Manly Traditions

by Bronner, Simon J.

• ISBN13: 9780253217813
• ISBN10: 0253217814
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Take this test. You think today's 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.Men's "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, men's 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 the Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. He is the author of over a dozen books, including Following Tradition: Folklore in the Discourse of American Culture; Grasping Things: Folk Material Culture and Mass Society in America; The Carver's Art: Crafting Meaning from Wood; Folk Nation: Folklore in The Creation of American Tradition; American Children's Folklore; Piled Higher and Deeper: The Folklore of Student Life; Old-Time Music Makers of New York State; and American Folklore Studies: An Intellectual History.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction
SIMON J. BRONNER	xi
Menfolk
SIMON J. BRONNER	1	(60)
Part I. Manly Displays and Performances
1. In the Company of Men: Female Accommodation and the Folk Culture of Male Groups
GARY ALAN FINE	61	(16)
2. "Running the Yard": The Negotiation of Masculinities in African American Stepping
TOM MOULD	77	(39)
3. Muy Macho: Traditional Practices in the Formation of Latino Masculinity in South Texas Border Culture
NORMA E. CANTÚ	116	(18)
4. Performing Manliness: Resistance and Harmony in Japanese American Taiko
HIDEYO KONAGAYA	134	(23)
5. "I Feel That I'm Freer to Show My Feminine Side": Folklore and Alternative Masculinities in a Rave Scene
ANTHONY P. AVERY	157	(14)
6. The Circuit: Gay Men's Techniques of Ecstasy
MICKEY WEEMS	171	(40)
Part II. Manly Expressions and Texts
7. The Folklore of Mother-Raised Boys and Men
JAY MECHLING	211	(17)
8. Be Careful What You Wish For: Images of Masculinity in Tragedies of Wish Fulfillment
GREG KELLEY	228	(19)
9. Manly Characters in Contemporary Legends: A Preliminary Survey
W.F.H. NICOLAISEN	247	(14)
10. Mountain Masculinity: Jokes Southern Mountain Men Tell on Themselves
W.K. MCNEIL	261	(13)
11. Secret Erections and Sexual Fabrications: Old Men Crafting Manliness
SIMON J. BRONNER	274	(41)
12. "Letting Out Jack": Sex and Aggression in Manly Recitations
RONALD L. BAKER and SIMON J. BRONNER	315
Afterward: Many Manly Traditions—A Folkloristic Maelstrom
ALAN DUNDES	351	(14)
CONTRIBUTORS	365	(4)
INDEX	369