The Changing Definition of Masculinity is an outgrowth of four years of
developing and teaching the course "Social Factors in Male Personality"
at Ohio State University, Columbus. This volume reflects, in addition to
my thoughts and feelings about what should be discussed in a sex-roles
course taught from a male per- spective, the thoughts, feelings, and
knowledge of scores of students, col- leagues, and friends. These are
persons who either have taken the course or discussed with me
appropriate material to be included in such a course and/or book.
Chapter 1, for example, is influenced greatly by the work of Eliza- beth
and Joseph Pleck's The American Man, dealing with the periods of
masculinity in the United States up to 1965. The chapter also deals with
emerging meanings of masculinity after 1965, and female and male
responses to these meanings. The second chapter is devoted to male
sex-role socialization and examines the roles of biology and environment
in male socialization. It is also concerned with agents of male
socialization and with male assumption of such sex-role traits as
dominance, competitiveness, the work ethic, and violence. In Chapter 2,
I also propose two general mas- culine roles frequently assumed by
American males which mayor may not be race-specific-the White masculine
role and the Black masculine role.