Customer Reviews

Masculinity

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This book was highly disappointing. Except for a fascinating second chapter, the rest of the story is one of shallowness. You wonder if this guy is really a Jungian or not.

The second chapter is about male to male competition, and the author uses some evidence that is truly fascinating. He cites studies done on other males in the animal kingdom, and comapares it to research on human males. What seems to be certain is that competition has a dramatic effect on male narcissism. There is a heightened sense of self in the course of victory, and we see how it is critical for fathers to relate well to their sons over issues of conflict so that the child's self esteem is not damaged.

The rest of the book I cannot vouch for. He focuses strictly on the persona and the development of masculine attitudes and behavior that conforms to traditional cultural standards. You come away thinking that masculinity is just about the persona, and that there is nothing to being a man except coming to some kind of resolution of what society expects of you. Moreover, this author does not have a good grasp of Jungian concepts. He explicitly says that the concept of Logos is not sufficient and is short sighted, that it is erroneous to come up with one word to explain masculinity. He forgets that the notion of Logos is very nebulous, and encompasses many aspects of the mind. Ironically, Steinberg makes the very mistake that he accuses Jung and other psychologists of: namely, coming up with a simple definition of masculinity. He limits masculinity to being an instrumental/active process, which he says is what society has traditionally assigned to masculinity. In effect, all he has done is regurgitate the lessons of society, shallow ones at that, and has not added anything to our understanding of masculinity.

It is much more interesting to read some of Joseph Conrad's fiction and contemplate their implications as to what manhood in the modern era is about. Steinberg is not for those who like to challenge conventional values and thoughts.