Play the man! : Men and Masculinities in Interwar Britain

ISBN-13: 9783639128130 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 128 str.

Peter Edelberg

Opis

This book investigates ideas of men andmasculinities in interwar Britain in three differentareas: psychology, physical education and sex. Usinga broad range of sources from different walks of lifeit explores how men and masculinities wereconstructed in different ways for different purposes.The central argument is that ''a man'' was not somethingone was born as, but something one could aspire tobe, if one trained oneself according to the rules andstandards laid out in the period. Becoming a man wasnot purely an aestetic pursuit, but deeply entrenchedin discourses of Nation, State, and Race. Men''sbodies experienced a new form of interest in interwarBritain as physical training was becoming a generalpursuit and sexual reformers and conservatives triedto come to terms with a post-Victorian society.The interwar period saw a strong tendency away fromthe ideal of men and women as opposites towards aheterosexual matrimonial ideal wherein men could tryto establish a masculine identity. This tendencycreated new frontiers where homosexuals, ''perverts'',''misfits'' and ''freaks'' were seen as opposites of the''real man'' in the symbolic world of the earlytwentieth century.

O autorze

Born 1977 in Denmark. MA in Historical Research from Lancaster
University, MA in History and Religious Studies from Copenhagen
University. Currently PhD fellow at The Saxo Institute at
Copenhagen University, researching the history of homosexuality.