Spreading American Literature Analysis

Rereading American Literature from a Men’s Studies Perspective: Some Implications
Written by James D. Riemer, the article “Rereading American Literature from a Men’s Studies: Some Implications” belongs to a collection edited by Harry Brod called The Making of Masculinities. The article analyses some fixed ideals of manliness and how these have affected men’s lives. To do that, it uses some representative examples from American Literature.
Riemer asserts that there were erroneous beliefs regarding male experience as it was said that male experience equaled human experience, which is an extremely wrong assumption since women are human as well. This completely affected the way we perceived women in literature by giving them all a secondary role …show more content…
Certain is that sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists can give us a deeper and enriching perception of the role of men in literature. Their help may suppose a change in literary criticism, turning it around.
The African-American writer Ernest Gaines focuses his studies in the notion of manhood for southern rural blacks. He points that black men have been racially excluded and therefore, are far from the standard white ideal of manhood. He declares that black men “are not concerned with either the material or work-related indexes of manhood, which have been traditionally denied them through social institutional racism.” (291). Despite of the white men ideal of masculinity, Gaines adds that black men ideal of masculinity appeals to a “man’s inner sense of dignity and self-respect” (292).
An interesting point that Gaines brings up in his book A Gathering of Old Men is that black males are likely to prove their manhood to themselves. In other words, their own recognition is what makes them feel a true man. This definitely contrast with the white men ideal that looks for proving their manhood so their daring can be recalled by the society. In some way, society is the key for the …show more content…
These manly ideals “can restrict and complicate men’s lives, often interfering with the satisfaction of their basic needs” (295). Some boys are too anxious to be called “man” that they put aside their dignity. Additionally, they are worries about their public image that forgot the most important thing: to nurture their inside and to be satisfied with the person you are. This is leading to the creation of a materialistic, frivolous and superficial society. As well, the society latent need to ADELANTAR the age for legally doing adult things is aggravating this problem. This is exemplified in James Farrel’s Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan, where the main character weak personality leads him to prove his physical endurance up to the point he completely forgets who he really is. As I aforementioned, society can be truly tough with young people who try to be in tune. For Studs Lonigan, it is even harder this adaptation as he has never been supported by his friends, which makes me wonder if they were actually their friends or just people he usually hangs out with. In this way, I would like to highlight the fact that the only proves of manhood that our protagonist wants to make are physical. In my view, the most important way of proving you a man is to be committed with your own ideals, in other words, being a man of your words. This surely creates you a reliable atmosphere that may manage you to the top in

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