Man Enough?: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity

by Jackson Katz

Why has the U.S. never had a woman president? With Hillary Clinton engaged in a historic campaign that could see her becoming the first woman elected president of the United States, the national conversation about gender and the presidency is gaining critical momentum. Commentators have fixated on the special challenges women candidates for the presidency face: endless media scrutiny abGender has always been a crucial factor in presidential politics. In Man Enough? Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity, Jackson Katz puts forth the original and highly provocative thesis that in recent decades presidential campaigns have become the center stage of an ongoing national debate about manhood, a kind of quadrennial referendum on what type of manor one day, womanembodies not only our ideological beliefs, but our very identity as a nation. Whether he is examining right-wing talk radios relentless attacks on the masculinity of Democratic candidates, how fears of appearing weak and vulnerable end up shaping candidates actual policy positions, how the ISIS attacks on Paris and elsewhere have pushed candidates to assume an increasingly hypermasculine posture, or the groundbreaking quality of Hillary Clintons runs for the presidency in 2008 and 2016, Katz offers a new way to understand the role of identity politics in presidential campaigns. In the end, Man Enough? offers nothing less than a paradigm-shifting way to understand the very nature of the American presidency.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Feminism

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2016

About the author

JacksonKatz is one of America's leading anti-sexist male activists. An educator, author, filmmaker, and cultural theorist, he is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field of gender violence prevention education and critical media literacy. He has lectured on hundreds of college and high school campuses and has conducted hundreds of professional trainings, seminars, and workshops in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan. He is the co-founder of the Mentors In Violence Prevention (MVP) program, the leading gender violence prevention initiative in professional and college athletics. He is the director of the first worldwide domestic and sexual violence prevention program in the United States Marine Corps. He is also the creator and co-creator of educational videos for college and high school students, including Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity (2000), Wrestling With Manhood (2002) and Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies and Alcohol (2004). His first book, "The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help," was published by Sourcebooks in 2006. Katz's second book, "Leading Men: Presidential Campaigns and the Politics of Manhood," was published by Interlink Publishing in 2012. Read more about Jackson Katz.

Reviews

[Stacey Bookerworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a sociology and politics graduate this book was exactly the sort of thing that interests me and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I have watched looked on with alternate horror and disbelief at the popularity of Donald Trump and have wondered, like many others around the world, what potential voters see in him.
This book provides a possible answer to that question and has provided me with a different way of examining American politics.
Read more of this review at http://www.bookerworm.com/reviews/28-...

[DM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two things about me: 1) I love politics, pop culture, and the politics of pop culture and 2) I was a sociology and ethnic studies double major in my undergraduate studies. It has been a few years since I have read a book like "Man Enough" and boy, was I craving it.

This book comes at a perfect time with the 2016 presidential election in full swing. Jackson Katz, whom I've always been a fan of, does a great job of looking at US presidential elections and how masculinity, or perceived masculinity effects the outcome. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND. I have already started to more deeply analyze the media surrounding the election.

[Magie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read. I have long been a fan of Jackson Katz and so when I realized (incredibly late) that he had written a book on gender and the role they play in politics I was really excited to pick it up. His examination of multiple elections that span decades and how performance and a evolving culture affect how we view politics and our idea of what a president should "be" is amazing. Seeing the break down of certain phrases or ideologies and how they contribute to a perceived type of manhood and masculinity is vastly interesting. I definitely recommend this to anyone interested in politics and/or gender discussions.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight and theory about how "masculinity" has historically played a role in US politics. The book ends at the beginning of the last presidential cycle so it was interesting to read how Mr. Katz predicted Hiliary Clinton's emergence as the leading Democratic candidate for president would enfold. Scary how Donald Trump was able to generate a base of white males lower class males even though he had nothing in common with them. Certainly a must read if you are interested in gender issues and in politics.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago at a time when I barely knew anything about politics or political science. Looking back on it, this book was a great primer on not just the influence sex and gender have on politics, but the ways in which culture, psychology, and the most personal and basic ways we interpret the world around us are all political things.

[Jessica Brazeal Slaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have gotten to work with Jackson Katz for conferences in the past and so admire and respect his perspective on men’s role in feminist issues, specifically violence against women by men. This was an interesting history and look at the role of traditional masculinity in our presidential politics, starting in 1972 through the 2016 election. Interestingly, it was published prior to the conclusion of that election. It would seem an updated second edition is very needed!

[Yvonne Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can be summed up by a quote from a Tennessee senator - the US doesn't want a mommy, it wants a daddy. The author looks at how the right wing in society value tough, fighting talk rather than nuanced discussion of options and consequences. How right wing talk show hosts don't just denigrate strong women but turn their ire on these women's husbands by suggesting they must somehow be weaker than normal men. A depressing read but a valuable one.

[Kayla A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book is that the presidential election is also a selection between competing types of masculinity, an idea which is very interesting in itself. However, I found the book itself to be poorly written; the author, while clearly an intelligent guy and passionate about his topic, relied heavily on large block quotes from other authors, which made the book jumpy and hard to follow. Although the title promises a focus on Trump and Clinton, which I think would provide a remarkable case study for the "politics of presidential masculinity," this was not really the case-- the majority of the book focused on previous presidential elections. It was interesting to read about these past elections, but a lot of the time I felt that the analysis devoted too much time to less relevant pieces of masculinity, like journalists using sports analogies to describe campaigns or candidates pretending to be cowboys. I'm sure these are important pieces of ideas of masculinity, but in my view there are pieces that have more of an impact on broader society and our ideas of masculinity/femininity. To summarize, this book is okay, but needs to be improved upon and developed further.

[Bernard O'Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thesis, but I don't feel it had enough depth.

Full review on Medium.