Slow Motion

In this revised edition of her classic text, Segal's rigorously critical overview of theories of masculinity reflects upon continuities and change in hegemonic notions of masculinity, while focusing critically upon the place of competing male identities, exemplified in black, ethnic, gay and anti-sexist male cultural styles and practices. The stark contrasts in the power and privileges accruing to different groups of men have produced an ongoing sense of failure and confusion in some boys and men, leading many to speak of 'masculinity in crisis'. This book unpacks the tensions, troubles and diverse treatments on offer for solving men's problems. On the home front, the pressures of family life today have occurred in tandem with far greater stress on the importance and significance of fathering, resulting in clear signs of change in men's relations with their children. More conflictually again, the diversities, discontents, perceptions of entitlement or personal sorrows evident in men's sexual practices have ensured ongoing feminist criticism of heterosexuality, with male sexual desire remaining one of the most contentious topics in any theoretical debate informed by feminism. That debate remains entrenched because we have seen so little reduction in the manner and extent of men's violence, especially sexual violence, against women. However, evidence of change in men's lives is quite as prevalent as their resistance to it, leaving the future of gender an open question in this post-feminist world.