Àngels Carabí and Josep M. Armengol, eds., Debating Masculinity/La masculinidad a debate (DVD, 35 mins)Barcelona: Publicacions UB, 2005 ( www.publicacions.ub.es )
The current discussion on masculinities is essential to explain what it means to "be a man" in different cultures and historical periods and, especially, to understand the changes in male sex roles which are taking place in our societies in the last few years. The so-called "studies of masculinities" -which have resulted from the academic intersections between gender studies, feminist theory, and queer studies- try to answer some of these questions. These studies attempt to rethink patriarchal conceptions of masculinity, pointing as well to new, alternative masculinities. In so doing, masculinity studies show the plurality and complexity of masculinities in contemporary societies. Since masculinity is a cultural construction which varies according to sexuality, ethnicity, class, age, nationality, historical period, culture, etc., the study of masculinities needs to be approached from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, Debating Masculinity/La masculinidad a debate provides innovative reflections on the study on masculinities. Videotaped in New York City, this DVD includes selected fragments from interviews to reputed American masculinity scholars from different academic disciplines: Michael Kimmel (sociology, SUNY), David Gilmore (anthropology, SUNY), Krin Gabbard (comparative literature and film studies, SUNY), David Eng (Asian-American queer studies, Rutgers Univ.), and Carolyn Dinshaw (Center for the Study of Gender and Sexualities, NYU). The DVD was edited with the financial support of the Dept. of Women and Civil Rights, Ajuntament de Barcelona.