Overview

Myths of Masculinity and American Film examines ideologies of white American manhood that permeated US culture between 1974 and 2016—the period in which the boys of Generation X grew into adulthood. Stephen R. Duncan argues that the mass media of movies and television, along with some popular novels, music, and certain newsworthy events, can help reveal these ideologies—for good and for ill—as they dramatically changed in the wake of the social movements of the 1960s and early 1970s. Tracing how ""presidential patriarchy"" and cinematic representations of white manhood evolved in these decades, the book explores the resulting reinforced ethos of masculine individualism that underpinned popular support for Trumpism by 2016. It demonstrates that the key that unlocks the connections between culture and politics is a discourse around patriarchy that is shared by films of this period and popular perceptions of presidents, from Nixon, Carter, and Reagan, to Bush, Clinton, and Obama. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of US media and cultural history, American Studies, and gender studies.

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9781032971544

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Sharply written and eminently accessible, Duncan’s book brings history and film into dynamic dialogue, using each to illuminate the other. It stands as a spirited contribution to the cultural history of gender and identity in the United States."" Saverio Giovacchini, Professor of US Cultural and Intellectual History, University of Maryland, College Park ""Combining in-depth discussions of key films with broader cultural analysis, Myths of Masculinity and American Film illuminates a long history of cinematic presidential patriarchy from the post-Watergate era to today. Drawing from a wealth of popular film examples, Duncan traces fantasies of male empowerment through redemption, hope, monstrousness, and violence in films as disparate as Star Wars, The Shining, Patriot Games, Forrest Gump, Gladiator, and Iron Man. In casting these films as indicative of larger economic, societal, and political shifts, this book breaks new ground by bringing together disparate eras and films to understand the cultural underpinnings of our current era."" Christina G. Petersen, author of The Freshman: Comedy and Masculinity in 1920s Film and Youth Culture

Sharply written and eminently accessible, Duncan’s book brings history and film into dynamic dialogue, using each to illuminate the other. It stands as a spirited contribution to the cultural history of gender and identity in the United States. Saverio Giovacchini, Professor of US Cultural and Intellectual History, University of Maryland, College Park Combining in-depth discussions of key films with broader cultural analysis, Myths of Masculinity and American Film illuminates a long history of cinematic presidential patriarchy from the post-Watergate era to today. Drawing from a wealth of popular film examples, Duncan traces fantasies of male empowerment through redemption, hope, monstrousness, and violence in films as disparate as Star Wars, The Shining, Patriot Games, Forrest Gump, Gladiator, and Iron Man. In casting these films as indicative of larger economic, societal, and political shifts, Myths of Masculinity breaks new ground by bringing together disparate eras and films to understand the cultural underpinnings of our current era. Christina G. Petersen, author of The Freshman: Comedy and Masculinity in 1920s Film and Youth Culture

Author Information

Stephen R. Duncan is a Professor of History at Bronx Community College–CUNY who specializes in US cultural and intellectual history.

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