Becoming Male in the Middle Ages

by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen

First published in 1997. Most work in gender studies has focused on women. This volume brings together various forms of gender theory, especially feminist and queer theory, to explore how men made cultures and culture made men, in the Middle Ages.

Genres: History, Theory

388 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Laura Creedon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only losing a star because I would personally have loved to have seen more of an engagement with Anglo-Saxon constructions of masculinity. Otherwise, an important and widely varied collection!

[Terese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of essays. I wouldn't claim all of them to be equal in quality and interest (depends on what you're looking for from the book) bur they are all erudite and well structured, definitley worth leisure reading.

The only minor flaw for me was the layout of three Abelard essays in a row. Though different it felt a bit repetative and dull. Easily fixed though by jumping ahead and then returning to the other Abelard essays. :)

[Taz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A selection of essays that discuss the concept of masculinity in the middle ages how gender was and is performative.
An interesting read especially as it makes the reader consider that not much has changed for several centuries and even today masculinity is the preferred gender trait.

[M F]

Onne day I'll pick up a book about the 'Middle Ages' or the medieval period in general and it won't completely forget that Ireland and Irish literature exists, but apparently it is not this day. Seriously, why do only Irish specialists only ever talk about Irish stuff? This book wasn't useless, because it's always good to see how other medievalists tackle gender and queer theory, but I wish for once people would actually write about the texts I'm looking at.