Unreasonable Men: Masculinity and Social Theory [Paperback]

This much needed book is the first to show how dominant forms of masculinity are implicated in the traditions of social theory that have emerged since the Enlightenment. The author shows how an 'unreasonable' form of reason has emerged from the separation of reason from emotion, mind from body, nature from culture, public from private, matter from spirit - the dualities that have shaped our vision of modernity. The book argues that men need to explore critically their power and experience which has been rendered invisible by the dominant traditions of social theory. Instead of legislating for others they have to learn to speak more personally for themselves.Seidler argues that the identification of masculinity with reason has played a central role in Western social theory and philosophy. Defined in opposition to nature, it produced a form of reason that was 'unreasonable' and restrictive.`... this book can help to place securely on the agenda of sociologica studies an account where politics, emotions, ideology, thouth and practice appear alongside each othr in a form that challenges particular theoreticalpositions and opens up new areas.' - Reviewing SociologyChapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Nature; Chapter 3 Reason; Chapter 4 Morality; Chapter 5 Freedom; Chapter 6 Identity; Chapter 7 Modernity; Chapter 8 Experience; Chapter 9 Feminism; Chapter 10 Masculinity; Chapter 11 Histories; Chapter 12 Relationships; Chapter 13 Language; Chapter 14 Sexuality; Chapter 15 Dependency; Chapter 16 Conclusion;Victor Jeleniewski Seidler is Reader in Social Theory in the Department of Sociology at Goldsmiths College, The University of London. He is the editor of The Achilles Heel Reader.US? 1994 Victor J. Seidler