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Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturityreviewed by Amy Shuffelton - July 02, 2009 Title: Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity Author(s): Gary Cross Publisher: Columbia University Press, New York ISBN: 023114430X, Pages: 328, Year: 2008 Search for book at Amazon.com In his latest book, Gary Cross explores the phenomenon of boy-men: men who manage, with the full support of popular culture, to extend adolescence from childhood into later life. The book is both a fascinating history of American masculinity in the 20th and early 21st centuries and a powerful jeremiad against modern immaturity.
A few generations ago, Cross argues, men grew up or at least they, and the culture around them, seemed to think they were supposed to. Adult men were expected to dress differently than adolescents, enjoy different, more polished leisure pursuits, and take responsibility within their workplaces and families. The model of adult masculinity included financial and emotional restraint and dignity. Cross finds validation of this model (as well as quite a few challenges) across a wide variety of media, including movies, television, advertising, magazines, books, and cartoons.
Whether men were actually like this is another question, and... (preview truncated at 150 words.)To view the full-text for this article you must be signed-in with the appropriate membership. Please review your options below:
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- Amy Shuffelton
University of Wisconsin Whitewater E-mail Author AMY SHUFFELTON is Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Her current work is exploring conceptions of gender and emotional comportment in contemporary schooling.
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