Description
Book SynopsisBased on interviews with male patients in a urology clinic in Cuernavaca,
Maturing Masculinities offers an exploration of how older men in urban Mexico incorporate aging and decreasing erectile function into their conceptions of themselves as men.
Trade Review“Finding the theoretical tools to understand the messiness of life and the ways in which people understand themselves, sometimes in contradiction, is complex but Wentzell incorporates gender studies, science and technology studies, as well as the medical anthropological literature convincingly.” - Maria Berghs,
Somatosphere"
Maturing Masculinities is scholarly, informative, very readable, and affective. It is an excellent resource not just for Mexicanists or Latin Americanists more generally but also for a wider range of scholars and students of masculinities, health, aging, and other related issues. It is a work of cutting-edge anthropology."—
Laura Lewis, author of
Chocolate and Corn Flour: History, Race, and Place in the Making of "Black" Mexico"This incisive, surprising, and poignant ethnography from the hospital wards of Cuernavaca draws on the best studies in Mexico and elsewhere regarding masculinity, sexuality, and related health issues and takes us to a whole new level of scholarship. Being a woman studying erections proves no obstacle for an anthropologist as thoughtful as Emily A. Wentzell—on the contrary, she deftly uses it to her advantage, exploring how women so often help to create and define men's sexuality."—
Matthew C. Gutmann, editor of
Changing Men and Masculinities in Latin America"Rich and engaging . . .
Maturing Masculinities is a must read for gender and sexuality scholars, as well as professionals and clinicians working with Mexican populations in fields related (but not limited to) sexual and mental health with heterosexual women and men." -- Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez * Journal of Anthropological Research *
“Wentzell has produced an intriguing and moving ethnography that deserves a wide readership within anthropology and beyond.” -- Anthony Simpson * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction. Changing Bodies and Masculinities in Post-Viagra Mexico 1
1. Mexicanness,
Machismo, and Maturity in Composite Masculinities 35
2. Sex, Relationships, and Masculinities 60
3. Chronic Illnesses as Composite Problems 86
4. Rejecting Erectile Dysfunction Drugs 110
5. Medical Erectile Dysfunction Treatment in Context 136
Conclusion. Cultural Change Over Time in Responses to Erectile Difficulty 162
Bibliography 187
Index 197
