Unmasking Masculinity: A Critical Autobiography (Critical Studies in Men and Masculinities)

In this detailed investigation of "masculine" gendered indentity David Jackson uses his own personal history and social experiences to look at the specific ways men become "men". In doing so he examines, but also offers some positive challenges, to the assumed qualities and values of growing up "manly", through an investigation of the psychological and social forces active in his own development: relations with his father, violence at school, male banter and joking, sporting activities, boys comics and sexual relations. The book is a deliberate blend between life story and critical commentary that makes use of some of the latest ideas from post-structuralist theory to make visible the social and emotional process that go into the making of one man's life history. Integral to "Unmasking Masculinity" is the recognition that the making of personal and social identities is central to the search for a new gender politics. It should prove to be of interest to anyone interested in the social, psychological and cultural forces that have gone into the historical shaping on men and masculinities.