No Man's Land: Men's Changing Commitments To Family And Work
Books / Hardcover
Books › Social Science › Gender Studies
ISBN: 0465063160 / Publisher: Basic Books, July 1993
A look at the gender revolution from a male perspective employs interviews with working- and middle-class men to show the varied ways in which men are reassessing their commitments to work and family life
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Men, like women, are finding it increasingly difficult to "have it all." How are they responding to the new realities of our time - the cataclysmic changes caused by the women's movement and by diminished economic opportunities? Here is the first authoritative, in-depth answer. Based on a unique series of life-history interviews, this pathbreaking book lets men tell in their own words the varied ways in which, for better or for worse, they are reassessing their commitments to family and work.Today there is no longer a single, unambiguous road to manhood. But why do men choose one path over another? Why do some still choose to become traditional breadwinners, while others flee the responsibilities of parenthood altogether, and still others become significantly more involved in family life than earlier generations of men? What does it mean to be a man in a world where women are almost as likely as men to shoulder the responsibilities of supporting a family? And how can we as individuals and as a society encourage progressive trends?Unlike other books that focus on the differences between men and women, this book explains the variations among men - and perceives signs of positive change. Drawing on scores of interviews with men from diverse social backgrounds and walks of life, No Man's Land presents a richly nuanced picture of the varied ways in which men are reassessing their commitments to work and family life. While most discussions of men's lives focus on their power and privilege, this book also examines men's dilemmas and constraints. Even though men as a group possess disproportionate power, as individuals many do not feel powerful. This book shows not only how men assemble and protect their prerogatives, but also how they are coping with unprecedented assaults on privileges once taken for granted. Kathleen Gerson examines how men perceive, construct, and justify their options, even in those cases when the choices appear self-serving or implausible. The result is a book that helps us respond more meaningfully, both as a society and as individual men and women, to an unfinished revolution.
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