Southern Masculinity: Perspectives on Manhood in the South since Reconstruction

by Craig Thompson Friend (editor), Christopher Breu (Contributor), Edward Blum (Contributor)

The follow-up to the critically acclaimed collection Southern Perspectives on Masculinity in the Old South (Georgia, 2004), Southern Masculinity explores the contours of southern male identity from Reconstruction to the present. Twelve case studies document the changing definitions of southern masculine identity as understood in conjunction with identities based on race, gender, age, sexuality, and geography.

After the Civil War, southern men crafted notions of manhood in opposition to northern ideals of masculinity and as counterpoint to southern womanhood. At the same time, manliness in the South―as understood by individuals and within communities―retained and transformed antebellum conceptions of honor and mastery. This collection examines masculinity with respect to Reconstruction, the New South, racism, southern womanhood, the Sunbelt, gay rights, and the rise of the Christian Right. Familiar figures such as Arthur Ashe are investigated from fresh angles, while other essays plumb new areas such as the womanless wedding and Cherokee masculinity.

Genres: History

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed how widely the topics range here, across categories. Social classes and men who conceptualized masculinity by crossing them.... Different races, black, white, and Native American, and how they thought of themselves and each other as men (or as not-men)... Gay and queer men, both specific and general... The psychology and public nature of masculinity as such, how it’s formed, its reflection in literature... The association of maleness with politics, with the default of history, and manhood as a constructed symbol. It’s thorough and fascinating. It could’ve done with a whole essay on disability I think, but the topic does appear. I also would’ve liked more discussion of organized sports’ role in southern masculinity, it’s mentioned but that’s a bit more modern than this book’s focus. It nudges more modern occasionally though, like the essay on the Southern Baptist Convention, so I would've liked to see those sports references expanded.

Keep in mind that the Civil War has an overwhelming presence, overshadowing almost every topic. While I recognized many of these trends in Southern men I know today -- and I found these studies helpful for all Southern research because I’m not a man and I don’t always get that side of it -- I’d really call the book “Southern Masculinity in the Wake of the Civil War.” It’s still relevant, we can’t understand modern masculinity without it, but don’t expect it to analyze all the way up to today. It’s more like about 75 years post-war, remaining a history of gender, not just a gender study. And while we're on approach, I love that the editor, Craig T. Friend, is a public historian. The essays aren’t on public history, but I think it makes a certain difference in readability and a concern for what ideas mean, not just what facts exist.

In sum, I greatly enjoyed reading this, and feel I benefited as a historian and a Southerner. (Also there’s a brilliant essay on gay Supreme Court decisions and political rationales by my favorite historian, John Howard, which I would like to have printed in its entirety to hang on my wall. So read that one.)