Cross Men to Boys

The Making of Modern Immaturity
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-231-51311-1
Verlag: Columbia University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 328 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

When did maturity become the ultimate taboo? Gary Cross, renowned cultural historian, identifies the boy-man and his habits, examining the attitudes and practices of three generations to make sense of this gradual but profound shift in American masculinity. Cross matches the rise of the American boy-man to trends in twentieth-century advertising, popular culture, and consumerism, and he locates the roots of our present crisis in the vague call for a new model of leadership that, ultimately, failed to offer a better concept of maturity. Cross does not blame the young or glorify the past. He argues that contemporary American culture undermines both conservative ideals of male maturity and the liberal values of community and responsibility, and he concludes with a proposal for a modern marriage of personal desire and ethical adulthood.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cross, Gary

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Where Have All the Men Gone?
1. When Fathers Knew Best (or Did They?)
2. Living Fast, by (Sometimes) Dying Young
3. Talking About My Generation
4. My Generation Becomes the Pepsi Generation
5. New Stories, by New Rebels
6. Endless Thrills
7. Life Beyond Pleasure Island
Acknowledgments
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Gary Cross is professor of history at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of a number of books on the history of American popular culture, including The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century; The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture; An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America; and Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing Worlds of American Childhood.