Manly Traditions The Folk Roots of American Masculinities [Paperback]

Take this test. You think todays sensitive, caring man is: (a) a myth, (b) an oxymoron, or (c) a moron. No matter whether you laugh at this bit of folk humor, its wide circulation bespeaks a modern predicament for American men.

Mens manly traditions have been shaken in an age of sensitivity. Some observers have even referred to a crisis of masculinity for a new generation of boys. In Manly Traditions, established scholars in the fields of folklore, mens studies, and gender studies identify the folkloric roots of what it means to be a man in America. In a lively volume they examine the traditions men inherit and adapt for their own purposes in contemporary life.

Simon J. Bronner is Distinguished University Professor of American Studies and Folklore at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg. The author of more than a dozen books, he lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Acknowledgments
Introduction Simon J. Bronner
Menfolk Simon J. Bronner
Part I. Manly Displays and Performances
1. In the Company of Men: Female Accommodation and the Folk Culture of Male Groups Gary Alan Fine
2. Running the Yard : The Negotiation of Masculinities in African American Stepping Tom Mould
3. Muy Macho: Traditional Practices in the Formation of Latino Masculinity in South Texas Border Culture Norma E. Cant?
4. Performing Manliness: Resistance and Harmony in Japanese American Taiko Hideyo Konagaya
5. I Feel That I'm Freer to Show My Feminine Side : Folklore and Alternative Masculinities in a Rave Scene Anthony P. Avery
6. The Circuit: Gay Men's Techniques of Ecstasy Mickey Weems
Part II. Manly Expressions and Texts
7. The Folklore of Mother-Raised Boys and Men Jay Mechling
8. Be Careful What You Wish For: Images of Masculinity in Tragedies of Wish Fulfillment Greg Kelley
9. Manly Characters in Contemporary Legends: A Preliminary Survey W. F. H. Nicolaisen
10. Mountain Masculinity: Jokes Southern Mountain Men Tell on TlC?