Knowing and not knowing: reflections on manhood

Abstract

It has come to our attention that the abstract for the above article did regrettably not feature within the article, as a result we believe that it would be beneficial for readers to be able to access this information, hence we have provided the relevant abstract below: The current political situation in the U.S. frames two questions about manhood: Is manhood a residual problem in the move from hierarchical to democratic forms? Is fascism, or fundamentalism, in part a reaction to feminism, which challenges the hierarchy of man over woman? These questions direct an exploration of possibilities for breaking the ties that bind manhood to hierarchy and thus to militarism. A paradigm shift in the human sciences, signaled by research in neurobiology and developmental psychology, sets the stage for reconsidering the construction of manhood and the meaning of masculinities. Gender binaries and hierarchies are linked to splits between reason and emotion, mind and body, self and relationships. Resistance to these splits, uncovered by research on child and adolescent development, suggests a potential for transformation that is psychologically rather than ideologically grounded. The linkages between violence and appeals to manhood are examined, leading to the suggestion that we now may be witnessing the endgame in a struggle between democracy and patriarchy. In a consideration of literary and scholarly works that explore the process of liberation, the potential for disarming manhood is addressed along with the release of womanhood from idealization and debasement. The freeing of a voice held captive by the structures of hierarchy and the honor codes of patriarchy suggests how these frameworks can shift. The U.S. presidential campaign of 2004 highlights two different military models of men in leadership: the top‐down image of father‐knows‐best and a band‐of‐brothers—and sisters—vision. Manhood and womanhood appear as garments cloaking a self that may want to be seen, suggesting ways of alleviating human tragedy.