Manly Traditions

Take this test. You think today's sensitive, caring man is: (a) a myth, (b) an oxymoron, or (c) a moron. No matter whether you laugh at this bit of folk humor, its wide circulation bespeaks a modern predicament for American men.Men's "manly" traditions have been shaken in an age of "sensitivity." Some observers have even referred to a crisis of masculinity for a new generation of boys. In Manly Traditions, established scholars in the fields of folklore, men's studies, and gender studies identify the folkloric roots of what it means to be a man in America. In a lively volume they examine the traditions men inherit and adapt for their own purposes in contemporary life.Simon J. Bronner is Distinguished University Professor of American Studies and Folklore at the Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. He is the author of over a dozen books, including Following Tradition: Folklore in the Discourse of American Culture; Grasping Things: Folk Material Culture and Mass Society in America; The Carver's Art: Crafting Meaning from Wood; Folk Nation: Folklore in The Creation of American Tradition; American Children's Folklore; Piled Higher and Deeper: The Folklore of Student Life; Old-Time Music Makers of New York State; and American Folklore Studies: An Intellectual History.