Changing Men and Masculinities in Latin America [Paperback]

Matthew C. Gutmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2003

Ranging from fatherhood to machismo and from public health to housework, Changing Men and Masculinities in Latin America is a collection of pioneering studies of what it means to be a man in Latin America. Matthew C. Gutmann brings together essays by well-known U.S. Latin Americanists and newly translated essays by noted Latin American scholars. Historically grounded and attuned to global political and economic changes, this collection investigates what, if anything, is distinctive about and common to masculinity across Latin America at the same time that it considers the relative benefits and drawbacks of studies focusing on men there. Demonstrating that attention to masculinities does not thwart feminism, the contributors illuminate the changing relationships between men and women and among men of different ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and classes.

The contributors look at Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, and the United States. They bring to bear a number of disciplines—anthropology, history, literature, public health, and sociology—and a variety of methodologies including ethnography, literary criticism, and statistical analysis. Whether analyzing rape legislation in Argentina, the unique space for candid discussions of masculinity created in an Alcoholics Anonymous group in Mexico, the role of shame in shaping Chicana and Chicano identities and gender relations, or homosexuality in Brazil, Changing Men and Masculinities highlights the complex distinctions between normative conceptions of masculinity in Latin America and the actual experiences and thoughts of particular men and women.

Contributors. Xavier Andrade, Daniel Balderston, Peter Beattie, Stanley Brandes, Héctor Carrillo, Miguel Díaz Barriga, Agustín Escobar, Francisco Ferrándiz, Claudia Fonseca, Norma Fuller, Matthew C. Gutmann, Donna Guy, Florencia Mallon, José Olavarría, Richard Parker, Mara Viveros

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The essays in this volume represent a significant advance for our understanding of both the texture and obstinate endurance of inequality in Latin America. Building on recent breakthrough studies of women, gender, and sexuality, Changing Men and Masculinities opens up worlds of male experience, from the bedroom to the workplace. The volume confirms that masculinity is a useful, and indispensable, category of analysis.”—Greg Grandin, author of The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation

”Changing Men and Masculinities in Latin America stands on the frontier of gender studies. Its interdisciplinarity, broad historical scope, and multicountry coverage portray well the diversity of masculinities in Latin America.”—Elizabeth Dore, coeditor of Hidden Histories of Gender and the State in Latin America

About the Author

Matthew C. Gutmann is Stanley J. Bernstein Assistant Professor of the Social Sciences–International Affairs in the Department of Anthropology at Brown University. He is author of The Meanings of Macho: Being a Man in Mexico City and Mainstreaming Men into Gender and Development: Debates, Reflections, Experiences (with Sylvia Chant).

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (January 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822330229
• ISBN-13: 978-0822330226
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 3.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good bye to machoism, June 21, 2004

By 

Sören-Ansgar "bahiasolano" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Changing Men and Masculinities in Latin America (Paperback)

Probably nobody would doubt that the name Matthew C. Gutmann stands for high-quality research on gender issues with special emphasis on masculinities. In order to make clear what masculinity in Latin America is all about Gutmann chose in his edition a wide range of aspects (men and urban life, fatherhood, homosexuality etc.) These have been covered by different expers on gender issues and masculinities. One thesis which is expressed in different articles is that the changes in Latin American men have not only been brought about by the challenges from the feminist movement (which has been relatively weak in Latin America compared to Northern Europe and the US) but from the changes in the structures of Latin American societies as such. More women than ever before have joined the labour market and are now contributing to the family income, not to mention those who are the only breadwinners. Consequently, men have had to change and do domestic chores which just one generation ago would haven been unthinkable. This is clearly expressed in José Olavarria's essay on "Men at Home? Child Rearing and Housekeeping among Chilean Working-Class Fathers". It has led to a re-definition of masculinity in Latin America, and so far we can only see the beginning of a process of change which we have to watch carefully in the coming years.
All in all: the book is highly recommended to readers interested in gender issues in Latin America as well as in Europe and the U.S.A.