Crossing into Manhood

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title! Many scholars have documented and decried the crisis in American masculinity. There is a preponderance of evidence showing that males suffer from many physical, emotional, and social ills due to the gender scripts with which they were raised and which continue to govern men s lives. Throughout the millennia and across cultures, initiation rites of passage have been utilized as an effective means of transitioning young males into manhood. Modern culture suffers from a dearth of rites of passage leaving many boys stuck in puerile attitudes and behaviors and unable to make a wholesome transition into mature masculinity. Crossing into Manhood is a much-needed guide on assisting late-adolescent boys transition into manhood; it proposes a school-based curriculum and rite of passage paradigm to help young men make the difficult passage into manhood. Utilizing resources from diverse academic disciplines, this book surveys the psychoanalytic, the social constructionist, and the essentialist perspectives on masculine gender. As a result, a men s studies curriculum has been formulated one that offers a balanced bio-psycho-social conceptualization of masculine identity. Educators will find the contents of this book helpful in providing the key conceptual information necessary to teach a men s studies course to late-adolescent boys. This book will provoke further dialogue and work among educators and other adults in this important area.