Race and the subject of masculinities /

These 13 essays offer insights into the interrelations of racial group and masculinities in a broad range of societies, cultures, and subcultures. There are thought-provoking discussions of race and gender in Frantz Fanon, of interracial bonding between men, and of whites who immerse themselves in black culture. There are analyses of race and masculinity in old movies (The Blackboard Jungle) and in the writings of early white novelists (Edgar Rice Burroughs). Explored in depth are working-class aspects of Elvis impersonators, the meanings of Malcolm X's teenage years, the differences in the "cool poses" of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, the strong accent on muscle-building among many white men, and black gay male cultural production. Christopher Looby pens an interesting chapter on Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a white colonel in a Civil War regiment of African Americans. Throughout the essays there is little use of social science research on past/present realities of racism, sexism, and oppression, research whose incorporation could have rooted socially these too often abstract and excessively parochial (for humanities disciplines) essays. Thorough notes and bibliography; weak index. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. R. Feagin University of Florida