Race and the Subject of Masculinities

Abstract

Although in recent years scholars have explored the cultural construction of masculinity, the ways in which masculinity intersects with other categories of identity, particularly those of race and ethnicity, have largely been ignored. The essays in Race and the Subject of Masculinities address this concern and focus on the social construction of masculinity - black, white, ethnic, gay, and straight - in terms of the often complex and dynamic relationships among these inseparable categories. Discussing a wide range of subjects from the inherent homo-eroticism of martial-arts cinema to the relationship between working-class ideologies and Elvis impersonators, from the emergence of a gay black masculine aesthetic in the works of James Van der Zee and Robert Mapplethorpe to the comedy of Richard Pryor, Race and the Subject of Masculinities provides a range of opportunities for thinking about how race, sexuality, and 'manhood' are reinforced and reconstituted in today's society. Editors Harry Stecopoulos and Michael Uebel have gathered essays that make clear how the formation of masculine identity is never as obvious as it might seem to be. Examining personas as varied as Eddie Murphy, Bruce Lee, Tarzan, Malcom X, and Andre Gide, these essays draw on feminist critique and queer theory to demonstrate how cross-identification through performance and spectatorship among men of different races and cultural backgrounds has served to redefine masculinity in contemporary culture. The contributors to Race and the Subject of Masculinities offer an important challenge to the new studies of masculinity by taking seriously the role of race in the making of men. Readers interested in issues of race, gender, sexuality, and popular culture studies will find this collection provocative and entertaining. Contributors: Herman Beavers, Jonathan Dollimore, Richard Dyer, Robin D. G. Kelly, Christopher Looby, Leerom Medovoi, Eric Lott, Deborah E. McDowell, Jose E. Mu-oz, Harry Stecopoulos, Yvonne Tasker, Michael Uebel, Gayle Wald, and Robyn Wiegman.

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