Early nineteenth-century America witnessed social change which significantly altered the structure of human relationships. Out of this transformation came new configurations of gender and sexuality which colored relations between the sexes well into the twentieth century. But these gender prescriptions did not merely serve to pattern male/female interactions, they informed the Victorian America male self-concept as well. As this study will demonstrate, men born and raised in the middle of the nineteenth century were bombarded with a masculine ethos which would permeate their personal and professional lives. This study focuses particularly upon men who entered the medical profession. More specifically, this is an investigation of those practitioners who took up psychotherapy in the course of conducting their medical practice. Overall, the thesis will show that gender roles did indeed influence medical professionals in the investigation and treatment of hysteria in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The first chapter is an overview of the issues to be addressed in the thesis. The formal study begins in the second chapter with an examination of the construction of gender roles in nineteenth-century America. The third chapter summarizes the development of the professions and the subsequent ascent of medicine. The process of professionalization created a reciprocal relationship between medical science and the broader culture by which the medical practitioners of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century achieved an unprecedented status. As the mediators between medical knowledge and society, practitioners based their scientific opinions directly upon their congenial view of the world. The fourth chapter explores the therapeutic encounter centered upon hysteria. The hysteria malady, closely linked with femininity over the sweep of its long history, provided physicians with a diagnosis that allowed them to discourse on social concerns about gender difference in general, and about the troublesome nature of women in particular. Finally, the fifth chapter traces the introduction of psychoanalysis into the American psychotherapeutic scene. As a form of psychotherapy taken up by a small group of practitioners interested in psychological theories of illness and healing, psychoanalysis was gradually adopted and then modified to suit the needs of American professionals who continued to be guided by ideas of masculinity forged in Victorian America. / Graduation date: 1996

Thesis (MA (English))—University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / In this thesis, I examine the way in which Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver can be read as a critical investigation of post-World War II American masculinity. Drawing on Susan Faludi’s arguments regarding the post-World War II American ‘masculinity crisis’, I highlight specifically how Taxi Driver addresses American masculinity in the context of ideals of heroism, of the myth of the Wild West, of the Vietnam era, and of the increasingly influential role that the popular media play in shaping conceptions of masculinity. In the process I indicate that Taxi Driver exposes, and critiques, an association in modern American society between masculinity and what analysts have termed the ‘myth of regeneration through violence’.

The purpose of this research was twofold; a quantitative examination of male socialization patterns along with an assessment of change over time in male socialization experiences. Men born in the 1950s and men born in the 1970s were compared to obtain an understanding of male socialization processes and possible changes since feminist issues have become a prevalent source of discourse in society. A survey questionnaire was utilized with a modified snowball sampling technique to explore male socialization experience. One hundred and one men participated in the project. Socialization experience for the men in this sample was five dimensional and while certain dimensions revealed change over time, others remained static. Findings indicate that quantitative measures can be successfully employed to study socialization processes.

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Redefining Masculinity presents an analysis of the American government's portrayal of civilian men in World War II documentary films. The majority of the films, which serve as a primary source for this study, were created by the Office of War Information (OWI) as a means of stimulating home front support for the war. The government's portrayal of civilian men advocated a significant modification of gender roles. According to the OWI, men understood the politics of war, were aware of the national context of sacrifices, and were able to carry the government's message into American households and defense plants. As a result of their war consciousness, civilian men in government documentary films partially claimed the traditional domestic realm of women and redefined American gender roles as interactive and overlapping. The intersecting gender spheres in OWI films exemplify that men experienced manhood not in isolation from women. This propagandized image of civilian men during the Second World War supports the claims of scholars who criticize the ideology of "separate spheres" to describe socially constructed domains of the male and female gender. In contrast, the thesis findings show that the social, political, and economic definitions of male and female roles can be altered, extended, or adjusted when economically, politically, and culturally expedient. / Department of History

This project analyzes the sexual and gender politics of flight attendants, especially the men who did this work, since the 1930s. It traces how and why the flight attendant corps became the nearly exclusive domain of white women by the 1950s, then considers the various legal battles under the 1964 Civil Rights Act to re-integrate men into the workforce, open up greater opportunities for African-Americans, and liberate women from onerous age and marriage restrictions that cut short their careers. While other scholars have emphasized flight attendants' contributions in battling sexism in the courts, this project is unique in expanding such consideration to homosexuality. Male flight attendants' status as gender pariahs in the workforce (as men performing "women's work")--combined with the fact that many of them were gay--made them objects of "homosexual panic" in the 1950s, both in legal proceedings and in various forms of extra-legal intimidation. A decade later, aspirant flight attendants were participants in some of the first cases brought by men under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Their victories in the courts greatly benefited the gay community, among others, which thereby enjoyed greater freedom to enter a highly visible, public-relationsoriented corporate career. As such, my project helps to recast the legal legacy of the civil rights movement as a three-pronged reform, confronting homophobia as well as racism and sexism. Beyond legal considerations, Manhood Up in the Air also examines how both labor unions and the airlines negotiated a legal environment and public sentiment that largely condoned firing homosexuals, while nonetheless accommodating gay employees. This form of accommodation existed in the 1950s, though much more precariously than in the post-Stonewall decade of the 1970s. Thus, the project records the pre-history to the current reality, in which both corporations (with airlines at the forefront) and labor unions have become core supporters of the contemporary gay rights movement. / text