Manhood Acts: Gender and the Practices of Domination - Hardcover

"Schwalbe (North Carolina State Univ.) sets out to illustrate the mutually constitutive nature of masculinity and a range of social and economic forms of domination[.] He introduces a new concept―"manhood acts"―to fill theoretical gaps in men's studies literature and, simultaneously, facilitate an analysis of the relationship between masculinity and various social phenomena...This book pushes for a deeper understanding of what gender is so that people may collectively begin to imagine a world without it...Summing up: Recommended. Most levels/libraries.
―CHOICE

“Manhood Acts is a must-read for students and scholars in men’s studies. Michael
Schwalbe presents a valuable sociological analysis of masculinity and manhood. He uses
critical gender theory to deconstruct masculinity and its destructive outcomes, from
Auschwitz to ‘drone morality.’ Taking issue with the current focus in men’s studies on
‘multiple masculinities,’ Schwalbe argues that masculinity, as part of the hierarchical
gender order, is based on domination of women and less-valued men. He ends with a
radical feminist call for a gender-free society.”
―Judith Lorber, Professor Emerita, Graduate Center and Brooklyn College,
CUNY, author of Breaking the Bowls: Degendering and Feminist Change

“In Manhood Acts, Michael Schwalbe develops a brave and compelling theory of manhood
in all its manifestations, from relations between women and men to the dynamics
of global capitalism. He offers an indispensable guide both to understanding patriarchy
in its present form and to envisioning meaningful change.”
―Allan Johnson, author of The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy

“Michael Schwalbe has made the feminist case against male dominance with such
clarity that any man reading, honestly, will flinch with self-recognition. But however
uncomfortable this important book may make us, we owe him thanks for such a
compelling analysis. With scholarly precision and political courage―conveyed in plain
language―Schwalbe makes it clear that our collective future depends on transcending
the pathological values of patriarchy. Linking masculinity to other forms of domination,
he demonstrates why attention to gender is not a matter of ‘identity politics’ but of
survival.”
―Robert Jensen, Professor of Journalism, University of Texas–Austin,
author of Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity

In this book, Michael Schwalbe offers a new perspective on the social construction of manhood and its relationship to domination. The study of men and masculinity has reached a dead end in part because it has lost touch with its feminist roots and has been seduced by the politically safe notion of "multiple masculinities." Manhood Acts sets out an alternative view that delineates the practices males use to construct "women" and "men" as unequal categories, to claim identities as men, and to compete for status as men. Schwalbe's argument reclaims the radical feminist insights that gender is a field of domination, not a field of play, and that manhood is fundamentally about exerting or resisting control. Schwalbe also examines the intersection of capitalism and manhood, showing how manhood and economic exploitation are co-emergent and mutually sustaining. Manhood Acts arrives at the conclusion that abolishing gender as a system of oppression will require more than transgressive self-presentation. To end the damage caused by manhood acts and by competition for manhood status, it will be necessary to end the exploitive economic relationships that necessitate manhood itself.