Over the course of several centuries, Western masculinity has successfully established itself as the voice of reason, knowledge, and sanity--the basis for patriarchal rule--in the face of massive testimony to the contrary. Hysterical Men boldly challenges this triumphant vision of the stable and secure male by examining the central role played by modern science and medicine in constructing and sustaining it.

Mark Micale reveals the hidden side of this vision, that is, the innumerable cases of disturbed and deranged men who passed under the eyes of male medical and scientific...