Making Music Male
How did record collecting and stereophile culture come to exclude women as consumers and experts?
Masculinity, Boxing, and the “Wild Brawl” That Changed the Sport
Bennie “Kid” Paret and Emile Griffith were both ready to fight, but it was unlikely either boxer was prepared for the outcome of their final bout.
How Upper Lips Got Stiff
The truism that “boys don’t cry” is a Western social convention. Colonialism and imperialism made sure it spread East.
Gatekeeping Psychology
In the mid-twentieth century, psychologist Edwin Boring attributed the limited role of female psychologists to issues other than discrimination.
Nostalgia for Manly Men in Seventeenth-Century Spain
Moralists found it easy to criticize Spanish men, particularly the high-born among them, for all sorts of supposed failures of masculinity.
How Computer Science Became a Boys’ Club
Women were the first computer programmers. How, then, did programming become the domain of bearded nerds and manly individualists?
The Hidden Meaning of a Notorious Experiment
In Stanley Milgram's studies of obedience, people believed they were giving shocks to others. But did their compliance say much about the Nazis?
The Creepy Backstory to Horatio Alger’s Bootstrap Capitalism
In a famous essay, a scholar uncovered difficult truths about Alger, whose name has been associated with the "rags to riches" myth.
Why Some Men Go to Salons for Haircuts
The difference between a clipper cut at the barber shop and "pampering" at the salon has roots in gender ideology and class structure.
The Manly Birdwatchers of Ontario
Finding a hobby that doesn't undermine your 19th-century masculinity can be tough.