What a Man's Gotta Do: The Masculine Myth in Popular Culture PDF
Preview What a Man's Gotta Do: The Masculine Myth in Popular Culture
What aM anis Gotta Do What aM anis Gotta Do THE MASCULINE MYTH IN POPULAR CULTURE Antony Easthope ROUTLEDGE NEW YORK· LONDON Published in 1990 by Unwin Hyman Paperback Reprinted in 1992 by Routledge An imprint of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. 29 West 35 Street New York, NY 10001 Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE Copyright © 1986, 1990 by Antony Easthope All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Easthope, Antony. What a man's gotta do: the masculine myth in popular culture/ Antony Easthope p. cm. Reprint. Originally published: London: Paladin Grafton Books, 1986. Includes bibliographical references (p. ISBN 0-04-445739-1 ISBN 0-415-90638-5 (pbk.) 1. Men in popular culture. 2. Men - Psychology. 3. Masculinity (Psychology) I. Title. II. Title: What a man's gotta do. [HQI090.E281990] 90-12167 305.31-dc20 CIP British Library Cataloguing information also available CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii 1 INTRODUCTION PART I: BASIC MASCULINIIT THE MYSTERIOUS PHALLUS 11 17 FATHERS AND SONS 27 BOYS WILL BE BOYS PART II: THE MASCULINE EGO 35 THE CASTLE OF THE SELF 45 MAN AND NATURE THE MALE BODY 50 MAN AND NATION 55 PART III: MASCULINIIT IN ACTION 61 MEN AT WAR 69 PLAY THE GAME 74 THE MAGIC KEG OF BEER (1): 78 MASCULINE STYLE CLARITY 86 MASCULINE STYLE (2): BANTER MASCULINE STYLE (3): OBSCENITY 93 PART IV: THE SAME SEX 103 MASCULINE OR HOMOSEXUAL vi Contents PART V: MASCULINE/FEMININE EXCHANGING WOMEN (1): MARRIAGE 115 EXCHANGING WOMEN (2): JOKES 123 THE MADONNA AND THE WHORE 128 THE IDEA OF THE WOMAN 134 BEING IN LOVE 142 FAME, WEALTH, AND THE LOVE OF WOMEN 151 156 JEALOUSY 161 GOOD OBJECT/BAD OBJECT THE MASCULINE MYTH 166 LIST OF TEXTS 175 FURTHER READING 179 180 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 181 INDEX ACKNOWLEDG MENTS I would like to thank Rob Lapsley and Mike Westlake for criticism and ideas over a period of time that have contributed materially to all parts of this book. In addition I am grateful for discussions, containing both agreement and disagreement, with Jonathan Dolli more, Caroline Henton, Toril Moi and Alan Sinfield. I would also like to acknowledge the help of the men and women I have worked with for some years in the area of cultural studies - Margaret Beetham, Stewart Crehan, Sue Furniss, Elspeth Graham, Alf Louvre, Tony Martin and Pam Watts. Of course what goes into a book is one thing and what comes out ofit is another. I am also grateful to the following for giving pennission for the reproduction of copyright material: the Staatliche Museum, Berlin; Galleria dell' Accademia, Florence; the Priests of the Sacred Heart, Hales Comers, Wisconsin; Bibli oteca Ambrosiana, Milan; Martin Kemp and his book Leonardo ria Vinci, published by J. M. Dent & Sons; Philip Morris Ltd; AlI Sport; Daily Mail; Greenall Whitley Ltd; Daily Express; Thames Television International; Daily Telegraph; Associated Press; Popper foto; Robert Graves; The Sun; AT V Music Ltd and Point Music Ltd; Michael Linnit Ltd; TV Times; Virgin Music (publishers) Ltd; © Kiss Me Deadly 1953 by E. P. Dutton & Co, reprinted by permission of New English Library Ltd. For Lilian, Carol-Ann, Diane, Annabeth, Catherine and Kelynge INTRODUCTION So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis I It is time to try to speak about masculinity, about what it is and how it works. This collection of essays looks at the images of masculinity put forward by the media today and analyses the myth of masculinity expressed through them. Despite all that has been written over the past twenty years on femininity and feminism, masculinity has stayed pretty well concealed. This has always been its ruse in order to hold on to its power. Masculinity tries to stay invisible by passing itself off as normal and universal. Words such as 'man' and 'mankind', used to signify the human species, treat masculinity as if it covered everyone. The God of Genesis is supposed to be all-powerful and present everywhere. He first makes 'man' in his own masculine image before going on to create male and female. If masculinity can present itself as normal it automatically makes the feminine seem deviant and different. In trying to define masculinity this book has a political aim. If masculinity can be shown to have its own particular identity and structure then it can't any longer claim to be universal. An ancient myth of masculinity, going back to the Greek gods of the sun, equates maleness with light. In Genesis there are certainly men and women but only because he created them. Masculinity has always tried to be present everywhere as the source of
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