Debating Modern Masculinities: Change, Continuity, Crisis?

According to social commentators, masculinity is in crisis as a result of profound social transformation. This kind of public discussion of the behaviours of boys and men points to a presumed need for policy intervention to act as a corrective to the apparent crisis in masculinity which presents (young) men as both at risk and also a risk to others. This is counter to recent scholarship that has documented positive changes in the performances and expression of contemporary masculinities. Such academic research has suggested that we are witnessing the emergence of more inclusive masculinities, no longer predicated on homophobia, marginalization or subordination. This edited collection critically interrogates both sets of claims, firstly deconstructing and rejecting the masculinity in crisis discourse, before engaging in an internal debate about the implications of social change upon the identities of contemporary boys and men and for the ways in which we theorise contemporary masculinities.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Masculinities in Transition: Change, Continuity, Crisis?; Steven Roberts 2. The Limits of Masculinity: Boys, Taste and Cultural Consumption; Victoria Cann 3. Degrees of Masculinity: Working and Middle Class Undergraduate Students' Constructions of Masculine Identities; Nicola Ingram and Richard Waller 4. 'We're Different to Everyone Else': Contradictory Working-Class Masculinities in Contemporary Britain; Michael R.M Ward 5. Oppression, Acceptance or Civil Indifference? Middle-aged Gay Men's Accounts of 'Heterospaces'; Paul Simpson 6. Brothers of Metal! Heavy Metal Masculinities, Moshpit Practices and Homosociality; Gabby Riches 7. Straight Guys do Wear Make-up: Contemporary Masculinities and Investment in Appearance; Brendan Gough, Matthew Hall, Sarah Seymour-Smith 8. Theorizing Masculinities in Contemporary Britain; Eric Anderson and Mark McCormack

About the Author :
Steven Roberts is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Kent, UK. He co-convenes the British Sociological Association Youth Study Group, is Vice Chair of the European Sociological Association Youth and Generation Research Network, and sits on the editorial boards of Journal of Youth Studies and Sociological Research Online.

Review :
"An excellent collection of chapters critiquing the ongoing commonsense notion ... that there is a crisis of masculinity. The chapters are united in their deconstruction of this notion, presenting instead a range of portraits of modern masculinities ... It will be of interest to students and researchers in a number of different fields, most notably in gender studies and the sociology of youth." - Charlie Walker, University of Southampton, UK