Boys Don't Cry? : : Rethinking Narratives of Masculinity and Emotion in the U.S. / / ed. by Jennifer Travis, Milette Shamir.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• MitwirkendeR: Barnes, Elizabeth,; Carton, Evan,; Davenport, Stephen,; Haralson, Eric,; Lutz, Tom,; Newton, Judith,; Robinson, Sally,; Schneider, Ryan,; Shamir, Milette,; Strychacz, Thomas,; Travis, Jennifer,
• HerausgeberIn: Shamir, Milette,; Travis, Jennifer,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2002]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (320 p.)

We take for granted the idea that white, middle-class, straight masculinity connotes total control of emotions, emotional inexpressivity, and emotional isolation. That men repress their feelings as they seek their fortunes in the competitive worlds of business and politics seems to be a given. This collection of essays by prominent literary and cultural critics rethinks such commonly held views by addressing the history and politics of emotion in prevailing narratives about masculinity. How did the story of the emotionally stifled U.S. male come into being? What are its political stakes? Will the "release" of straight, white, middle-class masculine emotion remake existing forms of power or reinforce them? This collection forcefully challenges our most entrenched ideas about male emotion. Through readings of works by Thoreau, Lowell, and W. E. B. Du Bois, and of twentieth century authors such as Hemingway and Kerouac, this book questions the persistence of the emotionally alienated male in narratives of white middle-class masculinity and addresses the political and social implications of male emotional release.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. What Feels an American? -- 2. Loving with a Vengeance: Wieland, Familicide and the Crisis of Masculinity in the Early Nation -- 3. "The Manliest Relations to Men" -- 4. Manly Tears -- 5. How To Be a (Sentimental) Race Man -- 6. The Law of the Heart -- 7. "The Sort of Thing You Should Not Admit" -- 8. Road Work -- 9. Men's Tears and the Roles of Melodrama -- 10. Men's Liberation, Men's Wounds -- 11. The Politics of Feeling -- Bibliography -- Index