Violent Manhood

J.E. Sumerau is an award-winning researcher, novelist, and professor in sociology as well as the director of applied sociology at the University of Tampa. Her research focuses on the intersections of sexualities, gender, health, and religion in relation to systemic patterns of violence and inequality. As the author of over 70 works to date, her work has appeared in countless academic journals, edited volumes, and as monographs from multiple academic presses. She is also the co-editor of the academic blog site www.writewhereithurts.net. For more information on her work, please visit www.jsumerau.comor follow her on Twitter @JSumerau.

In 2000, pioneering anti-violence educator and cultural theorist Jackson Katz produced the now-classic educational film Tough Guise, in which he asserted that violence in the US was rooted in sociocultural and historical ideals of masculinity. Twenty years later, author Sumerau (Univ. of Tampa) presents to readers what Katz provided his viewers: a concise, accessible, and well-researched offering that focuses on the ways in which contemporary masculinity is integrally entwined with the performance of violence. Through the use of autoethnography and in-depth interviews with 50 people who identify as white, cisgender, heterosexual, middle- or upper-class men, the author demonstrates how males are systematically taught to be violent as they socially construct their identities as men in American society; how males routinely oppose efforts to reduce violence; and how male violence is often in reaction to attempts by others to challenge gender, racial, and sexual inequalities. Accordingly, if violence in the US has any chance whatsoever of being significantly ameliorated, a wholesale redefinition of masculinity must be a major part of the equation. Though slender in length, this book is a substantial addition to the expanding library of men and masculinity studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.

• 1 Encountering Manhood 2 Defining Manhood 3 Excusing Violence 4 Arming Manhood 5 Sexual Manhood 6 Protecting Manhood Conclusion Methodological Appendix Bibliography Index About the Author