This book, first published in 1987, is both simple in conception and ambitious in intention. It aims at legitimating the new interdisciplinary field of men's studies as one of the most significant and challenging intellectual and curricular developments in academia. The fourteen essays included here are drawn from such diverse disciplines as men's studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology, history, anthropology, Black studies, biology, English literature, and gay studies.

Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Themes and Theses of Men's Studies; Part 1: Overviews; 1. The Theory of Male Sex-Role Identity: Its Rise and Fall, 1936 to the Present 2. The Case for Men's Studies 3. Toward a New Sociology of Masculinity; Part 2: History and Danger; 4. The Secrets of Men's History 5. The Contemporary "Crisis" of Masculinity in Historical Perspective 6. Surviving the Institutional Decimation of Black Males: Causes, Consequences, and Intervention; Part 3: Work and Play; 7. The Male Career Code and the Ideology of Role 8. The Meaning of Success: The Athletic Experience and the Development of Male Identity; Part 4: Social and Biological Bonding; 9. The Bonds of Men: Problems and Possibilities in Close Male Relationships 10. Gilgamesh and the Sundance Kid: The Myth of Male Friendship 11. Biological Influence of Masculinity; Part 5: Literary Passions; 12. Rereading American Literature from a Men's Studies Perspective: Some Implications 13. Howells, Stoddard, and Male Homosocial Attachment in Victorian Literature 14. Byron and Male Love: The Classical Tradition; About the Contributors; Index