As they transition into adulthood, many American boys and young men spend a considerable amount of time engaging in physical sports, playing violent video games, and watching action movies, including war films. In many cases, boys spend more time exposed to media models than they do with their fathers. If, as social learning theorists say, masculinity is learned directly through a system of positive and negative reinforcement, what manly behaviors do war films clearly define and reinforce? And what un-manly behaviors do war films clearly prohibit? In Reel Men at War: Masculinity and the American War Film, authors Ralph Donald and Karen MacDonald consider the influence that war films bring to bear on the socialization of young boys in America. Analyzing nearly 150 American war films and television programs, this book considers such issues as major male stereotypes—both positive and negative—in film, the influence of sports as an alternate to mortal combat, why men admire war and value winning so highly, and how war films define manly courage. Throughout the book the authors comment on the depiction of post-traumatic stress disorder, the stages of grief, and suicide in war films, as well as applying Jungian and Freudian theories to war and soldiering. Reel Men at War will be of interest not only to professors and students of cinema and mass communications but also to scholars of history, gender studies, and sociology.

In a culture that tells men to suppress instead of express, join bestselling author, speaker, and leader Jason Wilson (featured in the award-winning ESPN documentary The Cave of Adullam) as he calls us to unlearn society's definition of masculinity and discover the power of engaging with our emotions. For decades, Jason was losing the war within--the internal battle that many men wage on a daily basis. He struggled to combat his toxic thoughts and emotions, communicating without composure, and ultimately hurting himself and his loved ones. When Jason began to release years of unresolved trauma, he learned how to acknowledge his emotions and express them in a healthy way. He discovered that he was strengthened by transparency and vulnerability, which taught him to forgive, trust, and love without limitations. Soon, Jason's newfound practices began to heal his relationships and transform his life. Throughout his journey of opening up, Jason became a better husband, father, and leader--and you can, too. Supported by Biblical teachings, the lessons that Jason shares in Battle Cry teach us that we can all be empowered to break through what we've been through. Jason calls us to become better versions of ourselves, equipping us with the mental and spiritual weapons needed to redefine modern masculinity and showing us how to: embrace our emotions rather than be ruled by them win internal battles before they become external wars break free from misconstrued masculinity and embrace our humanity communicate more effectively with the people in our lives heal trauma from our past in order to live our fullest lives in the present Battle Cry proves that it's possible to live beyond the limitations of your mind and finally experience the full life you've always longed for. What are you waiting for? It's time to win the war within.

Set against the shifting social and political backdrop of a nation throwing off the shackles of one war yet faced with the instability of the new world order, Reel Men probes the concept of 1950s masculinity itself, asking what it meant to be an Australian man at this time. Offering a compelling exploration of the Australian fifties, the book challenges the common belief that the fifties was a 'dead' era for Australian filmmaking. Reel Men engages with fourteen Australian feature films made and released between 1949 and 1962, and examines the multiple masculinities in circulation at this time. Dealing with beloved Australian films like Jedda (1955), Smiley (1956), and The Shiralee (1957), and national icons of the silver screen including Chips Rafferty, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, and Peter Finch, Reel Men delves into our cultural past to dismantle powerful assumptions about film, the fifties, and masculinity in Australia.

Families with boys often find the world reacts to them in mock horror. Even though parents love their sons, privately they admit that boys can be a handful to raise--they are boisterous, competitive, reckless, distractable. The challenge of wills between parent and son starts early, and the quest to civilize young bulls may seem hopeless some days. Yet believers know that God has given them children as a gift of heaven, specially chosen for their particular families and marked as a blessing. If that's so, why does it seem so hard? How can we prepare these boys to serve God when it's all we can do to make it through another day? Isn't there a better way? Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys shows the answer is emphatically yes. Written by the parents of six boys, Raising Real Men provides hope and encouragement to families with sons. Starting from the premise that God made boys to become men, Hal and Melanie Young offer Biblical principles and tested, practical ideas for training the manly virtues that can drive parents and teachers up the wall. This is a practical guide to equipping the hearts and minds of boys without breaking or losing your own. "...earthy, realistic, humorous, and scriptural ..." -- Douglas Wilson, author, Future Men "This is just what the doctor ordered for parents who want to raise capable Christian men of character." -- John Rosemond, author, Parenting By The Book

The crooner Rudy Vallée's soft, intimate, and sensual vocal delivery simultaneously captivated millions of adoring fans and drew harsh criticism from those threatened by his sensitive masculinity. Although Vallée and other crooners reflected the gender fluidity of late-1920s popular culture, their challenge to the Depression era's more conservative masculine norms led cultural authorities to stigmatize them as gender and sexual deviants. In Real Men Don't Sing Allison McCracken outlines crooning's history from its origins in minstrelsy through its development as the microphone sound most associated with white recording artists, band singers, and radio stars. She charts early crooners’ rise and fall between 1925 and 1934, contrasting Rudy Vallée with Bing Crosby to demonstrate how attempts to contain crooners created and dictated standards of white masculinity for male singers. Unlike Vallée, Crosby survived the crooner backlash by adapting his voice and persona to adhere to white middle-class masculine norms. The effects of these norms are felt to this day, as critics continue to question the masculinity of youthful, romantic white male singers. Crooners, McCracken shows, not only were the first pop stars: their short-lived yet massive popularity fundamentally changed American culture.

In this world you’re surrounded by sexual images that open the door to temptation. They’re everywhere–on TV, billboards, magazines, music, the internet–and so easy to access that it sometimes feels impossible to escape their clutches. Yet God expects his children to be sexually pure. So how can you survive the relentless battle against temptation? Here’s powerful ammunition. Steve Arterburn and Fred Stoeker, the authors of the hard-hitting best-seller Every Man’s Battle, now focus on the temptations young single Christian men like you face every day–and they offer workable, biblical strategies for achieving sexual purity. The authors examine the standard of Ephesians 5:3–“there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality”–in a positive and sensitive light. And they explain how an authentic, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to victory over temptation. Every Young Man’s Battle will show you how to train your eyes and your mind, how to clean up your thought life, and how to develop a realistic battle plan for remaining pure in today’s sexually soaked culture. As a result, you’ll experience hope–real hope–for living a strong, pure life God’s way

During the Vietnam War Bao Ninh served with the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade. Of the five hundred men who went to war with the brigade in 1969, he is one of only ten who survived. The Sorrow of War is his autobiographical novel. Kien works in a unit that recovers soldiers' corpses. Revisiting the sites of battles raises emotional ghosts for him and the memory of war scenes are juxtaposed with dreams and remembrances of his childhood sweetheart. The Sorrow of War burns the tragedy of war in our minds.

Gender roles are nowhere more prominent than in war. Yet contentious debates, and the scattering of scholarship across academic disciplines, have obscured understanding of how gender affects war and vice versa. In this authoritative and lively review of our state of knowledge, Joshua Goldstein assesses the possible explanations for the near-total exclusion of women from combat forces, through history and across cultures. Topics covered include the history of women who did fight and fought well, the complex role of testosterone in men's social behaviours, and the construction of masculinity and femininity in the shadow of war. Goldstein concludes that killing in war does not come naturally for either gender, and that gender norms often shape men, women, and children to the needs of the war system. lllustrated with photographs, drawings, and graphics, and drawing from scholarship spanning six academic disciplines, this book provides a unique study of a fascinating issue.