be a man in today's society. At stake in this "crisis of masculinity" is the future of the family, the economy, and the society as a whole. This book examines the cultural imagery and the actions of the men of the mythopoetic men's movement in particular, examining their ideas, goals, and behavior. The book innovates theoretically by synthesizing cultural sociology with an interest in power as well as social psychology. Using ethnography as its primary research method, the study explores hegemony and microlevel power on the interactional level. The result is a dynamic look at the social construction of cultural discourse and the action that follows in this curious and unusual social movement.

    Chapter 1 Cultural Construction and Social Change; Chapter 2 A New Direction in Interpreting Masculinity; Chapter 3 The Power of the Organic Intellectual; Chapter 4 Constructing Counterhegemonic Masculinity; Chapter 5 The Mythopoetic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; Chapter 6 Conclusion;

    Biography

    Eric Magnuson

    “Lucid and quite compelling. … A welcome addition to the ever-growing body of work on masculinity and its social and cultural constraints. Recommended.”
    —Choice