An exciting new popular study of the male body--fresh, honest, and full of revelations
In this surprising, candid cultural analysis, Susan ... read full description
In this surprising, candid cultural analysis, Susan ... read full description
reviews
Aug 10, 2010
Dusty
rated it: 
With reference to famous male bodies -- John Travolta, Michael Jordan, Bill Clinton, and others -- Susan Bordo offers in this book an insightful analysis of how, and why, men at the end of the 20th Century have become equally as insecure about their bodies as women have been for centuries before. She admits that because she is a woman her perspective is both limited and enhanced; she has no penis of her own, but perhaps that means she can more "objectively" analyze the penises of other
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Mar 31, 2011
Zack
rated it: 
Over the course of The Male Body, Susan Bordo takes the reader on a tour through recent American history, exploring how popular images of masculinity – and what they say about our society’s notion of manhood – have developed and changed. While it is unusual to see a feminist work that deals almost exclusively with men’s relationship to the world, Bordo makes it an incredibly fun process. She uses studies of movie stars, ad campaigns and political figures, as well as some very funny personal anec
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Sep 22, 2011
Sophia
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The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private is an insightful cultural analysis of how meanings and associations are ascribed to the male body. Although the first few chapters are more specifically about the penis, later chapters (which read a bit like related essays) are more about the ideas embodied by masculinity and how these might be nuanced by history, race, and class. Written in the late 1990s and published in 1999, some of the references—Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas, Moni
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Sep 09, 2011
QuietRiotGirl
rated it: 
The Male Body begins with a moving account of Bordo's memories of her father's body.
After that she charts the changes in culture, especially in the 1990s which have put the male body very much on display. It was written in 2000 and already seems dated. Calvin Klein ads have now been taken over by Armani for example, and the Spawn of Sporno is what we see everywhere we look.
I liked her refs to film in particular with some interesting observations about The Crying Game and Boog More...
After that she charts the changes in culture, especially in the 1990s which have put the male body very much on display. It was written in 2000 and already seems dated. Calvin Klein ads have now been taken over by Armani for example, and the Spawn of Sporno is what we see everywhere we look.
I liked her refs to film in particular with some interesting observations about The Crying Game and Boog More...
Jul 15, 2009
Darren
rated it:
I can almost positively say I have never read or thought about the penis as I have in the last week. Usually I can find a focal point that sticks with me in my reading however Professor Bordo’s writing floods the mind with information, imagery, and because I am male reflection as well. I appreciate the difference she highlights between the phallus and the penis. The phallus in ancient times was a highly spiritual symbol and often represented by the sword or dagger while the counterpart the vagin
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Jun 01, 2008
Matthew
rated it:
I finally can say I have a favorite non-fiction book! Joy! I started this book quite awhile ago, almost three weeks, but I wanted to read it at my own pace and not rush through. From the moment I read the first few pages, the book had me hooked. It had me at hello, I suppose you could say. Susan Bordo is a relatively well-known feminist critic whose work has mostly centered around women. Yet here, she switches teams, so to speak, and starts batting for the men. Before, when I was naive and ill-e
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May 08, 2009
Cody
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This is a crazy good read, indeed. I was fortunate enough to haphazardly read this one and bell hook's "the will to change" in the same season. they both occupy that scanty genre of feminist writers giving voice to the theme of "patriarchy against men too."
bordo insightfully surveys such topics as penis size and public portrayl, consumerism and sexuality, sexual harassment, the inevitable fetishization of adolescent females, the responsibility of women to consider thei More...
bordo insightfully surveys such topics as penis size and public portrayl, consumerism and sexuality, sexual harassment, the inevitable fetishization of adolescent females, the responsibility of women to consider thei More...
Dec 15, 2008
Once you get past the hundred or so pages of phallus discussion, this book provides an in-depth cultural analysis of masculine portrayal in the media.
...You might almost forget you are reading it for a shitty seminar...
...You might almost forget you are reading it for a shitty seminar...
Oct 14, 2008
leo
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Yes, my dears, the book talks about penises and phalli (and their difference). But not only that! Thighs, breasts, hocks, and haunches are dealt with in a delightfully mischievous tone that evokes the author's childhood obsessions, including the Marilyn Monroe calendar hidden away in the back of her father's sock drawer. Aside from an old-hat definition of culture as imaginative work, here you will find quite the exploration of the American substratum of the human species that happens to have
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Aug 03, 2008
Stephanie
rated it:
This book had a lot of potential, but is riddled with simple errors that an editor ought to have caught. Beyond that, the scholarship is not strong, and while it includes some insights the material is generally dull and uninspiring. The topic is still worthwhile, and I would suggest anyone interested in the sociological nature of the male body look to one of the other books on the subject out there.
May 27, 2008
Angie
rated it: 
I remember her speaking of all the phallic symbols in our culture.
Now, every time I see a long blue convertible (like the one in "Thelma and Louise") or a tall building, I think of a penis.
Thanks for visual.
Now, every time I see a long blue convertible (like the one in "Thelma and Louise") or a tall building, I think of a penis.
Thanks for visual.
Jan 13, 2008
a.
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Bordo is an amazing writer, but this book ends up being a bit trite and dated. Her exploration of the female and body perception (Unbearable Weight) is excellent
Apr 01, 2009
Missy
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Really interesting topic; really dry book. Bummer, I really thought I'd like this one.
Apr 26, 2009
MM
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excellent -- Bordo wants to move between materiality and language when thinking about gender and men. Highly recommend it.
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