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Cover-image not available
 MEN AND
MASCULINITIES
 MEN AND
MASCULINITIES
A Social, Cultural, and
Historical Encyclopedia
Volume I: A–J
Edited by Michael Kimmel
and Amy Aronson

Santa Barbara, California • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England

Copyright © 2004 by Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Men and masculinities : a social, cultural, and historical encyclopedia
/ edited by Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson.
p. cm.
“Also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57607-774-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-57607-775-6 (e-Book)
1. Men—United States—Encyclopedias. 2. Masculinity—United
States—Encyclopedias. 3. Sex role—United States—Encyclopedias.
4.Men’s studies—United States—Encyclopedias. 5. Men—Encyclopedias.
6. Masculinity—Encyclopedias. I. Kimmel, Michael S. II. Aronson, Amy.
HQ1090.3.M436 2003
305.31'03—dc22
2003020729

07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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ABC-CLIO, Inc.
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 For Hank Rubin,
“premature antifascist” and dear friend
A “new man” before his time

And for our son, Zachary,

Whose time has come.
 CONTENTS

Preface, Michael Kimmel and Amy Aronson, xiii

Introduction, xv

MEN AND MASCULINITIES

A Social, Cultural, and Historical Encyclopedia

Volume I: A–J Baden-Powell, Robert Stephenson Smyth

(1857–1941), 48
A Bar Mitzvah, 50
Abolitionists, 1 Barnum, Phineas Taylor (1810–1891), 51
Action Television Series, 3 Barton, Bruce (1886–1967), 54
Adolescence, 5 Baseball, 55
“Adonis Complex,” 8 Basketball, 58
Aging, 9 Battered Husband Syndrome, 62
AIDS, 15 Batterer Intervention Programs, 64
Alcohol, 17 Battering, 67
Alda, Alan (1936–), 18 Beat Poets, 70
Alexithymia, 21 Beer, 73
Alger, Horatio, Jr. (1832–1899), 22 Berdache, See Native American Masculinities;
Alighieri, Dante, See Dante Two Spirit People
Allen,Woody [Allen Stuart Konigsberg] (1935–), 23 Bergman, Ingmar (1918–), 74
American Civil War, 25 Birth Control, See Contraception
American Men’s Studies Association (AMSA), 28 Bisexuality, 76
Anabolic and Androgenic Steroids, 28 Black Masculinities, 78
Androgyny, 30 Black Panthers, 82
Andrology, 33 Blackface Minstrelsy, 84
Anger, 34 Blaxploitation, 85
Antifeminism, 35 Blues, 86
Apartheid, 37 Bly, Robert Elwood (1926–), 89
Asian American Men’s Studies, 40 Bodybuilding, Contemporary, 91
Atlas, Charles [Angelo Siciliano] (1892–1972), 41 Bodybuilding, History of, 93
Bogart, Humphrey (1899–1957), 95
B Bond, James, 96
Bachelor, 45 Boxing, 98
Backlash, 48 Boy Scouts, 99

vii
viii Contents

Boyhood, 101 Cop Films, 183

Boys’ Book, 105 Couvade, 186
Brando, Marlon (1924–), 106 Cowboys, 188
Bravado, 107 Custody, See Divorce; Fathers, Nonresidential;
Breadwinner, 108 Single Fathers
Breastfeeding, 109 Cyberculture, 189
Bridegrooms, See Grooms Cyberporn, See Pornography and New Media
Brown, Charles Brockden (1771–1810), 110 Cyberspace, 191
Browning, Robert (1812–1889), 112
Buddy Films, 113 D
Bukowski, Charles (1920–1994), 115 Dads and Daughters, 195
Bullying, See Boyhood; School Shootings Dance, 196
Bunuel, Luis (1900–1983), 116 Dance, Hollywood, 197
Buonarroti, Michelangelo, See Michelangelo Dance, Theatrical, 199
Buonarroti Dante [Dante Alighieri] (1265–1321), 201
Burroughs, Edgar Rice (1875–1950), 117 Darwinism, 203
Butler, Rhett, 119 Date Rape, 205
Byron, George Gordon (1788–1824), 120 Deadbeat Dads, 208
“Byronic Hero,” 121 Dean, James, 210
Death of a Salesman, 211
C Democracy, 212
Castration, 125 Depression, 214
Castration Anxiety, 127 Detectives, 215
Cather,Willa Sibert (1876–1947), 128 Dickens, Charles (1812–1870), 218
Cavalier Poets, 130 “Dirty Harry,” 220
Cervantes, Miguel de, See Don Quixote Disco, 221
Chandler, Raymond (1888–1959), 131 Disney,Walt(er) E. (1901–1966), 224
Chaplin, Charlie (1889–1977), 132 Divorce, 230
Chemical Dependency, 135 Dogs, 232
Childcare, 136 Domestic Violence, 234
Childhood, 138 Don Juanism, 239
Childlessness, 140 Don Quixote, 240
China Boy, 146 Douglass, Frederick, See Slave Narratives;
Circumcision, 147 Southern Writers
The Citadel and the Virginia Military Drag, See Stonewall Riots; Transvestism
Institute (VMI), 149 Drug Abuse, See Chemical Dependency
Civil War, See American Civil War
City Slickers, 151 E
Classroom Dynamics, 152 Eastwood, Clint (1930–), 243
Cleaver, (Leroy) Eldridge (1935–1998), 154 Eating Disorders, 245
Clinton,William Jefferson (Bill) (1946–), 157 Effeminacy, 247
Coeducation, 159 Eliot, George [Marian Evans] (1819–1880), 248
Cold War Masculinities, 162 Ellison, Ralph, See Invisible Man
Collins,William Wilkie (1824–1889), 165 Elvis, See Presley, Elvis
Colonialism, 166 Eminem [Marshall Mathers] (1972–), 250
Columbine, 169 Environment, 252
Condom Use, 171 Erectile Dysfunction, 254
Consciousness Raising, 173 Ethnocentrism, 257
Contemporary Literature by Women, 176 Eugenics, 259
Contraception, 177 Evans, Marian, See Eliot, George
“Cool Pose,” 180 Evolution, 262
Cooper, James Fenimore (1789–1851), 181 Evolutionary Psychology, 265
 Contents ix

Expectant Fatherhood, 268 George Gordon, Lord Byron, See Byron, George
Extramarital Sex, See Husbands Gordon
GI Joe, 354
F “Glass Ceiling,” 355
Family, 269 “Glass Escalator,” 357
Farming, 272 God, 358
Fassbinder, Rainer Werner (1945–1982), 274 Godard, Jean-Luc (1930–), 359
Fatherhood, 275 Graham, Sylvester (1795–1851), 360
Fatherhood Responsibility Movement, 279 The Great Gatsby, See Gatsby, Jay
Fathers, Cultural Representations of, 281 Grey, Zane (1872–1939), 361
Fathers, Gay, 284 Grooms, 362
Fathers, Nonresidential, 287 Guns, 363
Fathers’ Rights, 289
Faulkner,William (1897–1962), 291 H
Fellini, Federico (1920–1993), 292 Hall, G. Stanley (1844–1924), 367
“Female Masculinity,” 294 Hamlet, 369
Feminism, See Antifeminism; Feminist Theory; Hanks, Tom (1956–), 370
Gender Equality; Postfeminism; Second Wave Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804–1864), 371
Women’s Movement Hazing, 374
Feminist Theory, 296 Hazing, High School and College, 375
Fight Club, 300 Hemingway, Ernest (1899–1961), 378
Finn, Huckleberry, 302 Hero, 380
First World War Literature, 304 Heston, Charlton (1924–), 381
Fitzgerald, F. [Francis] Scott (1896–1940), 306 Heteronormativity, 382
Football, 309 Heterosexism, See Heteronormativitiy; Homophobia
Ford, Richard (1944–), 311 Heterosexuality, See Heteronormativity;
Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus (1818), 314 Masculinities; Masculinities, Relations Among
Fraternities, 315 Hippies, 384
Fraternities, Modern, 317 Hispanic Men, See Latino Masculinities
Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939), 319 Hollinghurst, Alan (1954–), 386
Friendship, 321 Homicide, 387
Friendship, Gay-Straight, 324 Homophobia, 389
Frontier, 325 Homosexuality, 392
Homosociality, 396
G Honor, 398
Gangs, 329 Horror, 401
Gangster Films, Classic, 331 Hostile Environment, 402
Gangster Films, Contemporary, 333 Houdini, Harry (1874–1926), 405
Gatsby, Jay, 334 Housework, 407
Gay Liberation Movement, 336 Howells,William Dean (1837–1920), 410
Gay Men, See Homosexuality Huck Finn, See Finn, Huckleberry
Gay-Straight Alliances, 340 Hunting, 412
Gay-Straight Friendship; See Friendship, Husbands, 415
Gay-Straight Hypermasculinity, 417
Gender Differences in Life Expectancy, See Life
Expectancy; Men’s Health Movement I
Gender Equality, 341 Ibsen, Henrik (1828–1906), 419
Gender Order, 344 Immigration, 421
“Gendercide,” 345 Imperialism, See Colonialism
Gender-Role Conflict, 348 Impotence, See Erectile Dysfunction;Viagra
Gender-Role Conformity, 350 Infertility, 424
Gender-Role Strain, 351 Intimacy, 426
x Contents

Invisible Man, 428 Marital Therapy, 495

Ives, Charles (1874–1954), 430 Marital Violence, 496
Marlboro Man, 499
J Marquis de Sade [Comte Donatien Alphonse François
Jackson, Michael (1958–), 431 de Sade] (1740–1814), 501
James, Henry, Jr. (1843–1916), 434 Marriage, See Bachelor; Divorce; Family; Grooms;
Jay Gatsby, See Gatsby, Jay Intimacy; Marital Therapy; Marital Violence
Jazz, 435 Masculinities, 503
Jazz Musicians, Representations of, 440 Masculinities, Relations Among, 507
Jewish Men, 441 Masculinity Dividend, 510
Jocks, 443 Masturbation, 512
Juvenile Delinquency, 445 Melville, Herman (1819–1891), 515
Men and Eating Disorders, See Eating Disorders
Volume II: K–Y Men and Religion Forward Movement, 517
Men of Color, 520
K Men’s Health Movement, 524
Keats, John (1795–1821), 449 Men’s Liberation, 524
Kellogg, J. H. (1852–1943), 450 Men’s Magazines, 526
Kerouac, Jack (1922–1969), 452 Men’s Movements, 528
King, Stephen (1947–), 453 Men’s Rights Movement, 531
KKK, See Ku Klux Klan Men’s Studies, 533
Konigsberg, Allen Stuart, See Allen,Woody Men’s Support Groups, 536
Kramer vs. Kramer, 454 Mental Illness, 537
Ku Klux Klan,455 Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Model, 539
Kung-Fu Movies, 456 Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), 542
Midlife, See Aging; Life Expectancy; Male
L Menopause; “Midlife Crisis”
Lang, Fritz (1890–1976), 459 “Midlife Crisis,” 544
Latino Masculinities, 460 Military, 546
Lee, Gus, See China Boy Million Man March, 548
Leone, Sergio (1929–1989), 464 Milton, John (1608–1674), 550
Lewis, Sinclair(1885–1951), 465 Misogyny, 551
Life Expectancy, 466 Mitchell, Silas Weir (1829–1914), 553
Lolita, 468 Moby Dick, See Melville, Herman
London, Jack (1876–1916), 470 Modern Fraternities, See Fraternities, Modern
Lord Byron, See Byron, George Gordon “Momism,” 555
Lord of the Flies, 472 Morrison, James Douglas (1942–1971), 555
Love, 473 Muscles, See “Adonis Complex,” Anabolic and
Androgenic Steroids; Bodybuilding,
M Contemporary; Body Building, History of;
Macfadden, Bernarr [Bernard] (1868–1955), 477 Physical Culture
Machismo (Macho), 478 Muscular Christianity, 557
Mailer, Norman (1923–), 480 MVP Model, See Mentors in Violence Prevention
Malamud, Bernard (1914–1986), 481 Model
Malcolm X [Malcolm Little] (1925–1965), 483 Mythopoetic Men’s Movement, 558
“Male Bashing,” 486
Male Bonding, 488 N
Male Menopause, 489 Nobokov,Vladimir, See Lolita
Male Rape, 490 Narcissism, 561
Male Strippers, 492 The National Organization forMen Against Sexism
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, 493 (NOMAS), 562
The ManKind Project, 494 Native American Masculinities, 564
 Contents xi

Neal, John (1793–1876), 565 R

Neurasthenia, 567 Race, Biological Assumptions about, 653
“New Lad” Fiction, 569 Race, Conceptions of, 655
Rambo, See Stallone, Sylvester
O Rap, 658
Obesity, 573 Rape, See Date Rape; Male Rape
Oedipus Complex, See Freud, Sigmund Relations Among Masculinities, See Masculinities,
O’Neill, Eugene (1888–1953), 575 Relations Among
The Organization Man, 576 Religion, 661
Representations of Jazz Musicians, See Jazz
P Musicians, Representations of
Parkman, Francis (1823–1893), 577 Reproduction, 665
Pasolini, Pier Paolo (1922–1975), 579 Reproductive Health, 669
Passing, 580 Retirement, 672
Paternalism, 583 Riefenstahl, Leni [Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl]
Paternity, 586 (1902–2003), 674
Patriarchy, 588 Risk Behaviors, 675
Pay Gap, 590 Risk Behaviors, Sexual, 678
Peace, 593 Rocky, See Stallone, Sylvester
Pee-wee Herman, 595 Rodeo, 680
Penis, 597 Rohmer, Eric (1920–), 681
Penis Envy, See Freud, Sigmund; Penis Roosevelt, Theodore (1858–1919), 682
Perinatal Loss, 600 Roth, Philip (1933–), 685
Perrault, Pierre (1927–1999), 601 Rural Masculinity, See Farming; Hunting
Personal and Sexual Identity, 602
Peter Pan, 604 S
Phallocentrism, See Phallus Safer Sex, 687
Phallus, 606 “Save the Males!” 691
Physical Culture, 608 Sawyer, Tom, 691
Pimp, See Prostitution School Shootings, 693
Playboy Magazine, 609 Schwarzenegger, Arnold (1947–), 694
Pollock, Jackson (1912–1956), 610 Second Wave Women’s Movement, 696
Pornography, 612 Seinfeld, 700
Pornography and New Media, 616 Self-Control, 701
Postfeminism, 617 “Self-Made Man,” 702
Postmodernism, 618 Semen, 703
Post-Vietnam Masculinity, 620 Semenarche (First Ejaculation), 707
Premature Ejaculation, 622 Separate Spheres, 708
Presley, Elvis (1935–1977), 626 Seton, Ernest Thompson (1860–1946), 709
Prison Literature, 628 Seuss, Dr. [Theodore Seuss Geisel] (1904–1991), 710
Prisons, 630 Sex Differences, 713
Privilege, See Heternormativity; Masculinities; Sexual Abuse of Boys, 717
Masculinities, Relations Among;Whiteness Sexual Assault Prevention, 719
Profeminist Men, 634 Sexual Harassment, 720
Promise Keepers, 636 Sexual Violence in Marital Relationships, 724
Prostate, See Reproductive Health Sexually Transmitted Infections, 727
Prostitution, 640 Shaft, 729
Psychoanalysis, 642 Shakespeare,William (1564–1616), 731
Puberty, 644 Shell Shock, 734
Single Fathers, 736
Q Single-Sex Colleges for Men, 738
Queer Theory, 647 Sissy, See Effeminacy;Wimp
xii Contents

Slave Narratives, 741 V

Slavery, 743 Viagra, 805
Sociobiology, 745 Vietnam War, 807
Southern Writers, 747 Violence, 809
Spaghetti Westerns, See Leone, Sergio Virginia Military Institute (VMI),
Spenser, Edmund (c. 1552–1599), 750 See The Citadel and the Virginia Military
Sperm Banks, 751 Institute
Springsteen, Bruce (1949–), 753 Visconti, Luchino (1906–1976), 812
Stallone, Sylvester (1946–), 756
Steffens, Lincoln (1866–1936), 757 W
Steinbeck, John (1902–1968), 759 Wage Gap, See Pay Gap
Steroids, See Anabolic and Androgenic Steroids War, 815
Stonewall Riots, 760 Warhol, Andy (1928–1987), 818
Straight Edge, 763 Wayne, John [Marion Morrison] (1907–1979),
“Strenuous Life,” See Roosevelt, Theodore 819
Strip Clubs, 764 West, See Cowboys; Frontier; Grey, Zane
Strippers, 766 Westerns, See City Slickers; Cowboys; Grey, Zane;
Substance Abuse, See Alcohol; Chemical Leone, Sergio;Wayne, John;Wister, Owen
Dependency; Tobacco “What about the Boys?” 821
Suicide, 768 White Ribbon Campaign, 823
Sunday, Billy [William Ashley] (1862–1935), 772 White Supremacy, 824
Superheroes, 775 Whiteness, 827
Whitman,Walt (1819–1892), 828
T “Wife Beaters,” 830
Tarzan, See Burroughs, Edgar Rice Wilde, Oscar (1854–1900), 830
Technology, 779 Willie Loman, See Death of a Salesman
Terman, Lewis (1877–1956), 780 Wilmot, John, Second Earl of Rochester
Testicular Cancer, 781 (1647–1680), 834
Testosterone, 782 Wimp, 835
Thoreau, Henry David (1817–1862), 785 Wister, Owen (1860–1938), 835
Tobacco, 787 Women’s Movement, See Feminist Theory;
Tootsie, 789 Gender Equality; Second Wave Women’s
Transgenderism, 791 Movement
Transsexualism, 793 Work, 837
Transvestism, 795 World War I, See First World War Literature;
Truffaut, François (1932–1984), 797 Shell Shock;War
Twain, Mark, See Finn, Huckleberry; Sawyer, Tom Wrestling, Professional, 841
Two Spirit People, 798
Type A Personality, 799 Y
Yeats,William Butler (1865–1939), 845
U Young Men’s Christian Association
Unions, 803 (YMCA), 846

Advisory Editors, 851

Contributors, 853
Index, 861
About the Editors, 893
 PREFACE

All encyclopedias are frauds. The idea that entirely new, interdisciplinary field has
one could collect, in a single volume or set emerged and is now an accepted part of gen-
of volumes, the entire corpus of human der studies. Not that long ago, academic
knowledge, represents the height of Enlight- skeptics and antifeminist political pundits
enment optimism. Such was Diderot’s stated suggested that when it came to masculinity,
vision as he sought to accomplish this task in there was “nothing to study.” But today, the
the years before the French Revolution; his study of masculinity has begun to be inte-
“reference work covering all knowledge” grated into traditional disciplines as well as
captures both the inspiring effort of such an to compose a small but significant share of
undertaking as well as its hubris. gender studies courses.
Even in its more modest claims of “a An encyclopedia summarizes the field,
comprehensive reference work containing bringing together all the various strands of
articles on a wide range of subjects or on research and writing. In the case of the study
numerous aspects of a particular field, usu- of men and masculinities, it means fully hon-
ally arranged alphabetically,” as offered by oring the interdisciplinary nature of the field.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Like gender studies, of which it is a part, the
Language, or “a literary work containing ex- study of men and masculinities draws on all
tensive information on all branches of branches of knowledge, all areas of re-
knowledge,” which is the second definition search—from the natural and biological sci-
in the Oxford English Dictionary, any encyclo- ences to social and behavioral sciences, and
pedia project inevitably falls short. The also the humanities. Entries in these volumes
reach of an encyclopedia will always exceed range from the biology of male hormones to
its grasp. Optimistic in intent, the conclu- representations of masculinity in theological
sion of an encyclopedia project is always texts or in contemporary movies.
tinged with sadness. As an interdisciplinary field, the study of
Optimism first. An encyclopedia an- men and masculinities uses the lens of “gen-
nounces, summarizes, and presents a sam- der” through which to view its subject mat-
pling of the range and interests of a field of ter and the subject matter that is ordinarily
study. The sheer size of an encyclopedia housed within the more traditional academic
makes clear that there is a “there” there— fields. Most entries fall into one (or more) of
that a field of study exists and that many these five categories: One type of entry takes
scholars are toiling in that field. In the case of already well-known individuals—writers,
the study of men and masculinities, it historical figures, actors—and suggests the
demonstrates that in three short decades, an ways in which their work both reflects and

xiii
xiv Preface

challenges conventional notions of masculin- invitation to prospective authors and by vari-

ity. A second set of entries examines pivotal ous networks of scholars, we also had to
historical or cultural events, social or politi- choose from among the sources that we had.
cal movements that are decisive or somehow On the other hand, while our subject mat-
constitutive in the development of masculini- ter is largely United States based, our au-
ties. A third set of entries takes dynamic psy- thors span the globe and draw from the ex-
chological or social processes, or cultural or pertise of people working in the English
developmental rituals or symbols and ex- language in all parts of the world. Such di-
plores the meanings of masculinity through verse authors are able to provide an interest-
them. A fourth set of entries takes well- ing angle of vision for their decidedly North
known—even canonical—works of fiction American subjects.
and drama, and, by reexamining them As we have inevitably failed at collecting
through a gender lens, reveals new meanings all information from all branches of inquiry,
embedded in them. And finally, a fifth set of we sample their offerings. As encyclopedias
entries applies this same perspective to new, always emphasize breadth over depth, we
contemporary representations of gender in have collected samples from the widest range
more popular cultural works like music and of areas we could conceive to give a small
film. taste of the richness of the arenas in which
Of course, making “masculinity” visible in such work is currently underway. We’ve
the lives and works of well-known figures, or drawn especially from the social and behav-
“gendering” processes, events, and experi- ioral sciences, history, literature, and media
ences, should not mean that we ignore other studies, and sampled less fully from other
ways in which identity is organized and that fields.
frame and constitute the events and As we suggest above, all encyclopedias are
processes we describe here. Any inquiry into tinged with sadness. At the end of any proj-
gender must be “inter-sectional,” by which ect, one is aware of all the things that one has
we mean that we explore the intersections omitted, either by choice or accident. This is
with other arenas—race, class, sexuality, especially true with an encyclopedia, which
age, religion, ethnicity, and the like. Thus bears the additional burden of attempting
readers will note how many entries discern comprehension of a full field. We are aware
distinct patterns among men of color, or gay of all the entries, all the areas, that could not
men, or older or younger men—to name be encompassed by these two volumes,
just a few of these intersections. At times which suddenly feel so small and so incom-
these different realms collide, at times they plete.
reinforce, and at other times they move on We’re buoyed, though, by the other defini-
parallel tracks. But it is imperative to note tion of the word encyclopedia, in fact the first
the ways in which our understandings of definition in the Oxford English Dictionary—
masculinities remain true to the pluralization “the circle of learning; a general course of in-
of the term in the first place. struction.” We offer this work, then, as a gen-
We’ve fared less well on being interna- eral course of instruction, a brief introduction
tional, at least in the content of the entries. to a field in development. And we leave it to
Most entries address the situation in the you, the users of these volumes, to complete
United States. This U.S. focus was both by the circle of learning.
design and by default. A fully “encyclopedic”
work on masculinities throughout the world ABA and MSK
was beyond the scope of this project, and be- NewYork
yond the expertise of its editors. And be- April 2003
cause such projects proceed both by editorial
 INTRODUCTION

This is the first encyclopedia on “men and scholarship—the now-celebrated painters,

masculinities.” As such, it both celebrates the composers, writers, and political and mili-
establishment of a new field of study and tary figures who had been consigned to mi-
hopes to participate in the inauguration of a nor footnotes if they were recognized at all.
new phase of that field of inquiry. And it also sought to examine the everyday
To be sure, there are libraries filled with lives of women in the past—the efforts, for
volumes about men. And university course example, of laundresses, factory workers, pi-
catalogs are overflowing with courses about oneer homesteaders, office workers, sex
men. But rarely are these volumes or these workers, and housewives to carve out lives of
courses about men as men—that is, rarely are meaning and dignity in a world controlled by
they also about gender. Instead they are men. Through women’s studies courses and
called “history” or “literature” or “political also in courses about women in traditional
science.” It’s probably fair to say that if the disciplines, students have explored the com-
course doesn’t have the word “women” in the plexity of women’s lives, the hidden history
title, it’s more than likely about men—ex- of exemplary women, and the daily experi-
cept that it’s rare for “masculinity” to be dis- ences of women in the routines of their lives.
cussed at all. But women’s studies also made gender visi-
The pioneering efforts by feminist schol- ble as a category of analysis, a set of experi-
ars to “make women visible,” both in the tra- ences. Women’s studies made it clear that
ditional curriculum and in the newly minted gender—masculinity and femininity—are
special interdisciplinary field of women’s among the core organizing principles of so-
studies, has been a signal success, a sign of cial life, among the bedrock experiences
dramatic transformation of traditional modes from which we fashion our identities. Before
and methods of inquiry into human life. Be- women’s studies, if you wanted to study gen-
ginning in the 1960s, scholars redressed what der in the 1960s in social science, for exam-
Catharine Stimpson (1988) has called the ple, you would have found but one course
“omissions, distortions, and trivializations” of designed to address your needs—“Marriage
women’s experiences and began to examine and the Family”—which was sort of the
the spheres to which women have historically “ladies’ auxiliary” of the social sciences.
been consigned, like private life and the There were no courses on gender. But today,
family. Women’s history sought to rescue gender has joined race and class in our un-
from obscurity the lives of significant women derstanding of the foundations of an individ-
who had been ignored or whose work has ual’s identity. Gender, we now know, is one
been minimized by traditional androcentric of the axes around which social life is organ-

xv
xvi Introduction

ized and through which we understand our and experienced by different groups of men
own experiences. And it is from this insight in different ways.
about the centrality of gender in social and This encyclopedia brings together many of
individual life that all current work on men the world’s premier scholars and writers,
and masculinities proceeds. who provide the reader with a brief guide to
The central insight of the new field of in- each issue and some suggestions for further
quiry, “Studies on Men and Masculinities,” is reading. We cover biological, cross-cultural,
that gender is a central organizing feature of psychological, and sociological research, as
men’s lives as well as women’s; that it com- well as representations from the arts and hu-
poses a foundation of men’s identities; that it manities. Our authors are among the best-
structures our interactions with other men, known scholars in the field, invited because
women, and children; and that it is part of of both their command of the material and
the framework of the institutions that shape their ability to convey it in a manner that is
our lives. immediate and accessible.

Why Not “Men’s Studies”? Gender, Not Sex

Why, you might be asking, would we title Most social and behavioral scientists now use
this work Men and Masculinities and not sim- the term gender in a different way than we
ply the Encyclopedia of Men’s Studies? This is a use the word sex. Sex refers to the biological
complicated issue, as are all issues in the apparatus, the male and the female—our
politicized world of gender studies in the chromosomal, chemical, and anatomical or-
academy. “Men’s studies” is not the accurate ganization. Gender refers to the meanings that
corollary to “women’s studies,” because are attached to those differences within a
women’s studies made both women and culture. Sex is male and female; gender is mas-
gender visible. Nor is it a “corrective” to the culinity and femininity—what it means to be
perceived defects of women’s studies al- a man or a woman. Even the Supreme Court
leged by antifeminist scholars, who seem to understands this distinction. In a 1994 case,
say, “Well, you have your women’s studies Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:
but what about us men?” In short, “men’s
The word ‘gender’ has acquired the new and use-
studies” suggests a defensive reaction to
ful connotation of cultural or attitudinal charac-
women’s studies rather than a building on teristics (as opposed to physical characteristics)
women’s studies’ original insights about distinctive to the sexes. That is to say, gender is
gender. to sex as feminine is to female and masculine is
Women’s studies was itself conceived as a to male. (J.E.B. v. Alabama, 114 S. Ct. 1436
corrective to the androcentric biases of the [1994])
traditional scholarly canon. And among its
greatest successes was the creation of a new And while biological sex varies very little,
discipline; today, entire libraries, course cur- gender varies enormously. What it means to
ricula, and books series are devoted to possess the anatomical configuration of male
women’s lives. We have titled this work Men or female means very different things de-
and Masculinities:A Social, Cultural, and Histori- pending on where you are, who you are, and
cal Encyclopedia to better distinguish between when you are living.
studies of men—corporeal beings—and
masculinities—the ideologies and attitudes Men as “Gendered Beings”
that are associated with those corporeal be- But what exactly does it mean to examine
ings. And we use the term masculinities to men “as men”? It means using gender as a
make clear that there is no one singular mas- way to understand men’s lives—both the
culinity, but that masculinity is elaborated quotidian experiences of men in various en-
 Introduction xvii

vironments, as well as shedding a new and most celebrated characters are young boys
different light on the lives of men whose ac- without fathers who are searching for au-
complishments in some field have already thentic families. And there’s nary a word
distinguished them. about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ideas about mas-
Think of gender as a sort of lens through culinity and social success in, say, The Great
which we can see the familiar in a different Gatsby. And my collaborator and coeditor
way, colored by a slightly different hue. The tells me that in her nineteenth-century
goal of this encyclopedia is not to replace all American literature class at Princeton, gen-
previous ways of understanding the lives of der was the main topic of conversation when
men, but rather to amplify those other ways the subject was Edith Wharton, but the word
of understanding, to add another dimension. was never spoken when they discussed
We do not believe that once we have exam- Henry James, in whose work gendered anxi-
ined gender or masculinity, we have there- ety erupts variously as chivalric contempt,
fore come to understand everything there is misogynist rage, and sexual ambivalence.
to know about, for example, F. Scott Fitzger- James, we’re told, is “about” the form of the
ald or the Vietnam War, to take two examples novel, narrative technique, the stylistic pow-
from the book. But we do emphatically be- ers of description, and characterization—
lieve that without understanding gender and certainly not about gender.
masculinity, you cannot understand the Or think about the 1840 presidential cam-
works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, nor fully com- paign during which William Henry Harri-
prehend the various elements that con- son’s supporters chastised Martin Van Buren
tributed to America’s involvement in Viet- as “Little Vanny,” a “used up man?” (You might
nam. The intention of these volumes is to recall that Harrison was actually deceived by
hold men’s lives up to that lens. his own hypermasculine hype, eschewing a
Take, for example, the famous American topcoat while taking the oath of office on the
composer Charles Ives, debunking “sissy” coldest day in several years, and dying one
types of music; he said he used traditional month later of pneumonia.) Or consider An-
“tough guy” themes and concerns in his drive drew Jackson’s manly rage at effete bankers
to build new sounds and structures out of and infantalized Indians; or Theodore Roo-
the popular musical idiom. Or take the cele- sevelt’s thundering about the strenuous life
brated architect Louis Sullivan, describing while he prepared invasions of Panama and
his ambition to create “masculine forms”: the Philippines. For all his tough talk, TR
strong, solid, commanding respect. (He in- suffered an emotional collapse when his
vented the skyscraper.) Or novelist Ernest son—whom he pushed into the military—
Hemingway, retaliating against literary ene- died in World War I. And what about Presi-
mies by portraying them as impotent or ho- dent Lyndon Johnson’s vainglorious claim
mosexual. during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War,
In my university, the course on nine- when he said that he “didn’t just screw Ho
teenth-century British literature includes a Chi Minh. I cut his pecker off!” Or George
deeply “gendered” reading of the Brontes, H. W. Bush, boasting proudly after his vice
which discusses their feelings about feminin- presidential debate with Geraldine Ferraro in
ity, marriage, and relations between the 1984 that he had “kicked a little ass,” and
sexes. Yet not a word is spoken about Dick- then squaring off against television commen-
ens and masculinity, especially regarding his tator Dan Rather in 1988 to dispel his image
feelings about fatherhood and the family. as a wimp? Or, perhaps the more recent case
Dickens is understood as a “social problem” of an assistant to Deputy Secretary Paul Wol-
novelist, and his issue was class relations— fowitz who commented in April 2003 that
this despite the fact that so many of Dickens’s “anyone can go to Baghdad. Real men go to
xviii Introduction

Tehran!” Indeed, recent political campaigns variations in the behaviors and attributes as-
have revolved, in part, around gender issues, sociated with being a man. And, until re-
as each candidate attempted to demonstrate cently, sociological models have stressed how
that he was not a “wimp” but was a “real socialization of boys and girls includes ac-
man.” (Of course, the few successful female commodation to a “sex role” specific to one’s
politicians face the double task of convincing biological sex. Although each of these per-
the electorate that they are not the “weak- spectives helps us to understand the meaning
willed wimps” that their gender implies in of masculinity and femininity, each is also
the public mind while at the same time limited in its ability to explain fully how gen-
demonstrating that they are “real women.”) der operates in any culture.
From the very founding of the country, the Relying on differences in reproductive bi-
political arena has been a primary masculine ology, some scholars have argued that the
testing ground. In fact, the pursuit of man- physiological organization of males and fe-
hood has been a dominant theme in Ameri- males makes inevitable the differences we
can history, at least rhetorically or metaphor- observe in psychological temperament and
ically. social behaviors. One perspective holds that
Above are just a few examples of what we differences in endocrine functioning are the
might call gendered speech, language that cause of gender difference, that testosterone
uses gender terms to make its case. And predisposes males toward aggression, com-
these are just a few of the thousands of ex- petition, and violence, whereas estrogen pre-
amples one could find in every academic dis- disposes females toward passivity, tender-
cipline of how men’s lives are organized ness, and exaggerated emotionality. Others
around gender issues and how gender re- insist that these observed behavioral differ-
mains one of the organizing principles of so- ences derive from the differences between
cial life. Men come to know themselves and the size or number of sperm and eggs. Be-
their world through the prism of gender. cause a male can produce 100 million sperm
Yet, too often, we treat men as if they had with each ejaculation, while a female can
no gender, as if only their public personae produce fewer than 20 eggs capable of ma-
were of interest to us as students and schol- turing into healthy offspring over the course
ars, as if their interior experience of gender of her life, these authors suggest that men’s
was of no significance. “investment” in their offspring is significantly
less than women’s investment. Other authors
Earlier Efforts to Study Men arrive at the same conclusion by suggesting
Although this is the first effort to bring this that the different size of eggs and sperm, and
lens to bear on an encyclopedic range of top- the fact that the egg is the source of the food
ics, researchers have certainly been examining supply, impel temperamental differences.
men and masculinities for a long time. Here I Reproductive “success” to males means the
want to provide a sort of chronology of those insemination of as many females as possible;
inquiries and suggest some of the ways our to females, reproductive success means care-
project attempts to synthesize them. fully choosing one male to mate with and in-
Historically, there have been three general sisting that he remain present to care for and
models that have governed social scientific support their offspring. Still other authors
research on men and masculinity. Biological argue that male and female behavior is gov-
models have focused on the ways in which erned by different halves of the brain. Al-
innate biological differences between males legedly, males are ruled by the left hemi-
and females program different social behav- sphere, which controls rationality and
iors. Anthropological models have examined abstract thought, whereas females are gov-
masculinity cross-culturally, stressing the erned by the right hemisphere, which con-
 Introduction xix

trols emotional affect and creativity. (For ex- be forced to observe the rules that they are
amples of these works, see Trivers 1972; naturally supposed to play by (see Epstein
Goldberg 1975, 1986; and Wilson 1976) 1986, 8)? At least one primatologist argues
Observed normative temperamental dif- that the evidence adduced to support the
ferences between women and men that are current status quo might also lead to pre-
assumed to be of biological origin are easily cisely the opposite conclusions, that biologi-
translated into political prescriptions. In this cal differences would impel female promis-
ideological sleight of hand, what is normative cuity and male fragility (see Hardy 1981).
(i.e., what is prescribed) is translated into Biological differences between males and fe-
what is normal, and the mechanisms of this males would appear to set some parameters
transformation are the assumed biological for differences in social behavior, but would
imperative. George Gilder (1986), for exam- not dictate the temperaments of men and
ple, assembles the putative biological differ- women in any one culture. These psycholog-
ences between women and men into a call ical and social differences would appear to be
for a return to traditional gender roles. the result far more of the ways in which cul-
Gilder believes that male sexuality is, by na- tures interpret, shape, and modify these bio-
ture, wild and lusty, “insistent” and “inces- logical inheritances. We may be born males
sant,” careening out of control and threaten- or females, but we become men and women
ing anarchic disorder, unless it can be in a cultural context.
controlled and constrained. This is the task It fell to anthropologists to detail some of
of women. When women refuse to apply the those differences in the meanings of mas-
brakes to male sexuality—by asserting their culinity and femininity. What they docu-
own or by choosing to pursue a life outside mented is that gender means different things
the domestic sphere—they abandon their to different people—that it varies cross-cul-
“natural” function for illusory social gains. turally. Some cultures, like our own, en-
Sex education, abortion, and birth control courage men to be stoic and to prove their
are all condemned as facilitating women’s es- masculinity. Men in other cultures seem
cape from biological necessity. Similarly, he even more preoccupied with demonstrating
argues against women’s employment, be- sexual prowess than American men. Other
cause the “unemployed man can contribute cultures prescribe a more relaxed definition
little to the community and will often dis- of masculinity, based on civic participation,
rupt it, but the woman may even do more emotional responsiveness, and the collective
good without a job than with one” (Gilder provision for the community’s needs. What
1986, 86). it meant to be a man in seventeenth-century
The biological argument has been chal- France, or what it means among Aboriginal
lenged by many scholars on several grounds. peoples in the Australian outback at the turn
The implied causation between two observed of the twenty-first century are so far apart
sets of differences (biological differences and that comparison is difficult, if not impossi-
different behaviors) is misleading because ble. The differences between two cultures is
there is no logical reason to assume that one often greater than the differences between
caused the other, or that the line of causation the two genders. If the meanings of gender
moves only from the biological to the social. vary from culture to culture, and vary
The selection of biological evidence is par- within any one culture over historical time,
tial, and generalizations from “lower” animal then understanding gender must employ the
species to human beings are always suspect. tools of the social and behavioral sciences
One sociologist asks, if these differences are and history.
“natural,” why should their enforcement be Some anthropologists have suggested that
coercive? And why must males and females the universality of gender differences comes
xx Introduction

from specific cultural adaptations to the en- general theoretical arguments remain con-
vironment, whereas others describe the cul- vincing.
tural variations of gender roles, seeking to Psychological theories have also con-
demonstrate the fluidity of gender and the tributed to the discussion of gender roles, as
primacy of cultural organization. Lionel psychologists have specified the developmen-
Tiger and Robin Fox (1984) argue that the tal sequences for both males and females.
sexual division of labor is universal because Earlier theorists observed psychological dis-
of the different nature of bonding for males tancing from the mother as the precondition
and females. “Nature,” they argue, “intended for independence and autonomy, or sug-
mother and child to be together” because gested a sequence that placed the capacity
she is the source of emotional security and for abstract reason as the developmental
food; thus, cultures have prescribed various stage beyond relational reasoning. Because it
behaviors for women that emphasize nurtu- is normative for males to exhibit indepen-
rance and emotional connection (Tiger and dence and the capacity for abstract reason, it
Fox 1984, 304). The bond between men is was argued that males are more successful at
forged through the necessity of “competitive negotiating these psychological passages and
cooperation” in hunting; men must cooper- implied that women somehow lagged behind
ate with members of their own tribe in the men on the ladder of developmental success.
hunt and yet compete for scarce resources But these models, too, have been chal-
with men in other tribes. Such bonds predis- lenged, for example by sociologist Nancy
pose men toward the organization of the Chodorow (1978), who argued that women’s
modern corporation or governmental bu- ability to connect contains a more funda-
reaucracy. mentally human trait than the male’s need to
Such anthropological arguments omit as distance, and by psychologist Carol Gilligan
much as they include, and many scholars (1982), who claimed that because earlier re-
have pointed out problems with the model. search on child development examined only
Why didn’t intelligence become sex linked, boys’ and men’s lives, researchers missed al-
as this model (and the biological model) ternative possible bases for moral reasoning.
would imply? Such positions also reveal a This other ethical construct, an “ethic of
marked conservatism: the differences be- care” is not simply “women’s” ethical frame-
tween women and men are the differences work, but an ethical framework that both
that nature or cultural evolution intended, women and men may utilize, but that is asso-
and are therefore not to be tampered with. ciated more with femininity.
Perhaps the best-known challenge to this Regardless of our assessment of these ar-
anthropological argument is the work of guments, Chodorow and Gilligan rightly
Margaret Mead. Mead insisted that the varia- point out that the highly ideological assump-
tions among cultures in their prescriptions of tions that make masculinity the normative
gender roles required the conclusion that standard against which the psychological de-
culture was the more decisive cause of these velopment of both males and females was
differences. In her classic study, Sex and Tem- measured would inevitably make femininity
perament in Three Primitive Societies (1935), problematic and less fully developed. More-
Mead observed such wide variability among over, Chodorow explicitly insists that these
gender-role prescriptions—and such marked “essential” differences between women and
differences from our own—that any univer- men are socially constructed and thus subject
sality implied by biological or anthropologi- to change.
cal models had to be rejected. And although Finally, sociologists have attempted to
the empirical accuracy of Mead’s work has synthesize these perspectives into a system-
been challenged in its specific arguments, the atic explanation of “sex roles.” These are the
 Introduction xxi

collection of attitudes, attributes, and behav- The Liberated Man (1975) discussed the costs
iors that are seen as appropriate for males to men’s health—both physical and psycho-
and appropriate for females. Thus, masculin- logical—and to the quality of men’s relation-
ity is associated with technical mastery, ag- ships with women, other men, and their chil-
gression, competitiveness, and cognitive ab- dren of the traditional male sex role.
straction, whereas femininity is associated Several anthologies explored the mean-
with emotional nurturance, connectedness, ings of masculinity in the United States by
and passivity. Sex-role theory informed a adopting a feminist-inspired prism through
wide variety of prescriptive literature (self- which to view men and masculinity. For ex-
help books) that instructed parents on what ample, Deborah David and Robert Brannon’s
to do to ensure that their children would The Forty-Nine Percent Majority (1976) and
grow up as healthy boys or girls. Joseph Pleck and Jack Sawyer’s Men and Mas-
The strongest challenge to all these per- culinity (1974) presented panoramic views of
spectives, as we have seen, came from femi- men’s lives from within a framework that ac-
nist scholars, who have specified the ways in cepted the feminist critique of traditional
which the assumptions about maturity, de- gender arrangements. Elizabeth Pleck and
velopment, and health all made masculinity Joseph Pleck’s The American Man (1980) sug-
the norm against which both genders were gested a historical evolution of contempo-
measured. In all the social sciences, these rary themes. These works explored both the
feminist scholars have stripped these early “costs” and the privileges of being a man in
studies of their academic facades to reveal modern U.S. society.
the unexamined ideological assumptions Perhaps the single most important book
contained within them. By the early 1970s, to criticize the normative organization of the
women’s studies programs began to articu- male sex role was Joseph Pleck’s The Myth of
late a new paradigm for the study of gender, Masculinity (1981). Pleck carefully decon-
one that assumed nothing about men or structed the constituent elements of the
women beforehand, and that made no as- male sex role and reviewed the empirical lit-
sumptions about which sex was more highly erature for each component part. After
developed. And by the mid-1970s, the first demonstrating that the empirical literature
group of texts about men appeared that had did not support these normative features,
been inspired by these pioneering efforts by Pleck argued that the male sex-role model
feminist scholars. was incapable of describing men’s experi-
ences. In its place, he posited a male “sex
role strain” model that specified the contem-
Thinking about Men: porary sex role as problematic, historically
The First Generation specific, and also an unattainable ideal.
In the mid-1970s, the first group of works on Building on Pleck’s work, a critique of the
men and masculinity appeared that were di- sex-role model began to emerge. Sex roles
rectly influenced by these feminist critiques had been cast as the static containers of be-
of the traditional explanations for gender dif- haviors and attitudes, and biological males
ferences. Some books underscored the costs and females were required to fit themselves
to men of traditional gender-role prescrip- into these containers, regardless of how ill
tions, exploring how some aspects of men’s fitting these clusters of behaviors and atti-
lives and experiences are constrained and un- tudes felt. Such a model was ahistorical and
derdeveloped by the relentless pressure to suggested a false cultural universalism, and
exhibit other behaviors associated with mas- was therefore ill equipped to help us under-
culinity. Books such as Marc Feigen-Fasteau’s stand the ways in which sex roles change,
The Male Machine (1974) and Warren Farrell’s and the ways in which individuals modify
xxii Introduction

those roles through the enactments of gender The research on men and masculinity is
expectations. Most telling, however, was the now entering a new stage in which the varia-
way in which the sex-role model ignored the tions among men are seen as central to the
ways in which definitions of masculinity and understanding of men’s lives. The unexam-
femininity were based on, and reproduced, ined assumption in earlier studies had been
relationships of power. Not only do men as a that one version of masculinity—white, mid-
group exert power over women as a group, dle-aged, middle-class, heterosexual—was
but the definitions of masculinity and femi- the sex role into which all men were strug-
ninity reproduce those power relations. gling to fit in our society. Thus, working-
Power dynamics are an essential element in class men, men of color, gay men, and
both the definition and the enactments of younger and older men were all observed as
gender. departing in significant ways from the tradi-
This first generation of research on mas- tional definitions of masculinity. Therefore, it
culinity was extremely valuable, particu- was easy to see these men as enacting “prob-
larly because it challenged the unexamined lematic” or “deviant” versions of masculinity.
ideology that made masculinity the gender Such theoretical assertions, however, repro-
norm against which both men and women duce precisely the power relationships that
were measured. The old models of sex roles keep these men in subordinate positions in
had reproduced the domination of men our society. Not only does middle-class, mid-
over women by insisting on the dominance dle-aged, heterosexual white masculinity be-
of masculine traits over feminine traits. come the standard against which all men are
These new studies argued against both the measured, but this definition, itself, is used
definitions of either sex and the social insti- against those who do not fit as a way to keep
tutions in which those differences were em- them down. The normative definition of
bedded. masculinity is not the “right” one, but it is the
Shapers of the new model looked at one that is dominant.
“gender relations” and understood how the The challenge to the hegemonic definition
definition of either masculinity or femin- of masculinity came from men whose mas-
inity was relational, that is, how the defini- culinity was cast as deviant: men of color, gay
tion of one gender depended, in part, on men, and ethnic men. We understand now
the understanding of the definition of the that we cannot speak of masculinity as a singu-
other. lar term, but must examine masculinities: the
In the early 1980s, the research on women ways in which different men construct differ-
again surged ahead of the research on men ent versions of masculinity. Such a perspec-
and masculinity. This time, however, the fo- tive can be seen in several late-twentieth-cen-
cus was not on the ways in which sex roles tury works, such as Harry Brod’s The Making
reproduce the power relations in society, but of Masculinities (1987), Michael Kimmel’s
rather on the ways in which femininity is ex- Changing Men: New Directions in Research on
perienced differently by women in various Men and Masculinity (1987), and Tim Carri-
social groups. Gradually, the notion of a sin- gan, R.W. Connell, and John Lee’s “Toward a
gle femininity—which was based on the New Sociology of Masculinity” (1985).
white, middle-class Victorian notion of fe- Robert W. Connell’s Gender and Power (1987)
male passivity, langorous beauty, and emo- and Jeff Hearn’s The Gender of Oppression
tional responsiveness—was replaced by an (1987) represent the most sophisticated theo-
examination of the ways in which women retical statements of this perspective. Connell
differ in their gender-role expectations by argues that the oppression of women is a
race, class, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, chief mechanism that links the various mas-
region, and nationality. culinities and that the marginalization of cer-
 Introduction xxiii

tain masculinities is an important component among the upper classes)—high-heeled patent

of the reproduction of male power over leather shoes, red velvet jackets covering frilly
women. This critique of the hegemonic defi- white lace shirts, lots of rouge and white pow-
nition of masculinity as a perspective on der makeup, and a taste for the elegant refine-
men’s lives was one of the organizing princi- ment of ornate furniture—bears much re-
ples of my coedited textbook (with Michael semblance to the meaning of masculinity
Messner), Men’s Lives, published initially in among a similar class of French men today?
1988, and now in its sixth edition. When it Masculinity also varies within any one soci-
first appeared, Men’s Lives was the first col- ety according to the various types of cultural
lege-level text in this second generation of groups that compose it. Subcultures are or-
work on men and masculinities. ganized around other poles, which are the pri-
Since then the field has mushroomed, and mary way in which people organize them-
there are now subfields on masculinities in selves and by which resources are distributed.
many academic disciplines, as well as a And men’s experiences differ from one an-
recognition that men and masculinities need other according to what social scientists have
to be acknowledged and analyzed within the identified as the chief structural mechanisms
frameworks established in gender studies. along which power and resources are distrib-
So, how do we think about men and mas- uted. We cannot speak of masculinity in the
culinities in the social and behavioral sciences United States as if it were a single, easily iden-
in the early twenty-first century? tifiable commodity. To do so is to risk positing
one version of masculinity as normative and
The Social Construction making all other masculinities problematic.
of Masculinities In the United States of the early twenty-
Men are not born—growing from infants first century, masculinity is constructed dif-
through boyhood to manhood—to follow a ferently by class culture, by race and ethnic-
predetermined biological imperative en- ity, and by age. And each of these axes of
coded in their physical organization. To be a masculinity modifies the others. Black mas-
man is to participate in social life as a man, as culinity differs from white masculinity, yet
a gendered being. Men are not born; they are each of them is also further modified by class
made. And men make themselves, actively and age. A thirty-year-old, middle-class black
constructing their masculinities within a so- man will have some things in common with a
cial and historical context. thirty-year-old, middle-class white man that
The meaning of masculinity is neither he might not share with a sixty-year-old,
transhistorical nor culturally universal; it is working-class black man, although he will
not carried on the Y chromosome, nor is it share with him elements of masculinity that
somehow a function of testosterone. Rather, are different from those of the white man of
the meanings of manhood vary from culture his class and age. The resulting matrix of
to culture and within any one culture over masculinities is complicated by cross-cutting
time. Thus, males become men in the United elements; without understanding this, we
States in the early twenty-first century in a risk collapsing all masculinities into one
way that is very different from men in South- hegemonic version. Imagine, for example, an
east Asia, or Kenya, or Sri Lanka. older, black, gay man in Chicago and a
Men’s lives also vary within any one culture young, white, heterosexual farm boy in
over time. The experience of masculinity in Iowa. Wouldn’t they have different defini-
the contemporary United States is very differ- tions of masculinity?
ent from that experience 150 years ago. Who If gender varies across cultures, over his-
would argue that what it meant to be a “real torical time, among men within any one cul-
man” in seventeenth-century France (at least ture, and over the life course, can we really
xxiv Introduction

speak of masculinity as though it was a con- (Of course, women contend with an
stant, universal essence, common to all men? equally exaggerated ideal of femininity,
If not, gender must be seen as an ever-chang- which Connell calls “emphasized femininity”
ing fluid assemblage of meanings and behav- [1987, 183]. Emphasized femininity is organ-
iors. In that sense, we must speak of masculin- ized around compliance with gender inequal-
ities, and thus recognize the different ity, and is “oriented to accommodating the
definitions of masculinity and that we con- interests and desires of men” [Connell 1987,
struct these definitions. By pluralizing the 187]. One sees emphasized femininity in “the
terms, we acknowledge that masculinity display of sociability rather than technical
means different things to different groups of competence, fragility in mating scenes, com-
people at different times. pliance with men’s desire for titillation and
At the same time, we can’t forget that all ego-stroking in office relationships, accept-
masculinities are not created equal. Ameri- ance of marriage and childcare as a response
can men must also contend with a particu- to labor-market discrimination against
lar definition that is held up as the model women” [Connell 1987, 188]. Emphasized
against which we are expected to measure femininity exaggerates gender difference as a
ourselves. We thus come to know what it strategy of “adaptation to men’s power”
means to be a man in our culture by setting stressing empathy and nurturance; “real”
our definitions in opposition to a set of womanhood is described as “fascinating” and
“others”—racial minorities, sexual minori- women are advised that they can wrap men
ties. For men, the classic “other” is, of around their fingers by knowing and playing
course, women. It feels imperative to most by the “rules.”)
men that they make it clear—eternally,
compulsively, decidedly—that they are un- This Encyclopedia
like women. Men and Masculinities was assembled and ed-
For most men, this is the “hegemonic” def- ited with this background. These volumes
inition—the one that is held up as the model present more than 400 entries of varying
for all of us. This is what Virginia Woolf lengths. The entries that comprise these vol-
called “the quintessence of virility, the per- umes can be generally grouped into three
fect type of which all the others are imper- large categories:
fect adumbrations” (142). The hegemonic First, we hold up the lives and accom-
definition of masculinity is “constructed in plishments of many historical figures—polit-
relation to various subordinated masculini- ical figures, writers, artists, and thinkers—
ties as well as in relation to women,” writes who are well known to readers. Here, we see
sociologist R. W. Connell (1987, 183). The them through a new lens, a gendered lens
sociologist Erving Goffman once described that explores their activities and their ideas
this hegemonic definition of masculinity like as they contribute to the larger historical
this: construction of masculinities. Of interest to
us here is not that they were men themselves,
In an important sense there is only one complete although many were, but rather that what
unblushing male in America: a young, married, they did is somehow exemplary to the con-
white, urban, northern, heterosexual, Protestant, struction of masculinities. All subjects are
father, of college education, fully employed, of carefully presented to illuminate the ways in
good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent which their lives and work expressed and
record in sports. Any male who fails to qualify in contributed to the construction of masculini-
any one of these ways is likely to view himself— ties. These are often icons of masculinity,
during moments at least—as unworthy, incom- those “role models” or the creators and pur-
plete, and inferior. (Goffman 1963, 128) veyors of those role models, who are held up
 Introduction xxv

as the images of masculinity to which we cally male populations. Here, readers will
should aspire. Often, though, these entries find terms such as gender order, patriarchy,
also highlight less-well-known figures whose Adonis Complex, or Don Juanism.
contribution to the construction of mas- We have sought to illuminate the experi-
culinities is often overlooked. ences of men and the shaping of masculini-
Second, we examine the various intersec- ties. In the process, we hope these volumes
tions of masculinity and other experiences will raise new ideas as well as new pathways
and identities. Entries on diverse groups of to and through more well-trodden ground.
men—by race, class, religion, ethnicity, sex- Canonized authors like Shakespeare and
uality—help give a fuller and richer picture Cooper and Fitzgerald and Ellison; everyday
of the meaning of masculinities. Here are issues like housework, health, and father-
the entries that focus specifically on the con- hood; major historical currents from democ-
struction of gay masculinities or African racy to colonialism to the Cold War; super-
American masculinities that specify the ways stars like Elvis and Tom Hanks and Eminem;
in which these “marginalized” masculinities American cultural staples like baseball,
are constructed through racism or homo- Bruce Springsteen, and the “self-made man”
phobia, that is, constructed through an in- all gain new dimensions through their treat-
teraction with other, dominant forms of ment here.
masculinities. We make no claims that the 400 entries
Third, we present a collection of events, that comprise these volumes present a com-
processes, movements, and historical mo- plete and comprehensive compendium of all
ments—all of which are pivotal in the con- extant knowledge about men and masculini-
struction of masculinities. These include his- ties. Such a project would be a lifetime’s
torical events like wars, or social movements work, worthy, perhaps, of Diderot’s magiste-
like unions. Organizations that were devel- rial ambition, but impossible to undertake
oped to assist in the construction of mas- today. As the editors of these volumes, we re-
culinity, such as the Boy Scouts or the YMCA, main painfully aware of their limitations. For
are also featured. one thing, while we have contributions from
Fourth, we present a set of experiences around the world and entries on interna-
that constitute men’s lives, experiences that tional topics, the overwhelming majority of
are essential for the individual construction entries are limited largely, but not entirely, to
of masculinity for men—such as aging—and United States–based sources. We have made
institutions that shape men’s lives, such as reference to non-American sources—
marriage, sports, and the workplace. We’re whether individual characters or move-
especially aware of the different meanings ments—but have included mainly those that
that different groups of men bring to experi- directly bear on the construction of Ameri-
ences of sexuality, for example, and we pres- can masculinities. The work is limited by the
ent a large number of entries that examine vision of its editors, but enlarged by the
men’s bodies and men’s sexuality as a central greater collective wisdom of the advisory ed-
site in the construction of masculinity. itors. Several entries we had hoped to in-
And finally, we present a set of theoretical clude, and for which we had contracted with
constructs that have been developed by natu- authors, failed to materialize.
ral and social scientists as well as humanists But in the modern world, an encyclopedia
to illuminate some essential aspect of men’s need not be fully comprehensive to be the
lives and the construction of masculinities. definitive work in the field. We hope that we
These include psychological terms that de- have assembled a useful collection of entries
scribe men’s experiences, as well as the ap- that will serve readers for many years to
plication of more traditional terms to specifi- come, providing the best and most complete
xxvi Introduction

compendium possible at this moment. We Kimmel, Michael S., ed. 1987. Changing Men: New
hope that it will prove useful to those who Directions in Research on Men and Masculinity.
use it, and that it will serve as the basis for Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Mead, Margaret. 1935. Sex and Temperament in Three
future work to make men’s lives and mas- Primitive Societies. New York: McGraw-Hill.
culinities visible. Pleck, Elizabeth, and Joseph Pleck, eds. 1980. The
References: American Man. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Brod, Harry, ed. 1987. The Making of Masculinities. Hall.
Boston: Unwin, Hyman. Pleck, Joseph. 1981. The Myth of Masculinity.
Carrigan, Tim, R.W. Connell, and John Lee. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.
1985. “Toward a New Sociology of Pleck, Joseph, and Jack Sawyer, eds. 1974. Men and
Masculinity.” Theory and Society 5, no. 14. Masculinity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Chodorow, Nancy. 1978. The Reproduction of Hall.
Mothering. Berkeley, CA: University of Stimpson, Catharine. 1988. Where the Meanings Are.
California Press. New York: Methuen.
Connell, R.W. 1987. Gender and Power. Stanford, Tiger, Lionel, and Robin Fox. 1984. The Imperial
CA: Stanford University Press. Animal. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
David, Deborah, and Robert Brannon, eds. 1976. Trivers, Robert. 1972. “Parental Investment and
The Forty-Nine Percent Majority. Reading, MA: Sexual Selection.” In Sexual Selection and the
Addison-Wesley. Descent of Man. Edited by B. Campbell.
Elliott, J. H. 1984. Richelieu and Olivares. New York: Chicago: Aldine.
Cambridge University Press. Wilkinson, Rupert. 1986. American Tough:The Tough
Epstein, Cynthia Fuchs. 1986. “Inevitability of Guy Tradition and American Character. New York:
Prejudice.” Society (September/October). Harper and Row.
Farrell,Warren. 1975. The Liberated Man. New Wilson, E. O. 1976. Sociobiology:The New Synthesis.
York: Random House. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Feigen-Fasteau, Marc. 1974. The Male Machine. Woolf,Virginia. 1938/1966. Three Guineas. New
New York: McGraw-Hill. York: Harcourt.
Gilligan, Carol. 1982. In a Different Voice.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gilder, George. 1986. Men and Marriage. Gretna, Note
LA: Pelican Publishers.
Goffman, Erving. 1963. Stigma. Englewood Cliffs, This introduction borrows liberally from the
NJ: Prentice-Hall. Introduction to Men’s Lives, 6th edition, ed-
Goldberg, Steven. 1975. The Inevitability of ited by Michael Kimmel and Michael Mess-
Patriarchy. New York: William Morrow. ner (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003), and The
———. 1986. “Reaffirming the Obvious.” Society Gendered Society, by Michael Kimmel (New
(September/October).
Hardy, Sandra Blaffer. 1981. The Woman That Never
York: Oxford University Press, 2000). It has
Evolved. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University been modified and revised, but draws on
Press. those works’ initial formulations.
Hearn, Jeff. 1987. The Gender of Oppression. New
York: St. Martin’s Press.
 A
Abolitionists behaviors and ideals that both significantly
In a poem dedicated to William Lloyd differed from popular connotations of the
Garrison, Thomas Wentworth Higginson word and reinforced them. For example, the
thanks his fellow abolitionist for what he typically masculine characteristics of reason,
calls “thy manly life,” reflecting a sentiment action, and violence find their way into many
shared by most nineteenth-century antislav- of Higginson’s, Garrison’s, and Phillips’s
ery supporters. Theirs was a manly or mas- speeches. These same men, however, often
culine endeavor, one that upheld the basic meld those masculine characteristics with
principles of democracy—life, liberty, and more feminine characteristics, such as pas-
the pursuit of happiness—and that did so re- sivity and emotion, sometimes even within
spectfully, yet sometimes forcefully. At the the same speeches. The ensuing paradox be-
same time as the abolitionists celebrated tra- hind messages that call for individuals to em-
ditional masculinity, however, the move- brace aspects of both the masculine and fem-
ment’s close association with several of the inine complicates the understanding and use
century’s other causes, including the of gender. A man should be passive, yet often
Temperance movement and the Women’s must act in violence; he should be coura-
Suffrage movement, ensured an alignment geous, but also sensitive; reasonable, yet also
with the feminine that often complicated open to emotional appeals.
their approach to gender. The speeches and Garrison exemplifies the abolitionists’
writings of three of the most notable aboli- complicated definition of masculinity in his
tionists—Higginson, Garrison, and Wendell “Tribute to Clarkson and Wilberforce,” where
Phillips—reveal precisely this type of com- he systematically lists what he sees as the
plicated approach to gender. By combining most positive masculine qualities of the two
elements of traditional masculinity with ele- British activists. They are “venerable men”
ments of traditional femininity, these men with “passive hearts” who do not know how
helped redefine what it meant to be a man in to act selfishly. Garrison applauds them for
nineteenth-century America. their devotion to the cause, for “enduring
Despite a shared understanding and some- shame and reproach,” for behaving rationally,
times vehement invocation of masculinity, and, above all, for not allowing color to blind
the abolitionists used the term to describe them. In their actions, they work to stop

1
2 Abolitionists

This illustration depicts the great antislavery meeting at Exeter Hall in 1841. When the Mexican-American War
began in 1846, abolitionists were one of the most outspoken groups in the United States and vehemently
denounced the war.They feared that the war was being fought to gain new territory for slavery. (National Archive)

bloodshed and they “break the yoke of op- nored black soldier’s courageous feats, claim-
pression.” They behave respectfully, sincerely, ing that Attucks is “the emblem of Revo-
and passionately toward their cause— lutionary violence in its dawn” and that he
attributes of the new, abolitionist masculinity. should receive the same respect and admira-
In contrast, Garrison uses “The Great tion as Washington. Phillips repeats this theme
Apostate,” an essay devoted to critiquing in other essays, including “Toussaint l’Ouver-
Daniel Webster, to demonstrate the lack of ture,” where he outlines courage, contrary to
manhood and masculinity that fuels the popular belief at the time, as the most notable
proslavery agenda. Garrison describes and defining feature of black men.
Webster as having “thrown away his manhood On the surface, Higginson’s sense of mas-
to gratify a wicked ambition.” culinity seems to be the most stereotypical of
Phillips applauds masculine courage also, the three. He often points to the ideals of
but he focuses on illuminating another of its courage and action in order to fuel the ef-
important aspects, the courage of black men. forts of the cause, and many of his own ac-
In his speech, “Crispus Attucks and the tions reflect these beliefs, including his par-
Negroes,” Phillips draws a portrait of the ticipation in the violent storm on Boston’s
Revolutionary War hero that highlights the ig- court house when officials in the same city
 Action Television Series 3

captured and prepared to return Andrew See also American Civil War; Slavery
Burns to slavery; his reporting from, and Further Reading:
participation in, the Kansas/Missouri con- Bartlett, Irving H. 1961. Wendell Phillips: Brahmin
Radical. Boston: Beacon Press.
flict over slavery; and his involvement with ———. 1979. Wendell and Ann Phillips:The
John Brown’s raid as part of the “Secret Six.” Community of Reform, 1840–1880. New York:W.
Higginson’s involvement with abolition, W. Norton.
however, also complicated his conception of Cain,William E., ed. 1995. William Lloyd Garrison
masculinity. As a supporter of Temperance and the Fight against Slavery: Selections from The
Liberator. Boston: Bedford.
and Women’s Suffrage, Higginson willingly Garrison,William Lloyd. 1852. Selections from the
acknowledged his appreciation for feminin- Writings and Speeches of William Lloyd Garrison.
ity. Later, as the colonel of the Union army’s New York: Negro Press.
first black regiment, Higginson himself even Grimke, Archibald H. 1969. William Lloyd Garrison:
turns toward the feminine. He often refers The Abolitionist. New York: Negro Universities
to himself as a “mother” of his troops, and in Press.
Harrold, Stanley. 2001. American Abolitionists.
letters written to his wife and mother he ac- Harlow, UK: Longman.
knowledges the feminine side of his interac- Higginson,Thomas Wentworth. 1884. Wendell
tions with the regiment, and of his own per- Phillips. Boston: Lee and Shepard.
sonality. ———. 2000. The Complete CivilWar Journal and
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Selected Letters of Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
Edited by Christopher Looby. Chicago:
Higginson’s sense of masculinity is his re- University of Chicago Press.
peated insistence on the importance of the Meyer, Howard N., ed. 2000. The Magnificent
body. For him, masculinity surfaces not only Activist:The Writings of Thomas Wentworth
as a state of mind or an emotion, but as a Higginson (1823–1911). Cambridge, MA: Da
bodily condition, one that enables a person Capo Press.
to behave courageously, to rise to action if Phillips,Wendell. 1982. Wendell Phillips on Civil
Rights and Freedom. Edited by Louis Filler.
necessary. Masculinity means, among other Washington, DC: University Press of America.
things, a keen awareness of the body’s abili- Tuttleton, James W. 1978. Thomas Wentworth
ties and a willingness to cultivate those abili- Higginson. Boston:Twayne.
ties. On a less personal scale, nonviolence
and temperance also helped construct atti-
tudes toward masculinity and the body, but Action Television Series
this time as a means of self-control.
All three men exemplified, in their ac- The male action television series is a genre
tions, speeches, and writings, a new type of that was most popular from the late 1970s
masculinity for the nineteenth century. through the 1980s. The plots tend to be su-
Rather than relying solely on stereotypical perficial vehicles for the action, which gener-
notions regarding gender, these men gleaned ally entails the “good” male protagonists
what they saw as the best attributes of the fighting, either with fists or guns, against
masculine—reason, courage, and action— their “evil” adversaries.These shows included
and then combined the attributes with more CHiPs (1977–1983), Dukes of Hazzard
feminine characteristics, such as appeals to (1979–1985), Knight Rider (1982–1986), The
emotion, passivity, and sensitivity. The result A-Team (1982–1987), and Simon & Simon
often created an image that, in its seemingly (1981–1988), among others. Early elements
oppositional structure, defied popular as- of the genre can be found in shows such as
sumptions regarding what it meant to be a The Lone Ranger (1949–1957), Batman
man or a woman, to be masculine or femi- (1966–1969), and Mission Impossible (1966–
nine in the nineteenth century. 1973); later shows such as Walker,Texas Ranger
Kristin N. Sanner (1993–2001) suggest that the genre did not
4 Action Television Series

disappear entirely. However, there has been a In the series that include men of color,
shift toward investigative crime series, in these men rarely exceed the racially stereo-
which the protagonist must think instead of typical component of their masculinity. The
fight, exemplified by such shows as McGyver most offensive would be the “warrior”Tonto,
(1985–1992), The Pretender (1996–2000), in Lone Ranger, but Ponch (CHiPs) is routinely
and CSI (2000–). In the male action TV se- presented as the “Latin Lover,” and the
ries, masculinity is presented as exclusively African American men in The A-Team;
heterosexual through fighting, superfluous Magnum, P.I.; Miami Vice; and Walker are pri-
romance plots, and supercharged automo- marily present for their strength, and any
biles. suggestion of their heterosexuality must be
Heterosexual masculinity within these achieved with women of color. Only the
shows is complicated by the close relationship shows of the late 1960s and early 1970s,
between the multiple male protagonists. By such as Mission Impossible and The Rookies
having more than one male protagonist, the (1972–1976), present African American men
shows provide models of male-male interac- in slightly more complex roles. However, all
tion, something that our culture does not do of these shows present the person of color in
often outside of sports. Although most shows the secondary role, making his masculinity
use the conventional two—the “buddy narra- less threatening to the predominantly white
tive”—creating a simple male-male dynamic, audience.
a few break this form: S.W.A.T. (1975–1976), Flirtatious and suggestive banter is also
Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988), and The A-Team part of the homoerotic subtext of many of
have three or more recurrent male protago- these shows. Because their heterosexuality is
nists. Knight Rider has a lone male protago- not to be questioned, the men in these shows
nist, although one could easily argue that the can makes jokes impugning the masculinity,
protagonist’s car, which is endowed with a maleness, and/or heterosexuality of the oth-
personality that is gendered male, makes this ers, and they can cross-dress. The shows of
a “buddy” show. the 1980s have the greater homoerotic sub-
The male-male pairings within these shows text and in retrospect are the most campy.
generally fall within the female stereotypical Heterosexual masculinity is affirmed in
pairings of light and dark heroines and/or these shows through force and violence;
“butch” and “femme.” Starsky and Hutch most shows use hand-to-hand fighting or big
(1975–1979), CHiPs, Dukes of Hazzard, Simon guns. Hand-to-hand fighting proves that the
& Simon, The A-Team, MiamiVice (1984–1989), hero is physically stronger than his foe, sug-
and Walker, Texas Ranger all have a light- gesting that he is not gay (the stereotype of
skinned, light-haired protagonist paired with gay men being effeminate underlies this). Or,
a dark-haired and frequently darker-skinned the shows have the male heroes use exces-
protagonist. Despite the original audiences sively large guns (The A-Team, S.W.A.T.), the
being overwhelmingly male, the light-haired not-so-subtle phallic metaphor.
male often has a boyish or pretty appearance To defuse the homoerotic potential of
(“femme”), such as Rick (Magnum, P.I.), “Face” male-male interaction, some of these shows
(The A-Team), A. J. (Simon & Simon), and Bo employ an overtly sexualized female costar:
(The Dukes of Hazzard). These men are paired Daisy (The Dukes of Hazzard), Amy and Tania
with darker-skinned or dark-haired men: T. (The A-Team), Amy and Bonnie (Knight Rider),
C. (Magnum, P.I.), B. A. (The A-Team), Rick Bonnie (CHiPs).These women have little plot
(Simon & Simon), and Luke (The Dukes of significance, and despite their conventionally
Hazzard). Although not all of the latter men attractive appearance, are not physically in-
are as “butch” as B. A., they do tend to be the volved with the male protagonists. These
tougher men in the pairings. woman are present for the heterosexual male
 Adolescence 5

viewer, so that he may participate in the male See also Buddy Films
bonding while having a viable or acceptable Further Reading:
release for his heterosexual desire. Brown, Jeffrey. 1993. “Bullets, Buddies, and Bad
Guys:The ‘Action-Cop’ Genre.” Journal of
Another element that is frequently used to Popular Film and Telelvision 21, no. 2 (Summer):
affirm heterosexual masculinity is the male- 79–87.
female kiss. For example, at least half of the Osgerby, Bill, and Anna Gough-Yates, eds. 2001.
episodes of Knight Rider end with Michael Action TV:Tough Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy
Knight giving an attractive woman a quick Chicks. New York: Routledge.
kiss before he leaves. Similarly, a majority of
A-Team episodes contain at least one scene
where “Face” kisses a young woman; the Adolescence
other three men have one or two episodes Adolescence has been identified as a critical
each where they kiss women, so that all of period of boys’ gender socialization during
the team is ultimately confirmed as hetero- which pressures to accommodate norms of
sexual. masculinity provide a framework for bodily
A less frequent and less compelling ap- changes (e.g., cognitive development, sexual
proach is the off-screen girlfriend or wife. maturation), shifts in existing relationships
The audience can be satisfied with the appar- (e.g., with family and friends), experiences
ent heterosexuality of the hero, but the plot of new relationships (e.g., with romantic
and male bonding are not interrupted by her and/or sexual partners), and introductions
presence. to new social roles and responsibilities (e.g.,
A related device is the foiled wedding. at work). Qualitative and quantitative empir-
Magnum, P.I.; Knight Rider; and Walker, Texas ical studies of boys, along with clinical work
Ranger each have an episode where the hero with boys, indicate that relationships with
is set to marry, only to have the bride killed teachers, family members, and peers are pri-
or otherwise removed before the marriage can mary contexts in which masculine norms
be consummated; therefore, heterosexuality manifest in boys’ everyday lives and empha-
is assured, but the hero can still maintain his size that it is often through and within inter-
close male relationships without the continu- personal relationships that masculine norms
ous plot disruption of a wife. are introduced, reinforced, incorporated,
As if homosexuality were not taboo and perpetuated in ways that become per-
enough within American culture, the shows sonally meaningful and directly consequen-
generally incorporate a second taboo that tial to adolescent boys. Much of recent dis-
would have to be broken for anything sexual course on boys’ gender socialization focuses
to occur: incest (Simon & Simon, The Dukes of on ways in which masculine norms can nega-
Hazzard), biracial relationships (CHiPs; The tively impact boys’ attitudes and behaviors,
A-Team; Miami Vice; Walker, Texas Ranger), or and thereby be detrimental to boys’ psycho-
cybernetic relationships (Knight Rider). logical and social health. However, studies
Finally, given the automobile’s long-stand- also show that boys are neither helpless vic-
ing association in the American vernacular tims of their gender socialization nor passive
with male sexuality, the powerful car (or recipients of culture. Evidence suggests that
van) is a prominent element of almost all of individual boys are able to play a mediating
the aforementioned shows. For most view- role, for instance, through their capacity to
ers, the car is the one thing that they could resist as well as internalize pressures to ac-
have in common with the men on TV, and commodate masculine norms and through
thus it is the point of access for the masculin- their ability to make meaning of, and give
ity presented in the shows. significance to, their experiences of gender
Michael Hardin socialization. Studies also suggest that having
6 Adolescence

at least one close, confiding relationship, in Pollack (1998) argues that boys’ separations
which boys feel truly known and accepted from their mothers during early childhood in
for who they are, can potentially protect the name of masculine self-sufficiency, al-
boys from psychological and social risks that though considered normative in boys’ gender
may be associated with their gender social- socialization, are experienced as traumas that
ization. That is, as active participants in their exacerbate their struggles as men to develop
gender socialization, boys negotiate their close, intimate relationships. Although this
identities, behaviors, and styles of engaging work provides an important perspective on
others in light of cultural constructions of how boys may become emotionally and rela-
masculinity but also in light of their own tionally constrained as a result of their gender
senses of themselves, their experiences of re- socialization, a tendency is evoked in this lit-
lationships, and their perceptions of reality. erature to conceptualize boys’ socialization as
Over the last two decades of the twentieth a linear model of cause and effect wherein
century, feminist researchers highlighted masculine norms directly impact boys’ atti-
ways in which aspects of feminine norms can tudes and behaviors. As a result, boys are of-
contribute to the social and psychological op- ten depicted as passive recipients of culture
pression of girls and women, and raised ques- and helpless victims of their socialization.
tions as to whether aspects of masculine Empirical studies of boys have begun to
norms may similarly have negative conse- highlight ways in which boys actively partici-
quences for boys and men, despite the social pate in their gender socialization, for instance
privileges of being male. Although masculine through their ability to resist as well as inter-
norms may vary within and between groups nalize pressures to accommodate masculine
(e.g., by race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, age), norms and through their ability to interpret
conventional norms of masculinity, which or make sense of their experiences, and can
tend to emphasize physical toughness, emo- thereby influence its effects on their social be-
tional stoicism, projected self-sufficiency, and haviors and psychological health. Pleck et al.
heterosexual dominance over women, have (1994) suggest that the salience of masculine
persisted over time and can usually be identi- norms to an individual boy can mediate how
fied within most cultures. It is boys’ socializa- they impact his attitudes and behaviors and
tion toward conventional norms of masculin- thus account for individual differences in the
ity that clinicians and researchers suggest can experiences and consequences of male gen-
be detrimental to boys’ emotional and rela- der socialization. Pleck and his colleagues
tional development, linked to risk-related so- found that adolescent boys who placed
cial behaviors, and become a hindrance to greater importance on the need for males to
boys’ overall psychological well-being. adhere to conventional norms of masculinity
Clinical work with boys has suggested that tended to exhibit more risk-related social be-
the content and processes of male socializa- haviors, including being suspended from
tion may stifle boys’ emotional and relational school, drinking alcohol and using street
development in the name of proving and sus- drugs, tricking or forcing someone to have
taining manhood. Kindlon and Thompson sex, and engaging in delinquent activities.
(1999) propose that, as emotional stoicism is Likewise, Chu, Porche, and Tolman (2001)
regarded as a defining feature of masculinity, found that, despite possible advantages of sta-
boys are “emotionally miseducated” through tus and power, adolescent boys’ alignment
their gender socialization and rendered “emo- with conventional norms of masculinity was
tionally illiterate” in the sense that their abil- associated with lower self-esteem.
ity to articulate their own feelings and their Research also has shown that interpersonal
sensitivity to other people’s feelings are not relationships can protect adolescents, boys
valued and, as a result, are not developed. and girls alike, against psychological and so-
 Adolescence 7

cial risks. Resnick and his colleagues from the lationships, seem partly to reflect how boys
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent are actively reading, taking in, and responding
Health (1977) revealed that, independent of to their culture, and particularly construc-
race, ethnicity, family structure, and poverty tions of masculinity. In a culture where having
status, adolescents who feel connected to and wanting close relationships tend to be as-
their parents, families, and school communi- sociated with being female, and proving mas-
ties are healthier than those who do not, and culinity involves devaluing and differentiating
that having access to at least one close, con- oneself from all things feminine, it is not sur-
fiding relationship is the single best protector prising that boys may learn to cover up their
against psychological and social risks, includ- capacity and desire for emotional intimacy. In
ing emotional distress, suicidal thoughts and interviews, adolescent boys emphasize the
attempts, violence perpetration, cigarette need to protect themselves from ridicule and
use, alcohol use, marijuana use, early sexual rejection by being careful about what they re-
involvement, and unintended pregnancy. In veal to others (Chu 1998). Adolescents also
Chu’s study of boys’ relational development, describe how issues of trust can make it diffi-
adolescent boys’ interview narratives empha- cult to rely on and share their genuine
size ways in which their relationships with thoughts and feelings with others (Way
family members and with friends can be an 1998). Boys indicate that they learn through
important source of support as well as pres- experience to modify their self-expression
sure and how boys draw strength from these and their styles of engaging others in light of
relationships as they work to reconcile their their understanding of what is acceptable and
desire to fit in socially (e.g., by accommodat- desirable, and also what feels safe, in their
ing masculine norms) with their desire to be particular social contexts. That is, boys’ gen-
true to themselves (e.g., by expressing their der socialization does not cause boys to lose
genuine thoughts and feelings), when these their relational capabilities and their desire
desires conflict. for emotional intimacy in relationships.
Despite an increasing emphasis on individ- However, through their experiences of gen-
uation and separation in the name of matu- der socialization, boys do become more savvy
rity and manhood, boys’ development con- about how they express themselves and how
tinues to center on their interpersonal they engage in their relationships. Moreover,
relationships during adolescence. However, as they accommodate themselves to conven-
boys are observed to experience difficulties tional norms of masculinity in what may be
in developing close relationships and to have considered a socially adaptive move, their ca-
lower levels of intimacy in their relation- pacity and desire for relationships become
ships, as compared with girls. In contrast to more difficult to detect.
stereotypes that consequently depict adoles- JudyY. Chu
cent boys as either incapable of, or uninter- See also Boyhood; Bravado; Columbine; School
ested in, having close and intimate relation- Shootngs
ships, evidence indicates that boys’ relational Further Reading:
Chu, Judy Y. 1998. Relational Strengths in
capabilities, including their self-awareness Adolescent Boys. Paper presented at the
and their sensitivity to others, carry forth American Psychological Association, San
beyond early childhood (Chu 1998).There is Francisco, CA.
also evidence of adolescent boys’ desires to Chu, Judy Y., Michelle V. Porche, and Deborah L.
be truly known and accepted, for instance in Tolman. 2001. Examining Relational Masculinity
their friendships. Ideology and Self-Esteem among Adolescent
Boys. Paper presented at the American
Rather than being a question of ability or Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
interest, boys’ styles of engaging in their rela- Connell, Robert W. 1996. “Teaching the Boys:
tionships, and thereby the quality of boys’ re- New Research on Masculinity, and Gender
8 “Adonis Complex”

Strategies for Schools.” Teachers College Record men in 1972 (Cash, Winstead, and Janda
98, no. 2: 206–235. 1986). More men are seeking cosmetic
Kindlon, Daniel, and Michael Thompson. 1999. surgery to improve their appearance. For ex-
Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys.
New York: Ballantine Publishing Group. ample, in 1992 approximately 6,000 men
Pleck, Joseph H., Freya L. Sonenstein, and had liposuction to remove unwanted fat,
Leighton C. Ku. 1994. “Problem Behaviors and compared to close to 22,000 men in 1997.
Masculinity Ideology in Adolescent Males.” Pp. Approximately 3 to 5 million men in the
165-186 in Robert Ketterlinus and Michael E. United States alone struggle with eating dis-
Lamb, eds., Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Issues
and Research. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
orders, such as bulimia nervosa. These prob-
Associates, Inc. lems are associated with devastating psycho-
Pollack,William S. 1998. Real Boys: Rescuing Our logical and medical consequences, including
Sons from the Myths of Boyhood. New York: depression, social isolation, cardiac prob-
Random House. lems, and death (Pope, Phillips, Olivardia
Resnick, Michael D., Peter S. Bearman, Robert W. 2000).
Blum, Karl E. Bauman, Kathleen M. Harris, Jo
Jones, Joyce Tabor,Trish Beuhring, Renee E. About 1 million men have body dysmor-
Sieving, Marcia Shew, Marjorie Ireland, Linda phic disorder (BDD), which causes them to
H. Bearinger, and Richard Udry. 1997. believe that a part of their appearance is ugly
“Protecting Adolescents from Harm: Findings and defective in some way, when in reality it
from the National Longitudinal Study on looks fine. They may think they are losing
Adolescent Health.” Journal of the American
Medical Association 278, no. 10: 823–832.
their hair, even when sporting a full head of
Way, Niobe. 1998. Everyday Courage:The Stories and hair. Or they may think that their penis is too
Lives of Urban Teenagers. New York: New York small, when it is of average size, or feel their
University Press. nose is too big, when it looks ordinary.These
Way, Niobe, and Judy Y. Chu, eds. Forthcoming. beliefs lead to various compulsive behaviors
Adolescent Boys in Context. New York: New York in an attempt to disguise or eliminate the
University Press.
perceived defect. Meanwhile, others cannot
see what the victim sees. A subcategory of
BDD, known as muscle dysmorphia, has
“Adonis Complex” emerged in the literature in which men who
The Adonis complex refers to the various are very muscular and fit perceive them-
manifestations of body image problems seen selves to be too small or weak looking. This
in men today (Pope, Phillips, and Olivardia preoccupation leads to compulsive exercise
2000). Contrary to popular belief, these and weight lifting (sometimes up to six hours
problems are not only experienced by per day), idiosyncratic dietary rituals, com-
women. It is this belief that leads many boys pulsive mirror checking and grooming be-
and men to suffer silently for fear that they havior, social avoidance, and occupational
will be perceived as effeminate or weak. and relational impairments (Olivardia 2001).
Men with these issues struggle with a “feel- Once relegated to elite bodybuilding cir-
ing and talking taboo” that prevents them cles, anabolic steroids are being used more
from discussing these concerns, even with and more by young boys and men who are
those closest to them. They often suffer with striving for a perfect muscular body. Studies
depression, anxiety, and issues of self-es- have found that approximately 6 percent of
teem. high school boys have admitted using these
The rates of body dissatisfaction in men dangerous illegal substances (Durant et al.
have risen dramatically over the last several 1993, 922). Physical effects include hardening
decades. A survey found that close to 50 per- of the arteries, which can lead to stroke and
cent of men are dissatisfied with their ap- heart attacks at an early age. Psychological ef-
pearance compared to only 15 percent of fects include psychosis, mania, and aggressive
 Aging 9

or violent behavior, also known as “roid rage” Who Use Anabolic Steroids.” New England
(Pope, Phillips, and Olivardia 2000). Journal of Medicine 328: 922–926.
Various theories have been offered as to Mishkind, Marc E., Judith Rodin, Lisa Silberstein,
and Ruth H. Striegel-Moore. 1986. “The
why men are now being affected by body- Embodiment of Masculinity: Cultural,
image concerns that have plagued women for Psychological and Behavioral Dimensions.”
centuries. A proliferation of media images American Behavioral Scientist 29, no. 5: 545–562.
over the last twenty years of the twentieth Olivardia, Roberto. 2001. “Mirror, Mirror on the
century and into the twenty-first directed at Wall,Who’s the Largest of Them All?” Harvard
Review of Psychiatry 9: 254–259.
young boys and men dictating the ideal male Pope, Harrison G., Jr., Katharine A. Phillips, and
body may have had some role in this phe- Roberto Olivardia. 2000. The Adonis Complex:
nomenon (Pope, Phillips, and Olivardia The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession. New
2000). The popular toy G. I. Joe action fig- York:The Free Press.
ure, Calvin Klein advertisements, muscled
athletes and movie stars, and fitness maga-
zines have all been implicated in projecting Aging
to young men the type of body for which Aging is a process with enormous psycholog-
they should strive. Some have hypothesized ical, emotional, and—some believe—moral
that the increased attention to male body im- consequences. We can identify the onset of
age is a result of the increased parity of aging when the physiological development of
women (Mishkind et al. 1986; Pope, Phillips, a boy is being completed, at the end of pu-
and Olivardia 2000). Men used to define berty in the late teen years. Adolescent boys
their masculinity through their occupations typically relish the process of maturation,
or income. Because many of these roles are wanting the privileges and status that accom-
rightfully shared by women today, men may pany being a man.
be attempting to demonstrate their mas- Maturation takes about twenty years.
culinity through building their bodies. In ad- During the next forty years of mature adult-
dition, men may feel increased pressure to hood, men rarely notice the very slow aging
have a good body as a means of competing process. Most men continue to grow in dis-
with other men for the attention of men and cernment and wisdom during this time.
women. Muscularity signifies many hyper- When accident or illness brings awareness
masculine traits, such as strength, sexual that recovery to a previous maximum func-
virility, aggression, and dominance. Out- tional ability will not occur, gradually and
reach, recognition, proper assessment, diag- episodically men become aware of aging and
nosis, and further research on treatment of more acutely aware of their mortality. Denial
these problems are necessary in order to of death is an adaptive mechanism in midlife
remedy this significant problem. that enables individuals to focus on planning
Roberto Olivardia for the future.
The objective and subjective experiences
See also Anabolic and Androgenic Steroids; Atlas, of men differ enormously (Thompson 1994).
Charles; Bodybuilding, Contemporary;
Bodybuilding, History of; Men and Eating
Life events and the meanings attributed to
Disorders; Schwarzenegger, Arnold them vary by socioeconomic class, education,
Further Reading: ethnicity, religion, random occurrence, and
Cash,Tom F., Barbara A.Winstead, and Louis H. personal interpretations.
Janda. 1986. “The Great American Shape-Up: Tradition has it that sometime in the eigh-
Body Image Survey Report.” Psychology Today teenth century, Frederick the Great of Prussia
20: 30–37.
Durant, Robert H.,Vaughn I. Rickert, Carolyn S. asked one of his ministers the average age of
Ashworth, Cheryl C. Newman, et al. 1993. death of his citizens. Told that it was sixty-
“Use of Multiple Drugs among Adolescents five, he decreed that that age should be the
10 Aging

Runners in the 10K Run of the first U.S. National Senior Olympics (Joseph Sohm; ChromoSohm Inc./Corbis)

age of retirement—a concept that was not worth noting, however, that the United States
necessary before the Industrial Revolution ranks only twenty-fourth among nations in
and the development of modern state bureau- life expectancy (World Fact Book 2000),
cracies that could provide retirement bene- with Japan ranked highest.
fits. Had his minister taken into account Some of this difference may be intrinsic to
higher infant mortality and death from infec- the biological differences between men and
tious disease prior to age 65, the figure would women. Men are more vulnerable to sex-
have been closer to forty years. Recognizing linked disorders. More male than female fe-
that statistics vary by source and country, in tuses are conceived, between 108 and 120
the nineteenth century, it appears that men males to 100 females (Tricomi, Seer, and
on average lived about two years longer than Solish 1960; Parkes 1967) and more sponta-
women, who were vulnerable to the danger neously abort. Still 103 to 105 boys are born
of complications in multiple pregnancies and for every 100 girls. (World Fact Book 2000).
deliveries. In 1900 in the United States, aver- Approximate sex parity, that is equal num-
age life expectancy for men was 48.2 and bers of men and women, occur approxi-
women 51.1; in 1996, 73.0 for men and 79.0 mately at the time of physiological maturity.
for women (National Institute on Aging).The Another part of the difference between
National Center for Health Statistics reported men and women in life expectancy can be at-
life expectancy in the year 2000 as 74.1 for tributed to men’s socialization. Boys have far
men and 79.0 for women. Due to improved stronger inducement to conform to tradi-
health care both sexes live longer than they tional sex-role expectations than girls. The
used to, but women’s average life expectancy cultural illusion that men are stronger than
exceeds that of men by six to eight years. It is women promotes an expression of “mas-
 Aging 11

culinity” that honors greater risk taking by ward early retirement may be reversing itself
men throughout life. More men die early due to perceived financial insecurity. Some
due to accidents and acts of violence than research suggests that men in general adjust
women. The subjective experience of failure to retirement better than women, but that
to achieve idealized masculine goals results men who return to some form of work by
in shame for some men, which is at best psy- choice are happier with their lives and mar-
chologically destructive, and surely con- riages than men who retire permanently
tributes to men’s greater risk for suicide. (Kim and Moen 1999). Men are socialized to
Traditionally, more men smoke tobacco than be the primary breadwinners, though this no
women, doubtless as a symbol of masculin- longer holds for the generation approaching
ity, though smoking rates are declining and retirement age in the early twenty-first cen-
equalizing.The health consequences of smok- tury. Nevertheless, adjusting to a domestic-
ing, greater risk of all types of cancer and based life can cause both personal and rela-
coronary and pulmonary diseases, are well tionship stress.
documented. A man who survives to age sixty-five in
Evidence that difference in life expectancy good health can expect on average twenty
is not all intrinsic to biological factors but is in more years of life. These changes in life ex-
part a consequence of behavioral and environ- pectancy have important consequences for
mental factors is found in the variation among social policy. For example, Social Security
life expectancy in various countries. systems can no longer be based on the as-
Depending on the source of data and method sumption that there will be increasing num-
of analysis, specific average figures vary, but bers of workers in the preretirement group
trends are clear. According to a World Health to provide benefits for the retired. In a
Organization (WHO) report rating 191 coun- healthy economy, there are sufficient re-
tries, Japan ranked first with male life ex- sources to provide for all, but considering
pectancy of 74.5 years and the United States the trend of an aging population, both po-
ranked twenty-fourth with a male life ex- litical determination and new mechanisms
pectancy of 67.5 years for children born in will be required to make retirement sys-
1999 (World Health Organization 2000). tems secure.
(Note: Demographic data has multiple param- Recognizing these changes, universities
eters.The specific data cited here is illustrative have established academic programs in
and not intended to be complete. Additional gerontology research. Clinical training pro-
data can be found at www.aoa.dhhs.gov/ grams for health care providers now offer
aoa/stats.) specializations in geriatrics. Professional or-
Increased life expectancy has had a pro- ganizations have emerged with journals and
found impact on society. Not only can a man annual conferences for early reporting of re-
expect to live longer, but in developed coun- search and continued education for practi-
tries the average age of the population is in- tioners. (Note: Two of the most important
creasing. Historically, a few of the privileged professional organizations are the Geron-
or lucky who survived famine, infectious dis- tological Society of America and the
ease, and war lived to an old age. Now for American Society on Aging.)
the first time in history, most men do. In 1974 Congress authorized formation of
Sixty-five is no longer the standard age for the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to pro-
retirement. Gradually the age for receiving vide leadership in aging research, education,
Social Security benefits and Medicare is be- dissemination of health information, and
ing increased, yet at the same time many other programs relevant to aging and older
men have vested pensions and are retiring at people. Subsequent amendments to this leg-
much younger ages. However, the trend to- islation designated the NIA as the primary
12 Aging

federal agency for Alzheimer’s disease re- duce thinking and motor activity. Other
search. neurological illnesses with unknown causes
The term old is no longer considered suffi- such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple
cient to describe the postretirement group, sclerosis can contribute to dementia.
but new distinctions have appeared in the pro- Alcohol abuse is a significant factor in mem-
fessional literature. Young old is now conven- ory loss. Failure to fully program the brain
tionally used to designate persons between through education is also thought to con-
sixty-five and seventy-five, old denotes per- tribute to vulnerability. These causes are ad-
sons between seventy-five and eighty-five, and ditive in their effect, though a few men es-
old old describes persons eighty-five and older. cape dementia until a very advanced age,
Inevitably the question occurs: Can the in- when coronary failure becomes the most
crease in human life expectancy that has common cause of death.
been experienced in the twentieth century The vast majority of men enter one or
be continued? Most researchers answer in more domestic relationships during their
the affirmative, but not at the same rate. lives, most frequently in the form of legally
Most biological scientists believe that there is sanctioned heterosexual marriages. Due to
an upward cap on human life expectancy the higher mortality rate of men, fewer ag-
somewhat short of 150 years (Moody 1993). ing men live alone than women. In the year
Inevitably the human body, including the 2000, 73 percent of men sixty-five and
brain, slows down, probably as a result of cu- older were living with a spouse, 17 percent
mulative errors in DNA replication. Vision alone, and 10 percent in other arrange-
changes for most people in their fifth decade ments. Sociologists and psychologists have
of life, but in time most people also experi- found that men living alone are at greater
ence some loss of visual acuity, auditory clar- risk for reduction in quality of life than
ity, and even taste and smell. Although the women living alone (Velkoff and Lawson
age of onset varies, this results in a condition 1998). More women become caregivers of
called senility, which includes both debility domestic partners than men, and in the
and dementia. Debility and dementia do not prime of life more women become care-
proceed at the same rate in all men. For givers for aging parents and other family el-
some, death comes from a physiological fail- ders than do men.
ure before there is any onset of dementia; for Nevertheless, because of the random un-
a few, dementia occurs even before the onset predictability of life, many men must assume
of physical weakness. the role of caregiver for chronically ill or de-
Dementia is defined as the failure of men- mented partners or parents. Some men feel
tal abilities, again with no certain sequence. they are more constitutionally suited for
Typically, recent or short-term memory de- these tasks, even when a woman is available
clines first, and then remote memory. In (Kraemer and Thompson 2002).
time comes the failure of abstract thinking, Heterosexual men who survive the death
orientation to time and place, and failure of of a domestic partner in later life are advan-
expressive and receptive linguistic ability. In taged in finding a far larger pool of available
its last stages, dementia can result in the loss women for continued companionship
of orientation to self, loss of speech, and loss (Moore and Stratton 2002). In the year
of motor control, with only the brain stem 2000, the sex ratio for the 65–69 age group
supporting basic vital functions. was 143 women for every 100 men; for
Dementia has multiple causative factors, those 85 and older there were 245 women
the most significant being the syndrome for every 100 men (World Fact Book 2000).
called Alzheimer’s disease. Strokes can also Homosexual men who are coming to an
result in death of sufficient brain cells to re- age of retirement in the early 2000s have ade-
 Aging 13

quate reliable information and adequate social Social Security does not provide sufficient
support systems to facilitate emotional well- income to live above the poverty level, but
being. However those in the “old old” cohort only a survival minimum. A prudent man
are especially disadvantaged, with few excep- will plan for additional retirement income
tions. They matured during a time of taken- and lay aside some savings to assure more
for-granted cultural prejudice resulting in se- comfort in old age.
vere negative sanctions, not only against Medicare, part of the Social Security in-
physical intimacy between men but even surance system, provides basic outpatient
against expressions of affection. Not only reli- medical care, limited hospitalization, and
gious leaders, but educational and medical au- limited rehabilitation in a skilled nursing fa-
thorities as well, conflated gender roles with cility, but it does not pay for medication at
sexual orientation, unintentionally promoting the present time. If long-term care is
widespread anxiety among all men of any be- needed, private payment is required as long
havior that could be considered “feminine.” as there are personal assets. Medicaid, an
Many older men living today were shaped emergency welfare program, becomes avail-
by the Great Depression and World War II. able for persons who have “spent down” to a
Many were economically and emotionally de- minimal reserve fund of several thousand
prived, resulting in anxieties and insecurities. dollars, specified by each state. Medicaid
After the war, many men had opportunities then covers the cost of generic medications,
for upward social and economic mobility, however, Social Security benefits are taken to
which sometimes resulted in identifications cover the cost of residential care, except for
with structures of domination over women, approximately one dollar per day personal
children, and minorities. These experiences allowance.
have caused some older men to be defensive Adjustment to life in a nursing home is
about social and cultural developments that usually more difficult for men than women.
have passed them by. However, age alone is Almost everyone requiring long-term care
not a handicap for growth and adjustment to grieves for the loss of his or her home. The
changing social circumstances. Age is typi- loss of freedom of movement and personal
cally accompanied by reduction in both social decision making is usually greater for men
and internal pressure to conform to sex-role than for women. Even the best nursing
stereotypes. Many older men find sufficient homes are not resort hotels. A private room
freedom from convention to be themselves requires private pay. Individual food prefer-
for the first time. ences and choice of mealtimes and sleep
Contrary to popular opinion, old men are times are structured by the necessities of the
able to maintain a healthy sexual and sensual setting. Personal control over medications
life, and medications are becoming available and most toilet articles is usually denied and
to enhance sexual ability. Physical intimacy the guiding principle is safety over comfort
is as important as orgasms. Our society, or personal preference. Expressions of physi-
however, retains such negative attitudes cal intimacy are strongly discouraged except
about sex that older men are criticized for between legally married couples sharing the
their expressed interest. The possibilities same room, and that may not be possible un-
available are rarely discussed in medical set- less both members of the couple qualify for
tings for lack of time or perceived impor- the same level of care.
tance, and churches and senior centers often Enhanced medical technology, a pervasive
fail to help due to ignorance and inhibition. prolife ideology, and the legal vulnerability of
Therefore it is advisable for men to be health care providers often results in the use
proactive about such discussions with in- of any life-sustaining technology possible.
formed counselors. These may include a ventilator that requires
14 Aging

penetration of the trachea and a gastric feed- need or wish to work, old age provides op-
ing tube that requires the penetration of the portunities to enhance their lives by travel
abdomen. In some cases the heart is started and voluntary service.
after there is no longer sufficient brain func- Aging can also offer opportunity to create
tion to assure any quality of life. Most men better balance in life. Some men will want to
would want these interventions if there were remedy past mistakes and mend the fences of
a possibility of recovery. Without that possi- broken relationships with children or
bility most men would prefer the natural friends. For others this is an opportunity to
death that would occur without these invasive make peace with the cosmos and to accept
interventions. Churches could be far more that death is part of life, while living to the
resourceful in assisting old men to cope with fullest until it comes.
the realities of old age but all too often en- James Harrison
courage denial of death by promising life after See also Male Menopause; “Midlife Crisis”
death rather than focusing on the quality of Further Reading:
life here and now. Binstock, Robert H., and Linda K. George. 2001.
To have some chance that one’s personal Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. 5th ed.
wishes will be carried out, all men need to San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Brown, Lester B., ed. 1997. Gay Men and Aging.
prepare a prior directive, or living will, and New York: Garland.
keep it on file with their physicians. Eisler, Richard M., and Michael Herson, eds.
Everyone should designate a family member 2000. Handbook of Gender, Culture and Health.
or trusted friend, as well as a “backup” indi- Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
vidual, to exercise a health care power of at- Furstenburg, Frank F. 2002. Adult Transitions in
torney, which authorizes such friend or rela- Cross-National Perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications.
tive to make decisions in case of one’s Kim, Jungeen E., and Phillis Moen. 1999. APA
temporary or permanent loss of compe- Monitor Online 30, no. 9 (October).
tence. Personal communication to a life part- Kraemer, Betty J., and Edward H.Thompson.
ner, friend, relative, or physician regarding 2002. Men as Caregivers. New York: Springer.
one’s wishes in such circumstances is not suf- Moody, Harry R. 1993. Aging: Concepts and
Controversies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge
ficient without documentation of authority. Press (Sage).
Forms for these documents can be down- Moore, Alinde J., and Dorothy C. Stratton. 2002.
loaded from the Internet and are available in Resilient Widowers. New York: Springer.
physicians’ offices and county departments of National Center for Health Statistics. At
social services. http://www.cdc.gov/
For the man who has given thought to his nchs/fastats/lifexpec.html (cited 27 July
2003).
future, however, old age can be wonderful. National Institute on Aging. At
Though there are accidental and genetic fac- http://www.originalghr15.com/secrets.html
tors that are not under personal control, (cited 27 July 2003).
men can optimize their health by not smok- Parkes, A. 1967. “The Sex Ratio in Man.” In The
ing and limiting alcohol use. Weight control Biology of Sex. Edited by A. Allison. Baltimore:
Penguin Books.
and regular, physical activities that maximize Thompson, Edward H., Jr., ed. 1994. Older Men’s
range of motion, such as gardening, house- Lives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
cleaning, and sports—especially walking and Tricomi,V., O. Seer, and C. Solish. 1960. “The
swimming—are valuable. Most older men Ratio of Male to Female Embryos as
want to work part time, if not for the finan- Determined by the Sex Chromatin.” American
cial reward, then for the change of scene and Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 79: 504–509.
Velkoff,V., and V. Lawson. 1998. “Gender and
the opportunities of socialization. Many Aging.” U.S. Department of Commerce. At
older men for the first time find opportunity http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/
for political activity. For those who do not ib-9803.pdf (cited 27 July 2003).
 AIDS 15

World Health Organization (WHO). 2000. count for approximately 85 percent of all
“WHO Issues New Healthy Life Expectancy cases. As of the start of 2001 the Centers for
Rankings.” At http://www.who.int/ Disease Control and Prevention reported a
inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-life.html (cited 27
July 2003). total of 748,393 cases of AIDS had been di-
agnosed in the United States. More than
442,000 Americans had died with AIDS by
this time. Deaths among persons with AIDS
AIDS peaked in the United States in 1995, when
AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syn- more than 50,200 persons died. Since 1995
drome) is an infectious disease that sup- new treatments and drugs have contributed
presses the human body’s immune system, to the decline in the number of deaths
greatly increasing the chances for other, op- among persons with AIDS; in 2000 only
portunistic infections to beset the victim. 8,867 deaths among persons with AIDS were
AIDS is caused by infection with HIV (hu- reported. Additionally, more than 450,000
man immunodeficiency virus). HIV enters individuals were living with HIV infection or
the body through the introduction of bodily diagnosed with AIDS. The total number of
fluids from an already infected individual. persons infected with HIV is unknown, as it
Once in the body, HIV centers in the blood is widely believed that as many as one in
stream, attacking and destroying so-called T4 three persons that are infected do not know
cells. The depletion of T4 cells weakens the of their infection.
body’s immune function, leading to other in- HIV infection and AIDS has historically
fections. HIV/AIDS is considered a chronic been a primarily male disease in the United
disease, and one that eventually leads to States. This is not the case in most other na-
death. However, it is not AIDS itself that tions, however. In the United States, fully 85
causes death; rather, individuals die of op- percent of all known cases of AIDS have oc-
portunistic infections, which are facilitated curred in men. In the initial stages of the
by the body’s suppressed immune system and AIDS epidemic in the United States, HIV
weakening state. was concentrated among men, specifically
The World Health Organization estimated men who have sex with men. Due to this ini-
that at the end of 2001 more than 40 million tial concentration, and the ease with which
persons worldwide were living with HIV, HIV is transmitted during sexual activities,
with more than 20 million having already the disease quickly gained a foothold in this
died. More than one-half (53 percent) of segment of the population and has only
those living with HIV are men, and 54 per- slowly begun to even out across the sexes. As
cent of those who died with AIDS in 2001 of the start of 1991, 90 percent of all per-
were men. Men are expected to continue to sons with AIDS in the United States were
bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic, as 58 men. In the early years of the twenty-first
percent of new infections in 2001 were in century, however, the number and propor-
men (WHO 2002). tion of women with HIV and AIDS is increas-
In the United States, the HIV/AIDS epi- ing, although the numbers still show a
demic has taken a serious toll, but not nearly strongly skewed distribution.
as significant as in other parts of the world. The first cases of AIDS in the United
Diagnosed cases of AIDS in North America States were all men, almost entirely gay men
account for only about 2 percent of all AIDS or men who had sex with men. Small, un-
cases worldwide, according to the World usual outbreaks of Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare
Health Organization. The true brunt of the skin cancer, and pneumocystis carinii pneu-
epidemic has been in Sub-Saharan Africa and monia (PCP), were reported on the west
South and Southeast Asia, which together ac- and east coasts in 1981, suggesting an im-
16 AIDS

mune system failure in the diagnosed men, fected with HIV is via sex with an infected
but the cause of their illnesses was un- male sexual partner. More than one-half of
known. It was another three years before all American men with HIV infection report
scientists isolated the cause of the suppres- having engaged in sex with another man.
sion of suddenly sick and dying men’s When assessing the risk factors for infection
immune systems. The HIV virus as the among men known to be HIV positive, at the
agency that causes the disease AIDS was start of 2001 cumulative statistics show 46
identified and named in 1984 by Dr. Joseph percent report sex with a male partner, 13
Gallo. (Others debate this, crediting the percent report injection drug use, 6 percent
original identification to researchers at both sex with a man and injection drug use,
the Institute Pasteur in France who pointed and 7 percent unprotected heterosexual sex-
to what they called lymphadenopathy- ual activity (risk factors are not reported for
associated virus [LAV] in 1983.) Once a 27 percent of HIV-positive men).
cause was identified, research turned to Largely due to the initial concentration of
three new foci: 1) developing a way to test HIV/AIDS among gay men, Americans
for the infection; 2) developing a treatment, quickly came to define AIDS as a “gay dis-
cure, or vaccine for the disease; and 3) de- ease.” The consequences of this meant that
veloping and implementing prevention pro- homophobia was fueled and gay men were
grams to thwart new infections. The first targeted for increased discrimination, includ-
test for HIV infection (developed by Dr. ing violent attacks. Mainstream American so-
Robert Gallo) was approved by the Food ciety quickly equated “gay” with “AIDS” and
and Drug Administration in 1985. Less suc- justified their prejudice and discriminatory
cess has been achieved regarding the other actions on the foundation of protecting the
two foci, although significant progress has public health. In the early twenty-first cen-
been made on both. The fact remains, how- tury, the perception of AIDS as a gay disease
ever, that HIV continues to infect perhaps is dissipating, but does somewhat remain.
several million additional individuals world- Although it is widely known today that AIDS
wide every year. is not restricted to gay men (or men who
HIV, the virus widely attributed as the have sex with men), many groups and seg-
cause of AIDS, is concentrated in bodily flu- ments of American society continue to at-
ids, especially blood and other fluids contain- tribute the presence and proliferation of
ing blood products. As such, transmission of AIDS to gay men.
HIV from an infected individual to another One positive consequence of the AIDS epi-
requires the transmission recipient to have demic—and consequential blaming of gay
contact with (and internalize) infected fluids men for the disease—has been a renewed and
from the transmitting individual. Exchange invigorated level of social activism. This in-
of blood (through contact following injury or cludes activism directly related to HIV/AIDS
other blood-to-blood contact) is the most ef- issues (e.g., increased access to health care,
ficient means for transmitting HIV. Exchange faster approval for experimental drugs, legal
of bodily fluids via sexual activities and shar- protections against discrimination for in-
ing of injection drug paraphernalia are the fected persons, etc.) and a more visible, more
most common activities for transmitting vocal, and stronger gay rights movement.The
HIV. Also, HIV-positive women are capable HIV/AIDS epidemic certainly helped to in-
of transmitting the virus to their fetuses pre- vigorate these forms of social activism, and
natally. the gains that have been made as a result are
According to the United States Centers valuable, but the costs that have accompanied
for Disease Control and Prevention, the these gains (illness, suffering, and deaths)
most common way men have become in- have been monumental.
 Alcohol 17

In sum, HIV/AIDS in the United States women.Yet not all men drink, and many drink
has been a disease that has hit men especially without problems.
hard. The disease has not only led to the suf- Research has demonstrated that the causes
fering and deaths of many men, but it has of drinking and alcoholism are varied and
also led to many significant social repercus- complex, with biology, personality, family
sions for men. Men who have sex with men background, religion, and culture all con-
have been the primary group affected by tributing to the character of one’s relation-
HIV/AIDS in the United States, but in the ship with alcohol. Studies of North American
early twenty-first century this is changing. and European men have shown that gender
The fact remains, however, that men are expectations and roles exert a significant in-
bearing the brunt of AIDS in the United fluence in addition to these other variables,
States. with drinking serving to enhance many activ-
Richard Tewksbury ities that are traditionally seen as masculine.
See also Condom Use; Homosexuality; Thus, men who identify with more tradi-
Reproductive Health; Risk Behaviors, Sexual; tional definitions of masculinity drink more.
Sexually Transmitted Infections For example, in cultures where risk taking is
Further Reading: seen as a male or manly activity, men are
Shilts, Randy. 1987. And the Band Played On: Politics,
People, and the AIDS Epidemic. New York: St.
more likely to engage in risky behavior while
Martin’s Press. drinking, an often dangerous and fatal com-
Smith, Raymond A., ed. 1998. Encyclopedia of bination. Furthermore, men who experience
AIDS. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. conflicts over being men (i.e., gender-role
World Health Organization (WHO). 2002. World conflicts) drink with more negative conse-
Health Report. Geneva:WHO. quences, regardless of how these “masculini-
ties” may be defined in terms of race, class,
ethnicity, and historical period.
Alcohol Men may drink without problems.
The consumption of alcohol is commonplace However, when men feel conflicted about be-
in many cultures, serving religious, cultural, ing male, they suffer more negative conse-
social, and nutritional functions. People quences of their drinking. Men therefore use
“drink” for many reasons and in a variety of alcohol to “play out the expectations of the
contexts. Historically and culturally, drinking male role and to deal with stresses and per-
has been considered to be primarily a male ac- ceived role failures about their masculinity”
tivity that is often associated with men’s being (Brooks 2001, 290). These behaviors are rein-
together. When men drink, they drink more forced by the portrayal of men in media and
often, in greater quantities, and with more literature and by the behavior of male icons.
negative consequences than women. The re- Like many of the paradoxes of masculinity,
search literature on alcohol provides a gen- men who drink to gain a sense of status and
dered understanding of men’s drinking, sug- power can pay a serious price for doing so, in-
gesting that men who use alcohol drink in cluding loss of status and power as a conse-
order to be male, or rather, to be what they quence of the negative effects of their drinking.
perceive to be male within a specific historical Interestingly, men who have a greater sense of
or cultural context (Capraro 2001). These agency or self-efficacy are protected from
gender influences exist alongside other influ- drinking problems in comparison with men
ences on drinking. Thus, although many fac- who are conflicted about their masculinity
tors influence drinking, gender in turn exerts (McReary, Newcomb, and Sadava 1999).
an additional influence within these social, Drinking can also provide men with the
cultural, and class differences that results in opportunity to express feelings that may not
men drinking more in each group than otherwise be considered normative for men.
18 Alda, Alan

For example, in American culture celebratory In summary, drinking is a ritualized be-

drinking among men is associated with physi- havior that is gendered and scripted for men.
cal contact and bonding that would otherwise Men’s drinking can at least in part be ex-
feel uncomfortable due to prohibitions about plained by the extent to which men try to be
male closeness (i.e., homophobia). As a ritu- male and/or have problems with the inher-
alized, gendered activity, alcohol allows men ent conflicts and expectations of the male
to feel and express closeness and share expe- gender role, and this gender effect is enacted
riences that might otherwise create discom- within the different cultures, identities, and
fort about intimacy with men. contexts that men live.
In addition to the biological and physiolog- Alan D. Berkowitz
ical effects of alcohol, psychological expecta- See also Beer; Chemical Dependence
tions regarding the effects of alcohol, along Further Reading:
with men’s perceptions of other men’s drink- Berkowitz, Alan K., and H.Wesley Perkins. 1987.
ing, play a significant role in how men drink “Recent Research on Gender Differences in
Collegiate Alcohol Use: A Review of Recent
and how men act when they drink. Most men Research.” Journal of American College Health 35
(and women) think that men (and women) (1): 21–28.
drink more than they really do, a belief that Brooks, Gary R. 2001. “Masculinity and Men’s
encourages men to drink more than they Health.” Journal of American College Health 49:
would otherwise and to act certain ways 285–297.
when they drink. Thus, the stereotypical be- Capraro, Rollo C. 2001. “Why College Men
Drink: Alcohol, Adventure and the Paradox of
haviors associated with men’s drinking occur Masculinity.” Journal of American College Health
even when men are given nonalcoholic beer 48: 307–315.
that they think is alcoholic, confirming that Critchlow, Barbara. 1986. “The Powers of John
gendered expectations can directly influence Barleycorn: Beliefs about the Effects of Alcohol
men’s drinking behaviors in addition to biol- and Social Behavior.” American Psychologist 7:
751–764.
ogy, genetics, and other causes (Critchlow McCreary, D. R., M. Newcomb, and S. Sadava.
1986). 1999. “The Male Role, Alcohol Use, and
Much has been made of the “convergence Alcohol Problems: A Structural Modeling
hypothesis” that women are drinking more Examination in Adult Women and Men.” Journal
like men as strict notions of gender roles re- of Counseling Psychology 46, no. 1: 109–124.
lax. Yet even though the frequency of Perkins, H.Wesley. 1992. “Gender Patterns in
Consequences of Collegiate Alcohol Abuse: A
women’s drinking has increased slightly in 10-Year Study of Trends in an Undergraduate
recent years, women still drink in different Population.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 53:
ways than men, for different reasons, and to 458–462.
a lesser extent (Berkowitz and Perkins 1987;
Perkins 1992).
Finally, it is important to note the differ- Alda, Alan (1936–)
ences in men’s drinking across a range of cul- After his star-making turn as Captain
tures and identities. For instance, in the Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in the
United States, Caucasian men drink more of- perennial, award-winning television series
ten and with greater negative consequences M*A*S*H (1972–1983) and his appearances
than men of color, with African American in the comedy-dramas Same Time Next Year
men drinking the least often and with the (1978) and The Four Seasons (1981, which he
least problems. Among religious groups, also wrote and directed), Alan Alda emerged
Catholics of different ethnicities drink more at the beginning of the 1980s as a representa-
than Protestants, who in turn drink more tive, if unconventional, icon for a new gener-
than Jews. These ethnic and religious differ- ation of men. For many television and film
ences exist for women as well. viewers, male and female alike, the gangly,
 Alda, Alan 19

sweater-wearing Alda symbolized a charm- (such as John Lennon, Ed Asner, Gore Vidal,
ing, certainly milder alternative to the Phil Donahue, and Howard Cosell). Indeed,
“Raging Bulls” and “Rockys” of the world—a the intertextual matrix of meaning sur-
romantic lead whose masculinity was predi- rounding Alda’s charismatic persona solidi-
cated on sensitivity, intelligence, and roguish fied his status as the ideal, nonthreatening
wit as opposed to testosterone-fueled ag- “New Man” of the 1970s and early 1980s—a
gression, machismo, and intimidating physi- hyperconscious manifestation of American
cal prowess. Even today, despite reputation- masculinity that hearkened back to male
shattering forays into more darkly cynical icons of Hollywood’s classical studio era
territory (such as his roles as an arrogant and (1930s–1950s, during which his father, ac-
self-serving filmmaker in Woody Allen’s tor Robert Alda, enjoyed brief success as a
Crimes and Misdemeanors [1989], a greedy, matinee idol), while suggesting a contempo-
Nobel Prize-minded AIDS researcher in rary concern for civil liberties that could
Roger Spottiswoode’s And the Band Played On only have emerged in the post-Vietnam,
[1993], and a war-mongering U.S. president antiestablishment era. The rise of Alda’s star
in Michael Moore’s Canadian Bacon [1994]), status, and its eventual decline during the
Alda’s name remains synonymous with hu- Reagan years, thus marks a considerable
manistic awareness and sensitivity to others, paradigm shift in the epistemological terrain
due in no small part to his well-documented subtending masculinity studies.
personal convictions and political conscious- As a longtime advocate of the Equal
ness. However, this predictable, knee-jerk Rights Amendment (ERA), Alda was able to
depiction of Alda as an emblematic sign of deploy his New Man image to promote gen-
the late-twentieth century’s domesticated, der equality while refashioning masculinity
demasculinized male presents a rather one- into a malleable “meta-trope” through which
dimensional approach to this actor/direc- to channel public dissent. A friend of Gloria
tor/screenwriter’s diverse career, and does Steinem and an enemy of all that smacked of
little to account for the ways his strategic de- male hegemony, Alda rose above the ranks of
construction of stereotypical masculinity was his profeminist brethren to speak before
propelled and shaped by cultural forces. Senate committees as the chairman of Men
With the benefit of historical hindsight, it for ERA. He successfully lobbied against job
is possible to excavate Alan Alda’s en- discrimination, penned several widely circu-
trenched persona and situate it within a lated essays (among them the introduction to
broader continuum—a masculine genealogy A Guide to Non-Sexist Children’s Books), and
rooted in everything from the fleet-footed took great pride in his “emancipated” wife
dandyism and finesse of Fred Astaire to the Arlene’s successful career as a professional
“everyman” earnestness of James Stewart, photographer after her twenty years of play-
from the verbal gymnastics and wise-crack- ing the devoted homemaker. His outspoken
ing of Groucho Marx to the trickster intel- attacks on the political status quo performed
lectualism of Robert Benchley—while ges- an implicit critique of patriarchal authoritar-
turing toward subsequent televisual ianism, deflating, as it were, the “masculine
permutations of the well-read, well-bred mystique” promulgated by his cinematic and
“New Man” (culminating in the 1990s with televisual forebears. Though a New York Times
Kelsey Grammer’s opera-loving, sherry-sip- article proclaimed that the aggressively
ping Frasier Crane in the television series nonaggressive Alda—after supplanting John
Frasier). This historical continuum further- Wayne as America’s favorite personality in
more links Alda’s East Coast brand of mod- 1981—had “achieved something close to pop
erate liberalism to that of other outspoken cultural sainthood,” not everyone leapt onto
media figures sympathetic to women’s rights the sensitivity bandwagon, particularly those
20 Alda, Alan

who questioned his sincerity or felt that his and What’s My Line?) to his distinguished body
celebrity was the result of a carefully engi- of cinematic output (including The Glass
neered public relations stunt.Yet Alda perse- House [1972], Free to BeYou and Me [1974], The
vered and, with the resolve of a self-righ- Seduction of Joe Tynan [1979], Flirting with
teous crusader, stared down the inevitable Disaster [1996], and The Object of My Affection
patriarchal backlash of the 1980s, when ram- [1998]) throws into relief some of the under-
pant “wimp bashing” and diatribes against lying ruptures and inconsistencies of the
“quiche-eaters” sparked a nostalgic revival of modern zeitgeist—a roughly forty-year pe-
the conservative ethos and macho posturing riod that witnessed the birth of feminist as
of the 1950s. well as masculinist movements. Interestingly,
Besides supporting women’s liberation, his film debut in 1963 (as Charlie Cotchipee,
Alda the humanitarian activist championed a tolerant Southerner in Gone Are the Days)
workers’ rights, abortion rights, and racial conveniently coincides with the first printing
equality (notably, in 1964 he costarred along- of Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique,
side African American actress Diana Sands in a publication that launched the hitherto
Broadway’s first interracial comedy, The Owl novel idea that a life for women existed out-
and the Pussycat). And yet, for all of the admit- side of the domestic sphere. Moreover, Alda’s
tedly progressive agendas, contradictions midcareer ascendancy ran parallel to the
linger. As his biographer, Raymond Strait, first, middle-class-oriented wave of men’s
points out, “It is difficult to understand how studies scholarship during the late 1970s.
anyone with his clout on M*A*S*H was so Despite his late-career U-turn into less posi-
busy selling feminism that he overlooked the tive territory, one that dovetails with the sec-
lack of it in his own series” (1983). In order ond, more polycentric wave of academic
to unpack this key player’s import in the cul- study on masculinity, few commentators
tural rethinking and physical reformulation of bother to crack the surface of this iconoclas-
the white American male, it will be helpful to tic “do-gooder”—leaving intact the myth of a
at least partially shuck the prevailing wisdom man who shoots words in lieu of bullets,
concerning his image.This image continues to someone who speaks softly and carries a big
be nurtured and manipulated via a well-oiled conscience. Prospective readings of Alan
publicity machine (which, besides guarding Alda’s masculinity might seek to explore the
his family’s privacy under lock and key, occa- deeper implications of this contradictivity in
sionally parlays his egalitarian spirit and fre- hopes that a more nuanced and judicious un-
quent appearances at fundraisers and marches derstanding of his significance to gender
into headline-grabbing rhetoric). studies might come into focus.
By sorting through the discursive manifes-
tations of Alda’s so-called soft masculinity (in David Scott Diffrient
print media, television, and film), scholars
can begin to highlight the underlying contra- Further Reading:
dictions of a man who played everyone from Brod, Harry, ed. 1987. The Making of Masculinities:
a promiscuous, skirt-chasing army surgeon The New Men’s Studies. Boston: Allen and
(M*A*S*H) to a show-tune-singing patriarch Unwin.
Butler, Judith. 1992. Gender Trouble: Feminism and
(Everyone Says I LoveYou, 1996), from a misog-
the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
ynistic draft dodger (Jenny, 1970) to a con- Filene, Peter. 1998. Him/Her/Self: Gender Identities
victed California rapist (Kill Me If You Can, in Modern America. Baltimore, MD: Johns
1977).Tracking his professional and personal Hopkins University Press, 1998.
life from his Second City improvisational Kimmel, Michael S. 1992. Against the Tide: Pro-
performances and television work in the late Feminist Men in the U.S., 1776–1990. Boston:
1960s (for instance, That Was the Week That Was Beacon Press.
 Alexithymia 21

Penley, Constance, and Sharon Willis, eds. 1992. ness of the emotion and the ability to
Male Trouble. Minneapolis, MN: University of put it into words.
Minnesota Press.
Strait, Raymond. 1983. Alan Alda:A Biography. New People who suffer from alexithymia typically
York: St. Martin’s Press. have severe deficits in both the second and
Thompson, Cooper. 1991. “We Should Reject
the third components and also have trouble
Traditional Masculinity.” Pp. 17–31 in To Be a
Man: In Search of the Deep Masculine. Edited by
identifying the first component. On the
Keith Thompson. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. other hand, normative male emotional re-
Tarcher striction typically involves some deficits in
the third component (i.e., men can subjec-
tively experience certain classes of emotions,
such as anger and lust, but not others, such
Alexithymia as vulnerability and dependency) and the re-
Emotional restriction, constriction, and in- quirement to follow rigid display rules to ex-
expressiveness have long been viewed as cen- press emotions (the second component).
tral norms for traditional male behavior. Some men report that their wives know
Men’s studies scholars pointed out the simi- what they are feeling when they themselves
larity between normative male emotional re- do not. This might be accounted for by
striction and a clinical condition known as deficits in the third component of the emo-
alexithymia. Alexithymia literally means the tion but not in the second component, from
inability to put emotions into words. The which their wives can read their emotions in
term is composed of a series of Greek roots: their facial expression and tone of voice.
a (“without”), lexus (“words”), thymos (“emo- Normative male emotional restriction
tions”)—without words for emotions. This thus can be viewed as a subclinical form of
condition was originally defined to charac- alexithymia, which is very common among
terize the severe emotional constriction en- men who subscribe to, or who were raised
countered in (primarily male) psychoso- under, traditional norms of masculinity. This
matic, drug-dependent, and posttraumatic form of alexithymia is termed normative male
stress disorder (PTSD) patients. However alexithymia. Normative alexithymia is a pre-
traditional male inexpressiveness is less se- dictable result of the male gender-role so-
vere than alexithymia. cialization process (see Boyhood). Specifically,
Emotions consist of three components: it is a result of boys being socialized to re-
strict the expression of their vulnerable and
1. The neurophysiological substrate, caring/connection emotions and to be emo-
which includes both autonomic and tionally stoic. This socialization process in-
endocrinological components. For cludes both the creation of skill deficits (by
example, in the fight-or-flight not teaching boys emotional skills or allow-
response the sympathetic nervous ing them to have experiences that would fa-
system is activated, and the adrenal cilitate their learning these skills) and trauma
glands release epinephrine. (including prohibitions against boys’ natural
2. The motor/behavioral response, emotional expressivity, and punishment, of-
which involves the activation of the ten in the form of making the boy feel deeply
skeletal-muscular system in facial ashamed of himself for violating these prohi-
expression, tone of voice, and body bitions).
language, or in direct action, such as a This widespread inability among men to
physical attack or an embrace. identify emotions and put them into words
3. The cognitive/affective component, has enormous consequences. It blocks men
which includes the subjective aware- who suffer from it from utilizing the most ef-
22 Alger, Horatio, Jr.

fective means known for dealing with life’s phasize their humble beginnings and mascu-
stresses and traumas—namely, identifying, line virtues.
thinking about, and discussing one’s emo- Alger was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts,
tional responses to a stressor or trauma with trained at Harvard for the ministry, and be-
a friend, family member, or therapist. came pastor of a Unitarian Church on Cape
Consequently it predisposes such men to Cod. Early in 1866, a parishioner charged
deal with stress in ways that make certain Alger with “a crime of no less magnitude
forms of pathology more likely, such as sub- than the abominable and revolting crime of
stance abuse, violent behavior, sexual com- unnatural familiarity with boys” (quoted in
pulsions, stress-related illnesses, and early Scharnhorst and Bales 1985, 67). Alger re-
death. It also makes it less likely that such signed in disgrace and turned to writing as a
men can benefit from psychotherapy as tradi- career. His pederasty remained unremarked
tionally practiced. for over a century, but more recently some
Ronald F. Levant critics have made the incident a significant
See also Boyhood aspect of their interpretation of his life and
Further Reading: works.
Krystal, Henry. 1982. Alexithymia and the Ragged Dick (1867) set the pattern for
Effectiveness of Psychoanalytic Treatment.
International Journal of Psychoanalytic
Alger’s subsequent novels. Its eponymous
Psychotherapy 9: 353–378. protagonist begins as a mischievous but hon-
Levant, Ronald F., and Gini Kopecky. 1995. orable bootblack. Through the positive influ-
Masculinity Reconstructed. New York: Dutton. ence of wealthier boys and men, as well as
Levant, Ronald F., and William S. Pollack, eds. his own honesty, energy, and desire for liter-
1995. A New Psychology of Men. New York: Basic acy, by the end of the novel he is working as a
Books.
Sifneos, Peter E. 1988. “Alexithymia and Its clerk, is described as “a young gentleman on
Relationship to Hemispheric Specialization, the way to fame and fortune,” and is ready to
Affect, and Creativity.” Psychiatric Clinics of aid other young boys in the book’s sequels.
North America 11: 287–292. Though they were undoubtedly sentimental
Taylor, Graeme J. 1994. “The Alexithymia and didactic, Alger’s stories had more quali-
Construct: Conceptualization,Validation, and
Relationship with Basic Dimensions of
ties of realism and material specificity, and
Personality.” New Trends in Experimental and they conveyed their morals more subtly, than
Clinical Psychiatry 10: 61–74. did most antebellum children’s fiction.
Surprisingly for those who imagine the
Horatio Alger tale as being about a virtuous,
hardworking boy pulling himself up by his
Alger, Horatio, Jr. (1832–1899) own bootstraps, typically the boy benefits
Alger was a prolific author of novels, biogra- from a wealthy man’s benevolence and a
phies of public figures, short stories, and po- good deal of luck.The hero’s appearance and
etry, nearly all aimed at boys and young his virtues are inevitably described as
men. Most tell the story of a young male “manly,” and it is clear that one of Alger’s
protagonist climbing upward in social status. central concerns was to construct a form of
Ragged Dick was one of the bestsellers of genteel masculinity to which humble clerks
1867, but none of Alger’s other books at- and other young men could aspire.
tained such popularity during his lifetime. In the twentieth century a mythical ver-
However, his novels were often reprinted in sion of the “Horatio Alger story” emerged, in
the twentieth century, and a mistaken notion which a “faith in laissez-faire, in the best of all
of the “Horatio Alger tale” as describing a possible worlds, in the inevitability of rags to
rise “from rags to riches” became a touch- riches” was evinced (Scharnhorst and Bales
stone for successful men who wished to em- 1985, 154). The Horatio Alger myth became
 Allen,Woody 23

a bulwark against criticism of American capi- try in the early 2000s. A man of constructive
talism and a template for describing the pas- contradictions, he is fascinated by old movies
sage from boyhood to manhood, cited by (Bogart movies, the Marx Brothers, Renoir’s
presidents from Eisenhower to Reagan, as Grand Illusion), jazz music from the 1940s,
well as innumerable businessmen. Herbert French literary classics, Freudian psychoanal-
Mayes published a wildly inaccurate biogra- ysis, and his own New York City.
phy of Alger in 1928; it became the basis for Woody Allen became a popular filmmaker
many unreliable encyclopedia entries and with comedies that included some mixture
books on Alger. Only with Scharnhorst and of humor and spiritual thoughts (Take the
Bales’s 1985 biography did we get a reliable Money and Run 1969; Everything You Always
account of Alger’s life and works. Wanted to Know about Sex but Were Afraid to Ask
Jason Richards 1972). Even though he didn’t direct the film
See also “Self-Made Man” Play It Again, Sam! (1972, directed by
Further Reading: Herbert Ross), Allen wrote the script and
Cawelti, John. 1965. Apostles of the Self-Made Man: starred in this funny tribute to Humphrey
Changing Concepts of Success in America. Chicago: Bogart, portrayed here as a model of virility
University of Chicago Press.
Hendler, Glenn. 1996. “Pandering in the Public
and primitive seduction. In this parody of the
Sphere: Masculinity and the Market in Horatio cult movie Casablanca, Allen’s character iden-
Alger.” American Quarterly 48, no. 3: 414–438. tifies himself with Bogart’s icon image of
Leverenz, David. 1998. “Tomboys, Bad Boys, and rude and seductive machismo.
Horatio Alger:When Fatherhood Became a Right from the beginning of the 1970s,
Problem.” American Literary History 10, no. 1: Allen more or less created that funny charac-
219–236.
Mayes, Herbert R. 1928. Alger:A Biography without ter of the intellectual loser, a kind of adult
a Hero. New York: Macy-Masius. “Charlie Brown” wearing glasses, who can’t
Moon, Michael. 1987. “‘The Gentle Boy from the succeed with women because of his lack of
Dangerous Classes’: Pederasty, Domesticity, self-confidence. This character more or less
and Capitalism in Horatio Alger.” Representations reappears in Bananas (1971), when a feeble
19: 95–97.
Nackenoff, Carol. 1994. The Fictional Republic:
man rejected by women goes to an obscure
Horatio Alger and American Political Discourse. country in Latin America where he becomes
New York: Oxford University Press. for a moment a new revolutionary hero.
Scharnhorst, Gary, and Jack Bales. 1981. Horatio Only then can he reconquer the woman who
Alger, Jr.:An Annotated Bibliography of Comment left him before. One of Allen’s funniest
and Criticism. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. films, Sleeper (1973), depicts a twentieth-
———. 1985. The Lost Life of Horatio Alger, Jr.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. century man who wakes up after a 200-year
coma in a totalitarian futuristic society
where humans live with robots. His next
film, Love and Death (1974), a parody of
Alighieri, Dante Tolstoy, has a title that could apply to many
See Dante of his movies, synthesizing his two main pre-
occupations. This first cycle ends with Annie
Hall (1976), an award-winning comedy that
Allen,Woody shows, as in many Woody Allen movies, the
[Allen Stuart Konigsberg] (1935–) professional ascent of a woman combined
Actor, scriptwriter, and director of more with the social decline of her lover.
than thirty feature films, Woody Allen is Allen’s Interiors (1978) marks a rupture in
probably the most respected American direc- its stylistic opposition to his previous films. It
tor outside the United States, and with no is an austere drama using themes such as the
doubt the most underrated in his own coun- sea, self-destruction, intense women charac-
Other documents randomly have
different content
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Wood
Carvings in English Churches
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Title: Wood Carvings in English Churches

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Beverley Minster
 Wood Carvings in
English Churches
I.—STALLS AND TABERNACLE WORK

II.—BISHOPS' THRONES AND CHANCEL CHAIRS

BY

FRANCIS BOND
M.A., LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LONDON
HONORARY ASSOCIATE OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS
AUTHOR OF "GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND," "SCREENS AND
GALLERIES IN ENGLISH CHURCHES," "FONTS AND FONT
COVERS," "WESTMINSTER ABBEY,"
"MISERICORDS"

———
ILLUSTRATED BY 124 PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS

———

HENRY FROWDE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO, AND MELBOURNE
1910

PREFACE
———

The subject dealt with in this volume, so far as the writer knows, is
virgin soil; no book has appeared, here or abroad, on the subject of
stallwork. Abroad, the great mass of stallwork has perished;
sometimes at the hands of pious vandals, often through neglect,
more often still through indifference to or active dislike of mediæval
art. In the stallwork of Belgium not a single tabernacled canopy
remains; in France and Italy the great majority of the Gothic stalls
have been replaced by woodwork of the Classical design that was
dear to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; only in Spain can
the wealth and splendour of English stallwork be rivalled. In England
a great amount of magnificent stallwork still remains; on the
stallwork indeed and the concomitant screens time and labour and
money were lavished without stint in the last two centuries of Gothic
art. Hitherto, however, this important department of English
mediæval design has almost wholly lacked recognition and
appreciation; attention had not been called to its value in the study
of artistic woodwork, and even the most splendid examples of this
branch of English art have been passed over with uncomprehending
indifference. Yet it is no overstatement to say that there is nothing in
this country more consummate in design or execution than the
stallwork of Lancaster, Chester, Ripon, and Manchester. To most of
the readers of this volume the illustrations which have been here
gathered together will come as a revelation of beauty and interest. It
is to be hoped that the book will help to inform those who are
heritors of a great artistic past, will make them proud of their
heritage as Englishmen, and faithful to preserve it and hand it on in
turn unimpaired to their successors. The art is in the main English
art, as English as the timber in which it is wrought, and deserves the
attention of all English-speaking people the world over, who inherit
equally with ourselves the good things that remain from the England
of old.

This book, like the others in the series, owes much of any value it
may possess to the generous and ready co-operation of many lovers
of mediæval art. For photographs and drawings the writer is
indebted to the Rev. G. B. Atkinson, Mr A. W. Anderson, A.R.I.B.A.,
Mr J. H. Bayley, Mr C. E. S. Beloe, Dr G. G. Buckley, Dr Oscar Clark,
Mr F. H. Crossley, Rev. E. Hermitage Day, Mr W. Marriott Dodson, Mr
G. C. Druce, Mr A. Gardner, Mr S. Gardner, Mr G. F. Gillham, Mr C.
Goulding, Mr Charles de Gruchy, Mr F. J. Hall, Mr J. F. Hamilton, Mr P.
Mainwaring Johnston, F.S.A., Professor Lethaby, Mr W. Maitland, Mr
Hugh M‘Lachlan, A.R.I.B.A., Mr C. F. Nunneley, Mr H. Plowman, Rev.
G. H. Poole, Mr Alan Potter, Miss E. K. Prideaux, Rev. G. W.
Saunders, Mr S. Smith, Mr J. C. Stenning, Mr F. R. Taylor, Mr G. H.
Tyndall, Mr G. H. Widdows, A.R.I.B.A., Rev. W. E. Wigfall, Mr A. J.
Wilson, Mr E. W. M. Wonnacott, F.S.I. The writer is indebted to the
Society of Antiquaries and to the Wiltshire Archæological Society for
the use of original drawings.

The revision of the proofs has kindly been undertaken by Rev. R. A.

Davis and Rev. C. A. Norris; to the former and to the Rev. A. Bayley
the writer is indebted for many valuable suggestions with respect to
changes of orientation and the arrangements of chancels. The
illustrations are reproduced by the Grout Engraving Company. The
text is preceded by a bibliography and lists of measured drawings,
and is followed by an index to places and illustrations and a subject
index.
The following is a list of the series of Church Art Handbooks in
course of publication by the Oxford University Press:—

CHURCH ART IN ENGLAND.

1. Screens and Galleries in English Churches. By Francis Bond. 6s.

Published.

2. Fonts and Font Covers. By Francis Bond. 12s. Published.

3. Wood Carvings in English Churches: I. Misericords. By Francis Bond.

7s. 6d. Published.

4. Wood Carvings in English Churches: II. Stallwork, Thrones, and

Chairs. By Francis Bond. 6s. Published.

5. Wood Carvings in English Churches: III. Church Chests, Almeries,

Organ Cases, Doors, Alms and Collecting Boxes. By P. M. Johnston.
In preparation.

6. Wood Carvings in English Churches: IV. Bench Ends, Poppy Heads, and
Pews. By Alfred Maskell. In preparation.

7. The Architectural History of the English Monument. By James

Williams. In preparation.

Uniform with the above.

8. Westminster Abbey. By Francis Bond. 10s. Published.

9. Military Architecture in England. By A. Hamilton Thompson. In

preparation.
 CONTENTS

———

PART I
CHAPTER PAGE

I. Design, Construction, and Cost of Stalls 1

II. Position, Number, and Arrangement of Stalls 16
III. Canopied Stalls 29
IV. Tabernacled Stalls 51
V. Renaissance Stallwork 75
VI. Stalls in Parish Churches 85

PART II
VII. Bishops' Thrones 101
VIII. Chairs in Chancels 111

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aberdeen. Macgibbon and Ross in Castellated and Domestic
Architecture of Scotland, ii. 105.

Beverley Minster. T. T. Wildridge on the Misericords. Hull, 1879.

Blomfield, Reginald. History of Renaissance Architecture in England. 2

vols. London, 1897.

Bury, T. T. Remains of Ecclesiastical Woodwork. London, 1847.

Canterbury. Professor Willis' Canterbury Cathedral. 1845.

Cambridge, King's College. Willis and Clark in Architectural History of
the University of Cambridge. 1886.

Carlisle. R. W. Billings. Carlisle Cathedral. 1840.

Caryl Coleman on "Episcopal Thrones and Pulpits" in Architectural

Record, xi. 1.

Cartmel Priory Church. Paper by F. A. Paley; and James Stockdale's

Annales Caermoelenses. Ulverston, 1872.

Chester. Dean Howson's Handbook on Chester Cathedral; Appendix

iii. Measured Drawings of Stalls by J. M‘Lachlan in Builder, 10.
iii. 1900.

Cox and Harvey. English Church Furniture. 1907.

Dunblane. Macgibbon and Ross in Ecclesiastical Architecture of

Scotland, ii. 105.

Durham. R. W. Billings. Durham Cathedral. 1843.

Ely. Rev. D. J. Stewart. Ely Cathedral. 1868.

Gotch, J. A. Early Renaissance Architecture in England. 1901.

Halifax. Pamphlet on the Woodwork of Halifax Parish Church, by

Dean Savage.

Lincoln Minster. Prebendary Wickenden in Associated Societies'

Reports, xv. 179; and Archæological Journal, 1881, pp. 43-61.

Manchester Cathedral. J. S. Crowther. Plates 24-26 and 30.

Manchester, 1893.

Norwich Cathedral. Rev. D. J. Stewart in Archæological Journal, xxxii.

18; and Henry Harrod in Castles and Convents in Norfolk;
Norwich, 1857.
Ripon Minster. J. T. Fowler in Surtees Society. Vols. 64, 74, 78, 81.

Rochester. W. H. St John Hope's Rochester Cathedral. 1900; and

Spring Gardens Sketch Book, ii. 46.

St Asaph. Murray's Welsh Cathedrals, 267.

St David's Cathedral. Murray's Welsh Cathedrals, p. 134.

—— Jones and Freeman's St David's. 1856.

Shaw, Henry. Ancient Furniture. London, 1836.

Viollet-le-Duc on Stalle, in vol. viii., p. 464, of the Dictionnaire

raisonné de l'architecture française.

Wells Cathedral. Canon Church in Archæologia, lv. 319.

Windsor, St George's Chapel. W. H. St John Hope in Archæologia, liv.

115.

Westminster Abbey. Neale and Brayley's History of Westminster Abbey:

London, 1818. Pugin's Specimens of Gothic Architecture, 1821.
Lethaby's Westminster Abbey, 1906.

MEASURED DRAWINGS IN "ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION

SKETCH BOOK."

Beverley St Mary. C. de Gruchy. 3. vii. 9-11.

Boston. A. S. Anderson. 1. x. 8.
Broadwater, Sussex. A. H. Hart. 2. vii. 9.
Chester Cathedral. H. B. Bare. 1. v. 24.
Chichester Hospital. H. Goodall. 1879.
—— P. D. Smith. 2. x. 10, 11.
Cliffe, Kent. H. Goodall. 2. 1. 15.
Dunblane. T. MacLaren. 3. v. 6.
Fairford, Gloucester. J. H. Bryan. 1. vi. 15.
 Hemingborough, Yorks. C. de Gruchy. 3. x. 40.
Higham Ferrers. Lacy W. Ridge. 1. iii. 71.
Holdenby, Northants. T. Garratt. 1. ix. 20, 21.
Irchester, Northants. H. B. Bare. 1. v. 24.
Lancaster. J. Strong. 3. 1. 36, 37.
—— E. E. Deane. 2. iv. 23.
Lincoln Minster. T. C. Yates. 1. xii. 25-27.
—— C. A. Nicholson. 2. xii. 32.
Lynn St Margaret. C. A. Nicholson. 2. xii. 20.
Manchester Cathedral. J. Harold Gibbons. 3. ix. 29, 30.
Montgomery, Wales. Sydney Vacher. 2. iv. 33.
Richmond, Yorks. E. Eldon Deane. 2. iii. 25.
Salisbury Cathedral. G. P. Bankart. 2. ix. 26.
Shimpling, Norfolk. E. C. Lee. 1. iii. 23.
Warwick, Beauchamp Chapel. G. Somers Clarke. 1. ix.
3.
Winchester Cathedral. L. G. Detmar. 3. vii. 59.
—— J. H. Gibbons. 3. vii. 60.

MEASURED DRAWINGS IN "SPRING GARDENS SKETCH

BOOK."

Chichester Cathedral. G. G. Scott, jun. i. 28, and ii. 61,

62, 63.
Conway, North Wales. A. Baker, v. 71.
Irthlingborough, Northants. J. Medland. i. 58.
Reepham, Norfolk. J. Medland. iii. 41.
Rochester Cathedral. J. T. Micklethwaite. ii. 46.
Sall, Norfolk. H. Walker, viii. 20-22.
St Paul's Cathedral, London. S. Clarke and J. S.
Middleton. 1878.
Winchester Cathedral; Lady Chapel. W. Niven. vi. 67-72.
Winthorpe, Lincolnshire. H. Vaughan. vi. 53.
 MEASURED DRAWINGS IN "JOHN O' GAUNT'S SKETCH
BOOK."

St Mary, Lancaster. W. Goddard. i. 9-13.

Lanchester, Durham. C. C. Hodges, ii. 16.
Manchester Cathedral. A. Mattinson. i. 35 and 36.

STALLS AND TABERNACLE WORK

IN ENGLISH CHURCHES

PART I
———

CHAPTER I

STALLS IN CHURCHES OF MONKS AND CANONS

In all churches of monks and canons, whether secular canons or

canons following the Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Gilbertine or
other Rule, stalls were placed in the choir. These stalls were
occupied either by the monks or by the canons and their deputies
and by men singers and choristers; there was also a limited lay use.
The stalls had seats; these, however, were occupied for but short
portions of a service: during the greater part of each service the
occupants of the stalls stood or knelt. The seats turned up on a
pivot, as may be seen by comparing those of Beverley St Mary (2)
with those of Christchurch (2); and when they were turned up, a
small ledge underneath the seat gave a little support to any one
standing in the stall; for his comfort also there was usually a circular
projecting ledge behind him, against which he could lean his back;
e.g., at Beverley St Mary, but not at Balsham (3); also he could rest
his hands on the shoulders of the stall, when standing, as at
Beverley St Mary and Balsham. An elbow was often provided lower
down, for use when he was seated; as in the two above-mentioned
churches. Above was usually some form of canopy, varying from a
cornice of slight projection, as at Balsham, to such tabernacled
spires as those of Beverley Minster (27). In front of the stalls, except
sometimes the front stall occupied by choir boys, was a desk for
service books. Every part of the stallwork was carefully designed;
and parochial, collegiate and monastic stalls alike were constantly
growing in importance and loveliness up to the Dissolution.

Christchurch

Beverley St Mary's
 Beverley
Balsham Minster

St Luke St Matthew

St John St Mark

Christ Church, Newgate Street

Lincoln
The upper shoulder was usually simply molded, as at Beverley St
Mary; it rarely took the form of an animal, as at Balsham. Usually
the lower elbow was simply molded, as in Beverley Minster (3);
sometimes it terminated in a mask, an animal or foliage; as in the
lower range of stalls at Christchurch (2) and at Cartmel (80); in
Beverley St Mary there is an angel in front of each of the lower
elbows. As a rule, the projecting ends of the elbows were carried
down as supports, e.g., at Beverley Minster; sometimes, however, a
shaft or pair of shafts is introduced, as at Balsham, Beverley St Mary,
Hereford All Saints (44); Dunblane (67) and Christchurch (2), where
they are highly enriched. The upper part of the back of the stall is
usually panelled; e.g., Winchester (35), Chichester (36). Hereford All
Saints (44), Balsham (3). In the sixteenth century, however,
panelling became less common; at Dunblane the stall backs are plain
(67); at Cartmel they are filled in with scrolls and fretwork (80); at
King's College, Cambridge, with coats of arms (78); at Christchurch
with carvings of masks and animals (76). In Wren's church at Christ
Church, Newgate Street, the panels of the stalls have fine carvings
of St Matthew (4), St Mark (4), St Luke (4), St John (4), the Last
Supper and other subjects. The desks also usually have traceried
panelling in front and at their ends, which is often of much
importance in helping to fix the date of the stalls; e.g., at Chester
(24), Manchester (6), Trunch (85) and Stowlangtoft (91). At Lincoln
the panels of the lowest rows of desks contain alternately the figures
of a king and of an angel with a musical instrument (5). On the stall
ends was lavished the best artistic talent of the day; there are
magnificent examples at Chester (9), Ripon (8) and Beverley Minster
(7); very fine also are those in Bishop Tunstall's chapel in Durham
castle. On the example from Manchester is an impaled shield,
displaying on the dexter half the letters I. B. (i.e., John Beswick,
donor of the northern stalls), a cross intervening, and beneath on a
chevron seven nails or cloves. The sinister half is occupied by a
demi-virgin issuing out of an orle of clouds. The illustrations from
Ripon shew the stalls of the Archbishop of York and the Mayor of the
city (8). In the former the poppy head takes the form of an elephant
holding a man in his trunk, and carrying a castle filled with soldiery;
in front of the elephant is a centaur (renewed); below is a large
mitre studded with precious stones (mitra preciosa) above a shield
charged with the three stars of St Wilfrid, the patron saint of the
Minster, and supported by two angels, between whom is a scroll with
the date 1494. Attached to the latter is a collared baboon; beneath
is a shield charged with the arms of the see of York, two keys in
saltire. Of the two examples illustrated from Chester (10), one
represents the Annunciation; the other is a most elaborate Jesse
Tree (9).

Manchester

The ends of the desks usually terminate in poppy heads; at Chester,

Ripon, Manchester and Beverley there are magnificent examples. At
Blythburgh, Suffolk (11), is a foliated poppy head with a lion in front;
in front of the desks and those on the opposite side of the chancel
are niches containing statuettes of the apostles; these stalls were
brought into the chancel from the Hopton chapel, which is said to
have been founded in 1452; the Hopton arms appear on the bench
end. There are interesting desks in the great church of Walpole St
Peter, Norfolk (12). When Edmund the King of the East Saxons was
shot to death by the Danes and afterwards beheaded, his head was
guarded by a wolf; the scene is depicted here and up and down all
East Anglia; the whole story is told in six foliated capitals in the
north porch of Wells cathedral, which is early in the thirteenth
century. At Stowlangtoft, Suffolk, the poppy head consists of a
vested priest reading at a lectern or altar (91).

Beverley Minster

Besides stalls for monks, clergy and singers, benches or stalls are
sometimes found for members of a church gild, as at Fressingfield,
Suffolk; or those now used by almsmen at Etwall, Derbyshire, on
which the date 1635 is inscribed; the Jacobean armchair motif is
prominent; nevertheless there is Gothic cusping at the back; pegs
are thoughtfully provided for the almsmen's hats (13).
 Ripon Ripon

Chester

The stalls are generally constructed very solidly. The ends of a row
are inserted in a strong sill, into which the standards for the
supports of the book board are also inserted. The elbows are in one
solid piece and are framed into the backs of the stalls; they are
further secured by the heavy capping above, which admirably
connects and strengthens the work. On either side the elbow is sunk
to enable the seat to be turned up on its hinges and to afford it
support when down. The seats are generally about an inch in
thickness, the misericords projecting about five inches. As the entire
seat is got out of one solid piece of wood, the time expended on
each must have been very considerable; and difficulties in the grain
without doubt frequently added immensely to the labour. The work is
often cut across the grain and worked with much skill. Great care
was taken in some instances to match the wood; e.g., in the
panelled backs of the stalls in Henry the Seventh's chapel.[1]

Chester

The construction of the tabernacled canopies is well seen in the set

of illustrations from Chester cathedral. In Lincoln Minster, where they
are of somewhat simpler type, they may be described as follows.
The canopies are hexagonal, supported on shafts, which have
clustered niches above their proper capitals; the stalls of the
Chancellor and Treasurer, which are at the extreme east on either
side of the choir, have winged seraphs in their capitals. The niches
have ogee canopies bowing forward in front of their true gables,
with various small heads and faces on the hip-knobs. A second story
of the canopy contains a niche, square in plan, but set lozenge wise,
covered with a lofty pinnacle, and flanked by open screenwork with
high flying buttresses, nearly all of which have lost their crockets. All
the niches originally contained statues. The loss of these greatly
damaged the general effect—the alternation of light and shadow, the
play of line and the added mass. Now that the statues have been
replaced, the general character intended to be impressed on the
design can be well realised (52).[2]

Blythburgh

The cost of woodwork so elaborate as that of the later stalls,

especially those with tabernacled canopies, was very great. At Wells
the stalls, destroyed in 1848—another example of "restoration"—
were begun in 1325; each resident canon paid 30 solidi for his own
stall, and the stalls were to cost altogether £1,200. The non-resident
canons, having subscribed little or nothing, were ordered in 1337 to
make up a deficit of £200 for the completion of the stalls.[3] As the
number of stalls needed at Wells would be about sixty, it follows that
the expenditure on each stall was to be £20, which in our money
might be £300; giving a grand total of about £18,000. The stalls at
Amiens number 116, and were put up between 1508 and 1522.
Viollet-le-Duc computes that in 1866 they could not have been put
up for less than £20,000.[4] But they do not possess tabernacled
spirelets, having a comparatively simple horizontal cresting. At
Windsor in 1483 six canopies cost £40; thus sixty would cost £400,
or in our money about £4,800; i.e., about £80 each; but this
expenditure relates to the canopies only, and not to the stalls or the
misericords, or the lower stalls and desks; if the cost of these be
added, the cost might be as great as at Wells. Few probably realise
the vast expenditure which our forefathers gladly undertook not only
on the building but the equipment of their churches: in a church of
the first rank, such as Exeter cathedral, the cost of the altar, reredos,
sedilia, bishop's throne, canopied stalls and pavement would hardly
fall short of £30,000 of our money; which is exclusive of the cost of
the masonry, vault, timber roof and leading, and stained glass.

Walpole St Peter's

As regards the arrangement of the stalls, as many as there were

room for were placed at the back of the choir screen, usually two or
three on either side of the western doorway of the choir. The
juxtaposition of screen and stalls gives some very beautiful effects,
e.g., at Chaddesden, Derbyshire (99); still more so is this the case
when screen and stalls are of the same design, as at Chester (24),
where the screen was designed in accordance with the stallwork by
Sir Gilbert Scott.
 Etwall

As to the place of honour in the stalls, that raises some interesting

points. There were no less than three places of honour in a chancel;
in each case the place of honour was to the right, because it was
written in the Psalms, "Sit thou on my right hand"; and because of
the words of the Creed, "sitteth on the right hand of God the Father
Almighty"; first, the right hand or north side of the altar, facing the
west; second, the first seat to the right, or on the south side, of the
entrance to the chancel through the choir doorway; thirdly, the
extreme right to the east, or nearest the altar, of the south row of
stalls. In the sanctuary the Lord Christ was conceived to be in real,
corporeal presence, face to face with His people, His right hand to
the north, His left hand to the south. In the sanctuary therefore the
place of honour was on the north; and to this day when a bishop
visits a parish church, his chair is placed north of the altar; the
gospel also is read on the north side, the epistle on the south. In
several churches in Derbyshire there are stone "gospel-desks"
affixed to the north wall of the chancel. Turning to the choir, things
are different. When the procession enters the choir from the nave
through the screen doorway, the right of the return stalls is the place
of honour. Here in a cathedral of the old foundation, i.e., one which
has always been served by secular canons, such as Lincoln, Wells,
Hereford, the dean sits on the right, and the subdean or the
precentor on the left of the gangway. In a monastic church the
abbot sat on the south, the prior on the north side. But sometimes a
monastic church, e.g., Ely, Winchester, Norwich, was also the
cathedral of a bishop, who was ipso facto abbot. In such a church
the bishop should sit on the right-hand side of the return stall; at Ely
there is no bishop's throne, and he occupies that position to this day.
 Beverley Beverley
Minster Minster

Where a bishop's throne was erected, it was placed on the south

side of the choir, which is ecclesiastically always favoured more than
the north. Of the stalls on the south side of a choir the one most to
the right is of course the easternmost; and it is here that the ancient
thrones remain of the bishops of Exeter, St David's and Durham.
Again, even if it was not a cathedral church, there were occasions
when it was not convenient for an abbot to be so remote from the
altar as the return stalls, e.g., at certain portions of the Mass; for
such occasions alternative seats were provided for the abbot and
prior; the former occupying the easternmost stall on the south side,
the prior that on the north. At Peterborough there is evidence that
the abbot's seat was on the south, at the east end of the choir, near
the ostium presbyterii.[5] At Ripon the bishop occupies the
easternmost stall in the south side, which from the carving of a mitre
at the back appears to have been originally assigned to the
Archbishop of York; the place of honour opposite is occupied by the
Wakeman or Mayor of the city.

CHAPTER II

POSITION, NUMBER AND ARRANGEMENT OF STALLS

The history of the changes of position of the stalls of the clergy is

one of the most curious and least understood episodes in
ecclesiology; it may be worth while therefore to go into it somewhat
at length, and to begin at the beginning. As regards what was at all
times the main service in the church, the Mass, there were two
conditions which it was desirable to bear in mind in church planning.
One was that the celebrant should face to the East; the other that
the congregation should face to the East. In the earliest Christian
days the latter was most often disregarded. The earliest
arrangement, normally, of a Christian church was that the sanctuary,
containing the altar, should be to the west, and that the laity should
be in the nave occupying the eastern portion of the church. At this
time the western portion of the church consisted of a semicircular
apse. This apse had a double function. On the chord of it was placed
the High altar (in the earliest days it was the only altar); and to the
west of it stood the celebrant facing east and facing the
congregation, as he does to this day at St Ambrogio, Milan, and
other churches which retain this primitive plan. Behind the altar,
ranged round the apse, were the seats of the clergy, having in the
centre the throne of the bishop. Thus the apse, like the chancel of
an English parish church, had a double function; the portion
containing the altar was the sanctuary, the portion containing the
seats of the bishop and his presbyters was the choir; basilicas so
orientated were divided into nave, sanctuary, choir; whereas English
parish churches divide into nave, choir, sanctuary. Many examples of
basilicas with eastern nave and western choir still survive in Rome,
Dalmatia, and Istria. To this day in Milan cathedral and St Mark's,
Venice, the stalls of the clergy and singers are placed on either side
of and at the back of the high altar; the apse, with infinite loss to
the dignity of the services, being made to serve both as sanctuary
and choir.
 Lincoln

York Minster
There is, however, an alternative plan, which may have been in use
from the first simultaneously with the other. At any rate it can be but
little later, for in 386 was begun the important church of St Paul
extra muros at Rome, with apse to the east and nave to the west. By
this alteration, if no further change had been made, the
congregation would face eastward, but the celebrant and the bishop
with his presbyters westward. Strangely enough, this curious
arrangement was actually adopted at least once in England. In the
walling of the semicircle of the cathedral apse at Norwich there still
remains the bishop's throne and portions of the seats of his clergy.
And since Norwich cathedral is not orientated to the west, but to the
east, it follows that the people faced east and the bishop and clergy
west; it is hardly conceivable, however, that the celebrant can have
faced west. Such a disposition can never have been but rare. A new
arrangement was made; in the first place the celebrant was made to
face eastward, with his back to the congregation, thus permanently
obscuring their view of the altar and of many portions of the office;
in spite of its obvious and great disadvantages this position has been
retained in the vast majority of Western churches ever since. There
remained the question of the seating of the bishop and presbyters.
The remedy adopted was to transfer them from the apse to the
nave; the result being that they sat to the west instead of to the
east of the altar. In this second position for some considerable time
the seats of the clergy remained. At S. Clemente, S. Maria in
Cosmedin,[6] and other basilican churches in Rome, the seats of the
clergy still remain in the eastern bays of the nave, separated off,
however, all round by low marble screens, which, at S. Clemente, are
mainly those of the sixth century church.

Great was the revolution wrought in church planning by the

determination that the laity, clergy, and celebrant should all alike
face East. To the Catholic believer nothing was of more mystic
import than the orientation of the church. He prayed toward the
East, toward the Holy Land where his Lord lived and died and was
buried; he looked forward to the dawn of that day when He should
come from the East to judge the quick and dead.
 "Our life lies eastward; every day
Some little of that mystic way
By trembling feet is trod;
In thoughtful fast and quiet feast
Our heart goes travelling to the East
To the incarnate God;
Still doth it eastward turn in prayer
And rear its saving altar there;
Still doth it eastward turn in creed,
While faith in awe each gracious deed
Of her dear Saviour's love doth plead;
Still doth it turn at every line
To the fair East, in sweet mute sign
That through our weary strife and pain
We crave our Eden back again."[7]

The next step appears first in ninth century churches, and in the
plan of the monastery of St Gall. It involved no change in the
position of the stalls of the clergy; but instead of being placed in the
eastern bays of the nave, the sanctuary was lengthened to contain
them. And so we reach the familiar parochial chancel, with its
western portion forming a choir, and its eastern a sanctuary. The
clergy left the nave and the laity in the midst of whom they had so
long sung and prayed, and removed to the chancel, where to the
north and south were solid walls, while to the west, no doubt very
shortly, was added a screen guarding the entrance to the chapel.
Though the new plan made no alteration in the relative position of
the stalls of the clergy, it was nevertheless a real revolution. The
chancel became practically a secluded, closed chapel; the offices and
services which had been performed in the midst of the laity became
more and more the prerogative of a privileged ecclesiastical order; in
the end, in the greater churches, special altars were put up for the
laity in the nave; except in the parish churches, laymen lost the right
to participate in services at the High Altar.
 Carlisle

In our great monastic and collegiate churches it was long before the
ninth century innovation—viz., the insertion of the choir in the
eastern limb of the church—was generally adopted; in some it was
never adopted at all. The typical Cistercian churches, e.g., Kirkstall,
reverted to the Early Christian arrangement, by which the eastern
division of the church was appropriated exclusively to the sanctuary;
and this was the case with many Benedictine and collegiate churches
also. Till ignorant and incompetent "restorers" were let loose on
them, the eastern limb of the cathedrals of the Secular Canons of
Wells and Hereford, that of the Benedictine cathedral of Ely and
others formed one vast sanctuary, the stalls being placed under the
central tower and in the eastern part of the nave; at Wells the choir
had a length of 47 feet, but the sanctuary of 67 feet. The reason
why a sanctuary so long was required was no doubt that it was
desired to place in it two altars; one, the "choir" or "matins" altar, for
ordinary services; the other, the High altar, more to the east,
reserved for High Mass.[8]
 Durham

In some cases, e.g., at Westminster, in many Cistercian churches,

and in Spanish cathedrals, the stalls were not placed under the
central tower, but still more to the west, wholly in the nave. In
Gothic days, however, in English plans—Westminster is French in
plan—the tendency was more and more to place the choir of the
monastic and collegiate churches in the eastern limb, just as in a
parish church. In the cathedrals the precedent was first set at
Canterbury, where in 1096 Prior Ernulph set out a new eastern limb
consisting of an eastern apse preceded by no less than nine bays.
Sometimes there was a special reason for the removal of the choir
from the crossing and the nave. In several cases—in pious
recollection of the burial of many a martyr in Early Christian days
down in the catacombs of Rome—the Italian practice of constructing
a crypt beneath the eastern limb was followed. This had been so as
early as St Wilfrid, 671-678, whose crypts at Ripon and Hexham still
survive, and in the Anglo-Saxon cathedrals of Winchester, Worcester,
Rochester, Gloucester, Canterbury, York, and Old St Paul's. And when
these were remodelled by the Norman conquerors, in all cases the
crypt was reproduced. Such crypts of course necessitate the building
of the eastern limb at a higher level than crossing and nave; in some
cases, e.g., at Canterbury, the difference in height is very
considerable. The result must have been that where as at
Canterbury the sanctuary was a long one, the High altar at its east
end must have been invisible, or nearly so, to monks seated in the
crossing and nave. Consequently, first at Canterbury c. 1100, in the
thirteenth century at Rochester, Old St Paul's and Worcester, and in
the fourteenth century at Winchester and York, the stalls were
removed to the eastern limb, the western portion of which now
became choir. The only exception among cathedrals with crypts is
Gloucester, where the crypt is low and the eastern limb is short and
where the stalls remain to this day beneath the central tower. The
example set by cathedrals with crypts was soon followed by
churches of every degree which had none; whether Benedictine,
such as at Chester, Augustinian, as at Carlisle, or served by Secular
Canons, as at Exeter. And so in the churches of monks, regular
canons and secular canons alike, most of the ecclesiastical
authorities reverted to what had been all along the normal plan of
the English parish church, viz., an eastern limb containing choir as
well as presbytery.[9]

Chester
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