Manhood in the Making Quotes

“...the ritual cycle that makes men from boys is a kind of structural transformation by which children are changed into adults, narcissistic passivity is changed into selfless agency, and the raw protoplasm of nature is changed into finished culture.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“The real man gains renown by standing between his family and destruction, absorbing the blows of fate with equanimity.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“Among most of the peoples that anthropologists are familiar with, true manhood is a precious and elusive status beyond mere maleness, a hortatory image that men and boys aspire to and that their culture demands of them as a measure of belonging.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“Manliness in much of the Mediterranean world can be called a social "agoraphilia", a love for the sunlit public places, for crowds, for the proscenium of life. Such open contexts are associated not only with exposure and sociability but also with risk and opportunity, with the possibility of the grand exploit and the conspicuous deed.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“the successfully protective man in Sicily or Andalusia garners praise through courageous feats and gains renown for himself as an individual. This inseparable functional linkage of personal and group benefit is one of the most ancient moral notions found in the Mediterranean civilizations. One finds it already in ancient seafaring Greece in the voyager Odysseus. His very name, from odyne (the ability to cause pain and the readiness to do so), implies a willingness to expose oneself to conflict, risk, and trouble and to strive against overwhelming odds in order to achieve great exploits”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“The ideals of manliness found in these places in the Mediterranean seem to have three moral imperatives: first, impregnating one's wife; second, provisioning dependents; third, protecting the family. These criteria demand assertiveness and resolve. All must be performed relentlessly in the loyal service of the "collective identities" of the self.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“Manhood is measured at least partly in money, a man's only direct way of nourishing children. Manhood, then, as call to action, can be interpreted as a kind of moral compunction to provision kith and kin.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“...a man is expected to emerge from the shadow of women and children and take an active part in the ritualized dramas of community life.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity

“Aside from this notion of fecundity, there are other aspects that need discussion here. Most striking is a powerful belief that masculinity is an artificially induced status, that it is achievable only through testing and careful instruction. Real men do not simply emerge naturally over time like butterflies from boyish cocoons; they must be assiduously coaxed from their juvenescent shells, shaped and nurtured, counseled and prodded into manhood.”
― David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity