A New Psychology of Men

by Ronald F. Levant and William S. Pollack

Book Overview

Inspired by feminist scholars who revolutionized our understanding of women's gender roles, the contributors to this pioneering book describe how men's proscribed roles are neither biological nor social givens but rather psychological and social constructions. For the first time in one volume, the leading voices in the study of male psychology authoritatively detail how men's roles are created and how men's attempts to live up to these unhealthy and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 046508656X
• ISBN13: 9780465086566
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Males and masculinity . . .

This book provides an extensive and seemingly exhaustive review of research on male psychology from the past 25 years. The editors, Levant and Pollack, are joined by ten or so other researchers focusing on different aspects of the subject. All identify a crisis in male gender identity and espouse a theoretical base that attributes the crisis to a fiercely restrictive ideal of masculinity that males are exposed to from infancy. The features of this ideal include aggressiveness and competition, stoicism and suppression of emotions, avoidance of all traits characterized as "feminine," homophobia, being provider and protector, and so on. Deemed not essentially biological, but the product of socialization, this masculine ideal is reinforced most perniciously through shaming (explored by Steven Krugman in chapter 8) and results in a wide range of anti-social, dysfunctional, and criminal behavior, further confounded in the lives of men from ethnic minorities and gay men, whose issues are also given consideration. While written chiefly for professionals, this book is accessible to lay readers, and there is much to be gained from it, especially for those troubled by the confusion over the role of men in society and in personal relationships. Though it is not a self-help book, the concerned reader will find much food for thought that is freeing because its report of key research sheds light on how we got to be the way we are and the potential for letting go of expectations of masculinity that are unrealistic and counterproductive.