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3.5
What Is Wrong with Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything
ByPublisher Description
A hilarious, ambitious work of trenchant cultural criticism that traces the origins of today’s crisis of masculinity through . . . Michael Douglas’s oeuvre from the eighties and ninetiesA hilarious, ambitious work of trenchant cultural criticism that traces the origins of today’s crisis of masculinity through . . . Michael Douglas’s oeuvre from the eighties and nineties
How to be a Man? That question—and all the anxiety, anger, and resentment it stirs up—is the starting point for a crisis in masculinity that today manifests as misogyny, nativism, and corporate greed; incels and mass shooters; and panic over the rights of women and minorities. According to Jessa Crispin, creator of the celebrated blog BookSlut, it is the most important question of our time, and the answer to it might be found in an unlikely the films of Michael Douglas.
In the 1980s, the rules for masculinity began to change. The goal was no longer to be a good, respectable family man, carrying on the patriarchal traditions of generations past. Not only was it becoming unfashionable, but increasingly the economic and political shifts—a slashed social safety net, globalization—made it harder to find a breadwinning income, a stable home life, and a secure place in the public sphere. So, then, how to be a man? From the early eighties to the late nineties, Michael Douglas showed us he was our president, our Wall Street overlord, our mass shooter, our failed husband, our midlife crisis, our cop, and our canary in the patriarchal coal mine. His characters were a mirror of our cultural shift, serving as the foundation for everything from the 1994 Crime Bill to Trump’s ultimate rise. With wry wit and wisdom, Crispin examines the phenomenon of the “Douglas character” as a silver-screen seismograph registering the tectonic movements within our society that have fractured it in shocking ways.
From Fatal AttractionFatal Attraction to Wall StreetWall Street to The GameThe Game, WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEN investigates how Michael Douglas’s box office domination illustrates the dark hearts of masculinity’s crisis. Blending feminist arguments and pop culture criticism, Crispin uses the iconic roles of Michael Douglas as a lens to explore men’s and our culture’s ongoing anxieties around women, money, and power. Ultimately, revealing that the patriarchy has now fully betrayed men, along with everyone else—and how unpacking one of its most fervent icons can help us envision a pathway forward.
How to be a Man? That question—and all the anxiety, anger, and resentment it stirs up—is the starting point for a crisis in masculinity that today manifests as misogyny, nativism, and corporate greed; incels and mass shooters; and panic over the rights of women and minorities. According to Jessa Crispin, creator of the celebrated blog BookSlut, it is the most important question of our time, and the answer to it might be found in an unlikely the films of Michael Douglas.
In the 1980s, the rules for masculinity began to change. The goal was no longer to be a good, respectable family man, carrying on the patriarchal traditions of generations past. Not only was it becoming unfashionable, but increasingly the economic and political shifts—a slashed social safety net, globalization—made it harder to find a breadwinning income, a stable home life, and a secure place in the public sphere. So, then, how to be a man? From the early eighties to the late nineties, Michael Douglas showed us he was our president, our Wall Street overlord, our mass shooter, our failed husband, our midlife crisis, our cop, and our canary in the patriarchal coal mine. His characters were a mirror of our cultural shift, serving as the foundation for everything from the 1994 Crime Bill to Trump’s ultimate rise. With wry wit and wisdom, Crispin examines the phenomenon of the “Douglas character” as a silver-screen seismograph registering the tectonic movements within our society that have fractured it in shocking ways.
From Fatal AttractionFatal Attraction to Wall StreetWall Street to The GameThe Game, WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEN investigates how Michael Douglas’s box office domination illustrates the dark hearts of masculinity’s crisis. Blending feminist arguments and pop culture criticism, Crispin uses the iconic roles of Michael Douglas as a lens to explore men’s and our culture’s ongoing anxieties around women, money, and power. Ultimately, revealing that the patriarchy has now fully betrayed men, along with everyone else—and how unpacking one of its most fervent icons can help us envision a pathway forward.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesWhat Is Wrong with Men: Patriarchy, the Crisis of Masculinity, and How (Of Course) Michael Douglas Films Explain Everything Reviews
3.5
“The beginning was insightful. The middle was solid. The last few chapters lost my attention with what felt like unintelligible ramblings.
This author suggests that we are in a post patriarchal era.
Then they acknowledge that most powerful positions in our society are occupied by men.
The author then also points out the imbalance in domestic labor within the domestic sphere... how we associate caretaking with women.... How we societally undervalue feminine traits, pink collar careers etc. Yet we're in a post patriarchal society....
The last few chapters felt like she took shrooms and did speak to text with a ranting voice memo while she was high as a kite. As a sociology and history lover I found myself wondering if she even had a sociology degree... when I found out that she didn't complete her degree, it didn't surprise me in the slightest.”
“It took me a few months to finish this book. While the author has a great voice that rings funny and sarcastic at times, there is no getting around the fact that this thesis is dense because the matter at hand is dense. I also stopped a lot of times (yes, to break and read other books, but also to have deep conversations with the people in my life). I almost gave this book four stars because I have not watched enough Michael Douglas films, and I was wishing it was based on cinema I was more familiar with, but let me tell you....
After finishing this book, I started watching the movies that were referenced (which BTW, you do not have to have seen the films to read the book. She does break down what happens in detail) and I get it now, Jessa. I cannot believe some of the dialogue and themes in movies like Falling Down and The Game. I'm not sure any other actor's career could more perfectly depict the crisis of masculinity in America.
An amazing read. Even better if you can read it with a group and delve into a deep conversation.”
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