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Harvey C. Mansfield

Manliness Hardcover – February 6, 2006

by Harvey C. Mansfield (Author)

88 ratings

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This book invites—no, demands—a response from its readers. It is impossible not to be drawn in to the provocative (often contentious) discussion that Harvey Mansfield sets before us. This is the first comprehensive study of manliness, a quality both bad and good, mostly male, often intolerant, irrational, and ambitious. Our “gender-neutral society” does not like it but cannot get rid of it.
Drawing from science, literature, and philosophy, Mansfield examines the layers of manliness, from vulgar aggression, to assertive manliness, to manliness as virtue, and to philosophical manliness. He shows that manliness seeks and welcomes drama, prefers times of war, conflict, and risk, and brings change or restores order at crucial moments. Manly men in their assertiveness raise issues, bring them to the fore, and make them public and political—as for example, the manliness of the women’s movement.
After a wide-ranging tour from stereotypes to Hemingway and Achilles, to Nietzsche, to feminism, and to Plato, the author returns to today’s problem of “unemployed manliness.” Formulating a reasoned defense of a quality hardly obedient to reason, he urges men, and especially women, to understand and accept manliness, and to give it honest and honorable employment.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

February 6, 2006
Dimensions

6 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0300106645
ISBN-13

978-0300106640
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harvard government professor Mansfield delves into philosophy, literature and science to define manliness and to argue that it should have a place in an increasingly non-gender-specific society. Throughout, Mansfield clearly states his intentions, and though he may have convinced himself he accomplished his goals, readers will be skeptical; when, for example, he sets out to "elevate manliness from aggression to assertion and thereby discover its connection to politics," he jumps from Hemingway to Achilles before posing a question that has little more than a thin patina of importance: "In our time there are many who say that heroes lack humanity and few who will admit that humanity needs heroes. But at all times heroes have to assert themselves. The question is, what is in it for us?" Similar murky questions and non-sequitur lines of logic continue throughout: "Man has fearsome powers of wisdom and fire over beasts. All beasts fear fire, which perhaps represents the Promethean gift of technology." This clunky chain of supposition is followed by a brief foray into The Jungle Book. But Mansfield's theories on gender equality are likely to create the most conversation: "women are the weaker sex," "women's bodies are made to attract and to please men" and "now that women are equal, they should be able to accept being told that they aren't, quite" all appear on the same page. Mansfield set out to write a provocative book, but ended up penning a juvenile screed.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Annoying at times (often!), but never uninteresting, this book has much of importance to say."—Arlene Saxonhouse, University of Michigan

(Arlene Saxonhouse)

"A work of thought as well as a provocation, Manliness deserves to be widely read, argued over, and pondered."— David Bromwich, Yale University

(David Bromwich)

"Mansfield argues that manliness—in its combination of stubbornness and rationality—provides a ground for political life. His work is a thoughtful attempt to move us to think more clearly about who we are, and about the future of our liberal society."—Mary Nichols, Baylor University

(Mary Nichols)

“It’s a subtle exploration about the virtues and vices of the thymotic urge."—Frank Rich, New York Times

(Frank Rich 4. New York Times)

“Mansfield’s defense of what, politically, has become indefensible by anyone wanting to keep his reputation intact is most welcome.”—Theodore Dalrymple, American Enterprise

(Theodore Dalrymple American Enterprise)

“Mansfield argues that efforts in Western society to equalize the status of men and women are doomed to failure.”—Kevin Horrigan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

(Kevin Horrigan St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

"[This] new book entitled simply Manliness amounts to a spirited defense of the male psychology."—Joseph R. Phelan, Washington Times

(Joseph R. Phelan Washington Times)

“Amusing, refreshing, and outrageous observations. . . . Many readers will be grateful to him for his candor and bravado.”—Christina Hoff Somers, Weekly Standard

(Christina Hoff Somers Weekly Standard)

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; 2nd Printing edition (February 6, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300106645
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300106640
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #998 in Men's Gender Studies
- #2,588 in General Gender Studies
- #16,988 in Sociology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
88 ratings

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5 star		69%
4 star		10%
3 star		5%
2 star		4%
1 star		12%

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1008 Reviews

The Truth is sometimes right and painful

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2019

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This brilliant book clearly lays out the all important values of each of the sexes, male and female. By looking to the past the the ultimate truth of the human race over tens of thousands of years, it becomes clear that our present "confused" age is but a blip. The universe will soon resort to the proper and Divine gender roles.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Prithvi Karthikeyan

Amusing tour de force of intellectual history

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2014

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This is a magnificent book and absolutely hilarious -a tour de force of intellectual history featuring the ever popular Burke, Tocqueville, Publius trio so beloved of conservatives. Mansfield delves into the rest of the Western canon - Nietzsche, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Rousseau, Spinoza, Plato, Aristotle, Mill and my favourite - Epictetus! and unusual suspects like Mary Wollstonecraft, Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer and Naomi Wolf and nice cameos by Teddy Roosevelt and ever clever William James and other popular literature I am sure means more to Americans steeped in these memes. Mansfield is an unparalleled provocateur and his cause du jour is manliness - courage and responsibility in risky situations - and irrational manliness and the only woman he concedes as having this incontrovertible virtue is Margaret Thatcher. There is an electric quality in Mansfield's writing - it's unabashed and intellectually combative - chewing out more than it can bite! I stayed up all last night reading it as I immediately recognized that he was describing the quality that defines all the important men in my life who each make me feel so much safer and happier thanks to each of their respective manlinesses - and all of whom are too busy to read this erudite and highly amusing book as they are out in the world being manly IRL :) Mansfield inspires us to appreciate what we owe to manly heroes vilified in modernity's hegemony of rational control and his pet antagonists - feminists. I also suggest the book as a blueprint for how to deploy a liberal arts education in everyday life to dazzling effects. I will conclude with a quote from the book that is a neat direction how he needs to be read especially by his detractors (I'm looking at you Nussbaum :)

"I don't mind giving you advice but I don't want to rob you of your duty to think and your freedom to choose."

30 people found this helpful

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Sunshine Jones

Got me banned from picking books at book club

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020

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Anti-feminist, yes, but also comes across as offensive and demeaning to women in describing their ‘inferiority’... I suggested this book for my book club, no one even finished it, and it got me banned from picking books for a year. Thanks, dude.

One person found this helpful

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Rocco D. Papalia

Editor!

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

Fascinating intellectual treatment of a critical and ignored topic. Four times longer than necessary. Never seen a work more in need of a manly editor.

4 people found this helpful

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Dr. A. B. ONEILL

An excellent read

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

Very thought provoking! I have to confess I struggled with some parts, but overall thoroughly enjoyed the book. The message is timely and the argument the author presents is credible. Well worth a read for those trying to understand where the gender argument is going these days, and where it might go.....

6 people found this helpful

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Schnoodle

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2018

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Excellent and very readable examination of feminism, ironically.

5 people found this helpful

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Peter Cohee

Read Manliness as soon as you can.

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

Profoundly erudite and intellectually honest, Manliness tracks the growth of feminism -- and its goal of a gender-neutral society -- both within and against the Western tradition of political philosophy. Some books you wish you had read earlier. This is one of them. It has been out ten years now, so any longer review will be redundant.

4 people found this helpful

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Boofer

To put it crassly, "Haters gonna hate"

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2012

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Liberal intellectuals are attempting to bring the rating down with lengthy diatribes meant to impress us by their size and not by their wit, as if words were weights to be lifted in which the more, the more impressive. Mansfield has created a spectacular book that any half-serious thinker will have a very difficult time refuting.
The incredible wit and gravitas of Mansfield makes for a compelling account of what manliness is, and I'm so sorry but no, he is not politically correct.

35 people found this helpful

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