Flesh and Blood Adolescent Gender Diversity and Violence [Hardcover]

Criminological inquiry has traditionally conceptualized the body much like it did genderin a static, one dimensional fashion, or not at all. In Flesh and Blood, as in his previous books, Masculinities and Crime, and Crime as Structured Action, Messerschmidt again moves criminology in a thoughtful, new direction. Through his analysis of life history accounts of boys and girls, Messerschmidt examines the ways in which social constructions of gender are embodied, and how these embodied masculine and feminine practices relate to violence. This analysis highlights the ways in which the construction of gender and experiences of the body are dynamically interwoven in the everyday lives of boys and girls.Recommended.Flesh and Blood is highly recommended for anyone who teaches or does research in the area of gender and/or crime. Even if one decides the book is too complex for a class, the perspective gained will enrich any class discussion and lectures on related topics. Messerschmidt moves us further down the road on a much-needed path of research on gender and violence.this book provides an excellent account of the construction of gender through violence...Flesh and Blood provides us with a glimpse into the embodied experiences of adolescents who are routinely involved in violent acts. I would recommend this book to researchers in criminology, gender studies, and masculinities.What a marvelous book! By embodying gender, and by engendering crime, Jim Messerschmidt paves the way to fully refashion criminology itselfboth the crimes and those who commit them. This is a significant achievement.This book provides a unique conceptualization of: 1) embodiment as a lived aspect of gender, 2) how masculine practices may be constructed by both boys and girls, 3) how such embodied social actions are related to violence and nonviolence, and 4) the fallacy of the mind-body, sex-gender, and gender difference binaries.Sociologists and criminologists have long known that there is a relatl3!