Compared with the study of femininity, academic interest in masculinity is relatively recent. To explain this perhaps-belated arrival of men’s studies in critical discourse, this chapter starts with an overview of the historical circumstances in which the discipline came into being, followed by a discussion of the major themes and concepts in the field, plus an estimation of the relevance of men’s studies. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the film musical West Side Story (1961) to illustrate how the study of masculinity may be productively used in cultural analysis.
Oever, Roel van den. “Masculinities.” Gender: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies, edited by renée c. hoogland, Macmillan Reference USA, 2016, pp. 181-91.
