JFK and the Masculine Mystique: Sex and Power on the New Frontier

by Steven Watts

From very early on in his career, John F. Kennedy’s allure was more akin to a movie star than a presidential candidate. Why were Americans so attracted to Kennedy in the late 1950s and early 1960s—his glamorous image, good looks, cool style, tough-minded rhetoric, and sex appeal?

As Steve Watts argues, JFK was tailor made for the cultural atmosphere of his time. He benefited from a crisis of manhood that had welled up in postwar America when men had become ensnared by bureaucracy, softened by suburban comfort, and emasculated by a generation of newly-aggressive women. Kennedy appeared to revive the modern American man as youthful and vigorous, masculine and athletic, and a sexual conquistador. His cultural crusade involved other prominent figures, including Frank Sinatra, Norman Mailer, Ian Fleming, Hugh Hefner, Ben Bradlee, Kirk Douglas, and Tony Curtis, who collectively symbolized masculine regeneration.

JFK and the Masculine Mystique is not just another standard biography of the youthful president. By examining Kennedy in the context of certain books, movies, social critiques, music, and cultural discussions that framed his ascendancy, Watts shows us the excitement and sense of possibility, the optimism and aspirations, that accompanied the dawn of a new age in America.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Biography Memoir, American

430 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2016

About the author

A specialist in the cultural and intellectual history of the United States, Steven Watts is Professor Emeritus in History at the University of Missouri.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly a biography, it compares / contrasts the legendary POTUS with actors, astronauts, authors and other types from the short-lived "New Frontier"-era with an accent on their extracurricular activity. This book would probably appeal to many fans of the series "Mad Men." I found it very interesting (but then I'll read just about anything related to JFK or RFK) and it was one of the best new books I've read thus far in 2017.

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating way to explore Kennedy’s life. When you see how many different people/genres/events were riffing on the concept of the suave, urbane, macho man in the early 1960s, you really do find it amazing no one has considered Kennedy in this light before.

Still, while Watts does an excellent job showing us what the masculine mystique is (and how pervasive it was), he is less interested in helping us understand the broader social meaning it had. The fact that this conceptualizing of masculinity relied on men being “Lotharios” had real implications for wives that Watts ignores until the final summarizing chapter, where those consequences feel like an afterthought (poor Jackie Kennedy and Louise Shepherd). Boys whose childhood role models were James Bond, Alan Shepherd and Playboy are now in their 70s and 80s — the consequences are still being felt today and have enduring meaning.

It’s a fresh approach to the Kennedy legend, but I would have enjoyed the book more had Watts spent less time providing evidence/facts and more time on insights/analysis.

[RK Byers · Rating 5 out of 5]

even tho Watts seems to distain the philandering, he writes about it like he's kinda impressed.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. The premise is that a lot of people saw America suffering a crisis of manliness in the 1950s (women had too much power! Men were conformist wimps!) to JFK appeared to be the perfect antidote: man's man, ladies' man, war hero, confronter of communists. But at the same time, a different, cooler, hipper kind of men who pushed against drab conformity and favored action: the Green Berets, the space program.
I like the premise and the first couple of chapters. But after that it's just a series of chapters dealing with manly/macho men who came into JFK's orbit: Hugh Hefner, Norman Mailer, Sinatra, Ian Fleming. The result isn't really about JFK, but it doesn't say much about the masculine mystique either.
I'm not sure what was missing, but it was definitely missing something.

[Leesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another reviewer mentioned that Watts seems hella impressed w/Kennedy's philandering a;lsdk and I have to agree. A LOT of time is spent discussing Kennedy's lust/sexual escapades which...makes sense considering the Masculine Mystique...Sex...Power. The book also goes into detail abt the men JFK surrounded himself with and why. Frank Sinatra..The Rat Pack..the writers (lots of talk abt Ian Fleming's James Bond) and military leaders... I'm forever a bit fascinated by the Kennedys and I enjoyed reading this. The cover is absolutely beautiful w/Kennedy, handsome and smoking on the cover in black and white. And I guess I, too, am kinda impressed w/Kennedy's philandering bc wow he stayed busy...like w/a LOT of things. Watts's writing got out of its own way. I enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone who (like me) loves reading anything abt the Kennedys. Interesting, American, Presidents, Power, Sex, Men, Lust, Life.

[Betty Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting to read about what I lived through . . . media darling President . . . especially the ending where Watts stated that the counterinsurgency that Kennedy promoted lost the ability to deal with Vietnam . . . I've heard all the assumptions that we would have stayed out of Vietnam if Kennedy had survived . . . we might have done it a little differently but the problem wasn't (apparently) as easy to solve as we hoped . . . I've always thought the 1960's were the radicalization of women but it was the aftermath and rebellion against the macho 60's that ignited women in the 1970's to rail against the "little woman" norm . . . a good read . . .

[Brianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t find this to be particularly well written. For example, the author brings up the rat pack, discuses the men and their careers, and then digresses for five pages. When we finally arrive back at the rat pack, the author says their names and careers all over again. There are several repetitive moments like that throughout. Also, the words “virile” and “vigor” are overused. We get it, he was a mans man. Spending one chapter or so on it relevant, but every single one? Give me a break. His exploits are celebrated even though rampant cheating ought not to be. There’s a way to discuss it without celebrating it, yeah? Idk. One star.

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best chapter in this book, "Vigor and Vitality in the White House," follows through nicely on the promise of the title; it's the best condensed source on JFK's attitudes towards women and gender. But it doesn't have anything much to say about the way he handled the Commission on Women or his interactions with the small number of women who poked their heads into the policy circles of Camelot. Most of the chapters focus on men, some of whom JFK had close relationships with, some more part of the general masculinist Zeitgeist of the early Sixties: the rat pack, Hugh Hefner, Norman Mailer...If that's the book you're looking for, it's probably four stars.

[Tara Rutkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Media study through SparkNotes of "sexy" men's diaries

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nasty Boy----competing with Double Yellow Arches for Number Of Women served---