maleblogging

Some good sources to use for militant masculinity, all based on the most recent popping up of the (in)famous "Pussification of the American Male".

"D" over at Lawyers, Guns and Money discusses this classic rant in relation to TR and 1900-era masculinity. (Cites Gail Bederman's Manliness and Civilization, 1995) The "Pussification" is of course hilarious. But then:

But my students and I noticed something interesting. Speaking in April 1899 -- just a few months after the Spanish-American war ended -- Roosevelt condemned the "pussification" of American men while calling upon them to suppress the Philippine insurrection; over the next few years, thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Filipinos would die as the country learned what "the strenuous life" was all about. Writing in November 2003 -- just a few months after the Iraq War had supposedly ended -- du Toit similarly condemned the "pussification" of American men while calling upon them to drive fast, get drunk, and emulate Donald Rumsfeld (who, he insisted at the time, could have laid nearly every woman in the country over the age of 50); over the past few years, thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died, in large part so that men like Donald Rumsfeld would not have to wake up in the morning and see a "pussy" staring back at them in the mirror. Kim du Toit, I suppose, should be so fortunate.

Possible assignment.