Re-thinking men heroes, villains and victims - Synnott, Anthony (Ashgate, 2009)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-285) and index
Men and masculinities -- Men and women : models and muddles -- Heroes -- Villains : misandry and the new sexism -- Victims : the wars against men -- Power -- Theorizing men
"Much writing on men in the field of gender studies tends to focus unduly, almost exclusively, on male violence, rape, homophobia, racism and sexism, portraying men as villains and women as victims in a moral bi-polar paradigm. Re-Thinking Men reverses this proclivity, which ignores not only the positive contributions of men to society, but also the male victims of life, including the homeless, the incarcerated, the victims of homicide, suicide, accidents, war and the draft, and sexism, as well as those affected by the failures of the health, education, political and justice systems." "Proceeding from a radically different perspective, which seeks a more positive, balanced and inclusive view of men (and women), this book presents three contrasting paradigms: heroes - a male-positive approach, emphasizing men's and women's often distinct contributions to society and civilization; villains - a reconsideration of men (and women) as villains, both historically and in fictive political and pop cultural misandry; and victims - a reprise of victim feminism, which stresses the comparative victimization of men as well as women." "These three paradigms, applied to both men and women are intended as a replacement of the common binary analysis of men as bad and villains and women as good but victims. With the development of a comparative and revised gender perspective, and drawing on U.S., Canadian and U.K. sources, this book will be of interest to scholars across a range of social sciences."--Jacket
Keywords: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Men's Studies; Men; Men / Social aspects; Popular culture; Sex discrimination against men; Sexism; Gesellschaft; Men -- Social aspects; Men in popular culture; Geschlechterrolle; Diskriminierung; Massenkultur; Männerfeindlichkeit; Mann; Männerbild