Masculinity in Modern Europe

Questions for Introductory Week

 

Wednesday, Jan 15: History and Masculinity

          Dudink, Editor's Preface

               1. Why was male bonding, or masculine fraternity, so important in modern (post-revolutionary) politics?

                2. How is the study of masculinity a feminist enterprise?

                3. Why is masculinity invisible, and how does one make it visible?

 

          Forth, Introduction (to p. 6)

                4. The central thesis of the book is on page 5. Find it, and express in your own words.

                 

Friday, Jan. 17: Body and Civilization

               

          Forth, Introduction (pp. 6-15)

                5. According to Forth, There are 4 developments associated with modern civilization that have conflicted with ideas of

                      "natural" masculinity.  What are those four developments, and how do they undermine "natural" masculinity?

                6. How are ideas of the male body important in validating masculine character? (pp. 8-9)

 

          Braudy, chaps 1-4

                7,What are two pieces of evidence Braudy uses to argue that men are not naturally aggressive?

                8. Briefly, what does Braudy mean when he says "Sex is not the same as gender."

                9. Braudy thinks that rituals and warfare shape masculinity primarily by establishing distinctions between manliness and what?