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The Trials of Masculinity

Policing Sexual Boundaries, 1870-1930

In this path-breaking history of manhood and masculinity, Angus McLaren examines how nineteenth- and twentieth-century western society created what we now take to be the traditional model of the heterosexual male.

"Inherently interesting. . . . Exhibitionism, pornography, and deception all have their place here."—Library Journal

"An appealing wealth of evidence of what trials can reveal about the boundaries of men’s roles around the turn of the century."—Kirkus Reviews

"It is difficult to imagine a better guide to the most notorious scandals of our great-grandparents’ day."—Graham Rosenstock, Lambda Book Report

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Pt. 1: Masculinities
1: Deviants
Pt. 2: Legal Discourses: Men, Melodrama, and Criminality
2: Fools
3: Cads
4: Gentlemen
5: Murderers
Pt. 3: Medical Discourses: Weak Men and Perverts
6: Weaklings
7: Sadists
8: Exhibitionists
9: Transvestites
Conclusions
Notes
Index

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