Many believe that religion plays a positive role in men's identity development, with religion promoting good behavior, and morality. In contrast, we often assume that the media is a negative influence for men, teaching them to be rough and violent, and to ignore their emotions. In Does God Make the Man?, Stewart M. Hoover and Curtis D. Coats draw on extensive interviews and participant observation with both Evangelical and non-Evangelical men, including Catholics as well as Protestants, to argue that neither of these assumptions is correct.
Dismissing the easy notion that media encourages toxic masculinity and religion is always a positive influence, Hoover and Coats argue that not only are the linkages between religion, media, and masculinity not as strong and substantive as has been assumed, but the ways in which these relations actually play out may contradict received views. Over the course of this fascinating book they examine crises, contradictions, and contestations: crises about the meaning of masculinity and about the lack of direction men experience from their faith communities; contradictions between men's religious lives and media lives, and contestations among men's ideas about what it means to be a man.
The book counters common discussions about a "crisis of masculinity," showing that actual men do not see the world the way the "crisis talk" has portrayed it—and interestingly, even Evangelical men often do not see religion as part of the solution.
- Available now
- New eBook additions
- Travel Guides
- Let Your Garden Grow
- New kids additions
- New teen additions
- Most popular
- Try something different
- Series Starters
- Available Now Ebooks
- Homeschool Resources
- Workbooks for K-8
- Hispanic Heritage
- See all ebooks collections
- Always Available Audio Fiction
- Always Available Audio Nonfiction
- Always Available Audio Romance
- Great Courses
- Pimsleur Language Learning
- Where Have I Heard That Voice Before?
- Listening to Nature
- Available now
- New audiobook additions
- Great Narrators
- Audiobooks for your Commute
- Listen While You Work
- New kids additions
- See all audiobooks collections