Gender & Sexuality Studies

Based on his provocative and popular New York Times op-ed, The Man They Wanted Me to Be is both memoir and cultural analysis. Jared Yates Sexton alternates between an examination of his working class upbringing and historical, psychological, and sociological sources that examine the genesis of toxic masculinity and its consequences for society. As progressivism changes American society, and globalism shifts labor away from traditional manufacturing, the roles that have been prescribed to men since the Industrial Revolution have been rendered as obsolete. Donald Trump's campaign successfully leveraged male resentment and entitlement, and now, with Trump as president and the rise of the #MeToo movement, it's clear that our current definitions of masculinity are outdated and even dangerous. Deeply personal and thoroughly researched, The Man They Wanted Me to Be examines how we teach boys what's expected of men in America, and the long-term effects of that socialization--which include depression, shorter lives, misogyny, and suicide. Sexton turns his keen eye to the establishment of the racist patriarchal structure which has favored white men, and investigates the personal and societal dangers of such outdated definitions of manhood.

This collection of essays provides a basic introduction to the question of masculinity before moving on to studies of masculinity, science, and the body.

"Modern perceptions of masculinity, despite the sense of naturalness and constancy with which we view them, are in fact the idealized cultural products of the late 19th and early 20th centuries....[This book] examines how our preferred vision of masculinity was developed historically by default-- through establishing definitions of deviance. Deviants, Fools, Cads, Gentlemen, Murderers, Weaklings, Sadists, Exhibitionists,Transvestites.