A REQUIEM FOR MANHOOD

Paul Nathanson (wordwatcher@videotron.ca)
Independant author

Abstract

Once upon a time, there was a world in which men could establish a healthy collective identity by contributing to society something that was distinctive, necessary and publicly valued. That is no longer true. The Rider explores one example of this problem: Lakota men in a world with no room for them specifically as men. That world is no more, not among them and not among us, although it did exist within living memory. This becomes clear by comparing The Rider with an older movie about manhood: The Best Years of Our Lives. Instead of mourning a significant loss that afflicts everyone, directly or indirectly, feminists have reacted by claiming that masculinity is inherently "toxic." This article is a personal response.

Keywords: feminism, gender, movies, identity, maleness, manhood, masculinity, men, toxic masculinity

Author Biography

Paul Nathanson has a BA (art history), a BTh (Christian theology), an MLS (library service), an MA (religious studies) and a PhD (religious studies). Of particular interest to him is the surprisingly blurry relation between religion and secularity: how religion underlies seemingly secular phenomena such as popular movies and political ideologies. With Katherine Young, he is writing a series on the problem of masculine identity in an age of identity politics and sexual polarization. Four volumes are already in print: Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture; Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systemic Discrimination against Men; Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man; and Replacing Misandry: A Revolutionary History of the Male Body.

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