Suzanne E. Hatty Masculinities, Violence and Culture

MASCULINITIES,
VIOLENCE,
AND
CULTURE
Sage Series on Violence Against Women
Series Editors
Claire M . Renzetti
St Joseph's University
Jeffrey L . Edleson
University of Minnesota
I n this series . . .
I AM NOT YOUR VICTIM: Anatomy of Domestic Violence
by Beth Sipe and Evelyn J. Hall
WIFE RAPE: Understanding the Response of Survivors and Service Providers
by Kaquel Kennedy Bergen
FUTURE INTERVENTIONS WITH BATTERED WOMEN AND
THEIR FAMILIES
edited by Jeffrey L. Edleson and Zvi C. Eisikovits
WOMEN'S ENCOUNTERS WITH VIOLENCE: Australian Experiences
edited by Sandy Cook and Judith Bessant
WOMAN ABUSE ON CAMPUS: Results From the Canadian National Survey
by Walter S. DeKeseredy and Martin D. Schwartz
RURAL W O M E N BATTERING AND T H E JUSTICE SYSTEM: An Ethnography
by Neil Websdale
SAFETY PLANNING WITH BATTERED WOMEN: Complex Lives/Difficult Choices
by Jill Davies, Eleanor Lyon, and Diane Monti-Catania
ATHLETES AND ACQUAINTANCE RAPE
by Jeffrey R. Benedict
RETHINKING VIOLENCE AGAINST W O M E N
edited by R. Emerson Dobash and Russell P. Dobash
EMPOWERING SURVIVORS OF ABUSE: Health Care for Battered Women and
Their Children
edited by Jacquelyn Campbell
BATTERED WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND WELFARE REFORM: The Ties That Bind
edited by Ruth A. Brandwein
COORDINATING COMMUNITY RESPONSES T O DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
Lessons From Duluth and Beyond
edited by Melanie Ε Shepard and Ellen L. Pence
CHANGING VIOLENT MEN
by R. Emerson Dobash, Russell R Dobash, Kate Cavanagh, and Ruth Lewis
SAME-SEX DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Strategies for Change
edited by Beth Leventhal and Sandra E. Lundy
MASCULINITIES, VIOLENCE, AND CULTURE
by Suzanne E. Hatty
LOCKED IN A VIOLENT EMBRACE
by Zvi Eisikovits and Eli Buchbinder
MASCULINITIES,
VIOLENCE,
AND
CULTURE
Suzanne E. Hatty
Sage Series on Violence Against Women
|Sage Publications, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hatty, Suzanne.
Masculinities, violence and culture / by Suzanne E. Hatty.
p. cm. — (Sage series on violence against women)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 - 7 6 1 9 - 0 5 0 0 - 6 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 0 - 7 6 1 9 - 0 5 0 1 - 4 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Men. 2. Masculinity. 3 . Violence. 4. Women—
Crime against. I. Title. II. Series.
HQ1090 .H377 1999
305.31—dc21 99-050747
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acquiring Editor: C. Terry Hendrix

Editorial Assistant: Kristine Lundquist
Production Editor: Diana E. Axelsen
Editorial Assistant: Cindy Bear
Typesetter: Lynn Miyata
Indexer: Mary Mortensen
Contents
1. E n g e n d e r i n g V i o l e n c e : Starting Points 1
2 . B o d i l y H a r m : V i o l e n c e and the Cultural Imagination 43
3 . O f E x c e s s , L a c k , and D i s p l a c e m e n t : Reel V i o l e n c e 81
4 . G e n d e r T h e a t r i c s : M a r k i n g the Difference 109
5 . Boys on F i l m : Masculinities and the C i n e m a 159
6 . T r a u m a t i c Crossings 191
Index 213
A b o u t the A u t h o r 225
1
Engendering Violence
Starting Points
The pressures to speak and act violently are everywhere. . . . Vio-

lence is not a deviant act; it is a conforming one.
—Michele Tootney
The pressures to speak and act violently are everywhere. . . . Vio-

d slow-witted.
—Luke Woodham,Murder is gutsy
convicted and daring.
schoolboy killer
2W i t n e s s this: A 16-year-old male student, unable t o tolerate rejec-

tion by a girlfriend or bullying by his peers, arms himself and goes t o
school. T h e r e , in the bright light o f an O c t o b e r morning, he enters the
c r o w d e d c o m m o n s area, pulls a rifle from beneath his c o a t , and kills
his former girlfriend. H e also kills the girl standing n e x t to her. C o n -
tinuing on his lethal mission, he shoots and wounds several o t h e r stu-
dents. H e apologizes to one o f his w o u n d e d victims, saying that he is
n o t shooting anyone in particular.
Before beginning his killing spree, the b o y pens a written state-
ment. T h i s is his manifesto, accounting for his actions, explaining that
he has been w r o n g e d . In it, he writes, " I am n o t insane. I am a n g r y . . . .
I killed because people like m e are mistreated every day. I did this
to s h o w society 'push us and we will push b a c k . ' " " A disgruntled
girlfriend-boyfriend thing," says the local chief o f police, yet the b o y ' s
m o t h e r also lies dead, killed earlier that morning with a knife.
T h e b o y , L u k e , looks soft and childlike, his dark hair curling over
his forehead and brushing his collar. His school photograph, widely
1
2 MASCULINITIES, VIOLENCE, AND CULTURE
broadcast after the killings, shows a young man w h o glances sideways

at the viewer from behind wire-rimmed glasses. T h i s image is the
antithesis o f the confident, assertive, and athletic masculine ideal. T h e
media describe the b o y as a failed male adolescent: overweight, artis-
tic, introverted. In addition to these deficiencies, he is described as
p o o r , attired in shabby clothes, and fatherless.
T h e killings o c c u r r e d in Pearl, Mississippi, a small town firmly
enclosed by the Bible Belt. It is a town o f about 2 0 , 0 0 0 residents, com-
plete with about 4 0 churches. H e r e , feelings o f protest at personal
injustice can readily assume the form o f religious subversion, a turning
away from Christian ideals. And so it was with Luke W o o d h a m . After
being rejected by his girlfriend, the o n e individual w h o m he believed
had loved him, W o o d h a m developed a powerful and perverse friend-
ship with G r a n t Boyette, a young man w h o dabbled in Satanic spells
and rituals. B o y e t t e offered W o o d h a m relief from the " 1 6 years o f
c r a p " he claimed t o have endured. F o r the first time, according t o
W o o d h a m , he was affirmed—accepted, valued, and appreciated—by
an older person. Boyette was the leader o f a group o f teenage boys
called the K r o t h . Boyette adopted the term father within the group.
H e appointed Luke W o o d h a m the assassin.
In J u n e , 1 9 9 8 , Luke W o o d h a m was convicted o f the murder o f his
m o t h e r and t w o female school students. H e is currently serving three
life terms for these offenses. W o o d h a m also received 2 0 years for each
o f seven aggravated assault charges relating to the wounding o f others
at the s c h o o l . H e is serving all these sentences concurrently.
At his trials, Luke W o o d h a m was variously described by the pros-
ecution as " m e a n , " "hateful," and "bloodthirsty." W o o d h a m testified
that he had been instructed by G r a n t Boyette to kill his mother and his
former girlfriend, and to unleash a "reign o f t e r r o r " over the school. A
defense o f insanity was rejected in both trials. As he left the court-
house after being convicted o f his m o t h e r ' s murder, Luke W o o d h a m
declared t o the waiting journalists, " I ' m going to heaven now. T h i s is
G o d ' s will." As he was getting into the police car, he added " G o d bless
you all."
T h i s incident was the first o f several fatal school shootings around
the country, all c o m m i t t e d by boys. Acknowledging this, the grand-
m o t h e r o f W o o d h a m ' s former girlfriend claimed that he had "initi-
ated a chain o f events across these United States that's wreaked havoc
on our children." She also described W o o d h a m as "genetic waste."
Although we might find such statements simplistic or offensive,
w e are still c o m p e l l e d to ask the question: W h y are some young men
so angry? W h y does this anger translate into lethal violence? W h o
Engendering Violence 3
constitutes this "community o f the afflicted," named by Luke

W o o d h a m , that threatens to "push b a c k " ?
During the same m o n t h that Luke W o o d h a m vented his deadly
anger, an army o f Promise Keepers m a r c h e d on Washington in a dis-
play o f masculine solidarity. T h e founder o f this m o v e m e n t spoke o f
the "severe shortage o f integrity" within U.S. society, sparked largely
by the "growing irresponsibility o f m e n " and the tendency o f men to
betray or abandon relationships, c o m m i t violent crimes, and consume
drugs t o excess ( M c C a r t n e y , 1 9 9 7 , p. 1 ) . Although these t w o inci-
dents appear t o be in strong o p p o s i t i o n — o n e a gesture o f annihila-
tion and o n e a gesture o f consolidation—these incidents bespeak the
similarities in culturally valorized styles o f masculinity. After all, " T o
be a man is t o be in charge. T o be gentle is to be a wimp, a weak
excuse for a man, an object o f derision, and ridicule" ( T o o m e y , 1 9 9 2 ,
p. 4 4 ) .
T h i s b o o k is an attempt t o address s o m e o f the issues raised above
and t o e x p l o r e s o m e o f the ramifications o f the relationship between
masculinity and violence. I contextualize this discussion within the
larger debates about social dislocation, cultural change, and, o f
course, the " p r o b l e m o f m e n " — t h e perceived contribution o f men to
newfound levels o f civil disorder, and the apparent retreat o f men
from civic responsibilities.
T h i s chapter presents a brief portrait o f visible violence in U.S.
society. T h i s involves a short excursion into the c o m p l e x field o f offi-
cial crime statistics. T h e United States has been chosen as a case study
because o f the high levels o f violence saturating this nation: the deep
penetration o f violence into public and private places and the e x -
tremes t o which violence is taken (see M c G u c k i n , 1 9 9 8 ; Smith &
Z a h n , 1 9 9 9 ) . I e x p l o r e the intricacies o f defining, constructing, and
theorizing violence in Chapter 2 .
I c o n c e n t r a t e , in this chapter, on the conceptual underpinnings o f
our current knowledge about social systems and their actors. T h i s
focus reveals the c o m m o n philosophical legacy that binds together
m u c h c o n t e m p o r a r y theorizing about human beings and their social
world. It also provides us with a departure point for our foray into
p o s t m o d e r n readings o f social institutions and practices. Arguably,
our m o d e r n and postmodern understandings o f violence and gender
are derived from these larger bodies o f theory; hence it is important
for us to acquaint ourselves with their premises and arguments. T h e
chapter concludes with a set o f formulations about violence and mas-
culinity that lay the g r o u n d w o r k for the material in the ensuing chap-
ters. N o w , let us turn directly to the topic o f violence.
Forcefields
W h a t are the patterns o f crime, especially violent c r i m e , in today's

society? H o w are h o m i c i d e , assault, and rape woven into the social
fabric? Measuring the amount o f crime in any c o m m u n i t y is, o f neces-
sity, a political activity. T h i s is nowhere m o r e evident than in the
sphere o f sexual and gender-based violence. R e c e n t data collection on
domestic and sexual violence, conducted under the auspices o f the
U.S. V i o l e n c e Against W o m e n Act ( 1 9 9 4 ) , reveals that the majority o f
states are collecting annual statistics on these offenses. H o w e v e r , the
researchers discovered that there is wide variation among states in the
definition o f domestic violence and sexual assault (Travis, Chaiken, &
Auchter, 1 9 9 6 ) . Clearly, this variability affects the measurement pro-
cesses and seriously restricts the reliability and validity o f data aggre-
gated at the national level.
Official reports on the distribution and severity o f crime in the
United States are generally based on the Uniform C r i m e Reports
( U C R ) , published by the Federal Bureau o f Investigation, which con-
tain details o f the crimes reported, on an annual basis, t o the police.
A n o t h e r official data source is the National C r i m e Victimization Sur-
vey ( N C V S ) , which surveys a large sample o f the populace t o deter-
m i n e annual rates o f victimization. R e c e n t findings from the N C V S
have p o i n t e d t o a decline in the rate o f reported violent crime, a trend
that began in 1 9 9 4 ; for e x a m p l e , in 1 9 9 5 , the rates o f homicide (as
measured by the U C R ) and the rates o f rape, robbery, and aggravated
assault (as measured by the N C V S ) were at their lowest ebb for
2 3 years (Rand, Lynch, & C a n t o r , 1 9 9 7 ) . T h i s reduction in reported
crime rates in large cities can be explained by three factors: the adop-
tion o f an aggressive and often controversial style o f results-oriented
policing; the stabilization o f illegal drug markets; and the coordina-
tion o f effort on the part o f police, other government agencies, and
local communities (Brady, 1 9 9 6 ) . H o w e v e r , w e k n o w that violent
crime is c o n c e n t r a t e d in specific areas o f large cities and that some
individuals suffer repeat victimization. T h e social groups most vulner-
able t o victimization are the young, African Americans, and males
( R a n d , 1 9 9 7 ) . M u r d e r victims are most likely to be relatively young
and m a l e ; in the most recent national survey, 6 5 % were under
3 5 years, and 7 8 % were male (Rand, 1 9 9 7 ) . Forty-seven percent o f
these murder victims were related to or knew their attackers. In the
case o f aggravated assaults, the majority were c o m m i t t e d by strangers.
About half the reported incidents o f simple assault were c o m m i t t e d by
strangers. In the case o f rape or sexual assault, two-thirds o f the vie-
tims w e r e related to or acquainted with their assailant. L o w - i n c o m e ,

1
urban residents between 1 6 and 1 9 years o f age were most likely t o be

sexually victimized. T h e majority o f these sexual attacks w e r e not
reported t o the police.
G e n d e r differences are apparent in the longitudinal patterns o f
criminal violence in the United States. T h e statistical trends s h o w that
t h e rates o f victimization reportedly e x p e r i e n c e d by men and w o m e n
are n o w converging. V i o l e n t victimization o f males is decreasing,
while violent victimization o f w o m e n remains relatively unchanged.
In 1 9 9 4 , w o m e n were about two-thirds as likely as men t o be the vic-
tims o f violent crimes, including rape, robbery, assault, and homicide.
T w e n t y years ago, w o m e n were less than half as likely as men t o be
victimized.
T o d a y , w o m e n are m o r e than twice as likely t o be murdered by an
intimate partner than by a stranger. Similarly, w o m e n are m o r e likely
t o report being assaulted by a relative or an intimate partner. Further-
m o r e , such violent encounters are m o r e likely to result in injury to the
w o m a n than assaults perpetrated by a stranger (Craven, 1 9 9 6 ) .
V i o l e n t crime c o m m i t t e d by youths n o w appears to be in decline
after a steady and alarming increase. In the United States, juvenile
crime has been the subject o f intense political, social, and media atten-
tion. It has been widely acknowledged that the rate o f reported violent
juvenile crime increased substantially during the last few years. A
report issued by the Office o f Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Pre-
vention o f the U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f J u s t i c e ( 1 9 9 4 ) noted that "juveniles
a c c o u n t for an increasing share o f all violent crimes in the United
S t a t e s " (p. 1 ) . In introducing an updated statistical report on juvenile
offenders and victims, Bilchik ( 1 9 9 5 ) noted that
between 1988 and 1 9 9 2 juvenile arrests for violent crime increased

nearly 5 0 % . . . . While juveniles may not be responsible for most
violent crime, the growing level of violence by juveniles does not
bode well for the future. If violent juvenile crime increases in the
future as it has for the past 10 years, [we] estimate that by the year
2 0 1 0 the number of juvenile arrests for a violent crime will more
than double and the number of juvenile arrests for murder will
increase nearly 1 5 0 % . (p. 1)
T h e statistical evidence indicates that juveniles in the United States

have been committing m o r e violent crime than in the past. T h e num-
ber o f V i o l e n t C r i m e Index arrests o f youths under 18 years o f age in-
creased by 5 0 % between 1 9 8 7 and 1 9 9 1 . T h i s c o m p a r e d with an
increase o f 2 5 % for adults. T h e number o f youth arrests for murder
increased by 8 5 % during the same period (compared with 2 1 % for

adults); the number o f youth arrests for sexual assault increased by
1 6 % ( c o m p a r e d with 7 % for adults); and the number o f youth arrests
for r o b b e r y increased 5 2 % (compared with 2 9 % for adults). By 1 9 9 1 ,
the youth arrest rate for V i o l e n t C r i m e Index offences had reached a
level higher that at any other time in history (see Kelley, Huizinga,
Thornberry, & Loeber, 1 9 9 7 ) .
T h e n u m b e r o f juvenile murders tripled between 1 9 8 4 and 1 9 9 4 ,
and the number o f juvenile murderers using guns quadrupled during
this same time (Snyder, S i c k m u n d , & Poe-Yamagata, 1 9 9 6 ) . Further-
m o r e , the arrests o f youths under 1 5 years o f age for violent crime
increased by 9 4 % between 1 9 8 0 and 1 9 9 5 (Butts & Snyder, 1 9 9 7 ) .
Indeed, this wave o f youth violence was viewed with such gravity that
researchers suggested that "it might be helpful t o conceptualize vio-
lence as an infectious disease spreading a m o n g the N a t i o n ' s youth"
(Kelley et al., 1 9 9 7 , p. 2 ) .
R e c e n t statistical data suggest that this climb has been halted. It
has been reported that the arrest rate o f youths for violent crime fell
by 2 . 9 % in 1 9 9 5 and 9 . 2 % in 1 9 9 6 . C o m m e n t i n g on this reversal,
A t t o r n e y G e n e r a l J a n e t R e n o claimed that the Clinton "crime plan"
had provided m o r e financial support and harsher penalties for juve-
nile offenders. R e n o also attributed the decreased arrest rate to great-
er c o o p e r a t i o n between law enforcement agencies, communities, and
young people themselves. H o w e v e r , she noted, with reference to the
Luke W o o d h a m case, a m o n g others, " W e continue t o hear o f t o o
many serious violent crimes c o m m i t t e d by young people. W e cannot
be satisfied by this reduction in youth violence. . . . O n e crime c o m -
mitted by a 16-year-old, o n e crime o f violence, is o n e crime t o o
m a n y " (press c o n f e r e n c e , O c t o b e r 2 , 1 9 9 7 ) . Clearly, violence is still
the prerogative o f the youthful male, especially when confronted by
the contradictions and paradoxes o f thwarted desire and personal and
social disempowerment. R e a c h i n g deep into the historical and cul-
tural storehouse o f masculinity, a young man may still retrieve the
ultimate t o o l o f manly self-assertiveness: o m n i p o t e n c e through vio-
lence. H o w e v e r , the broader picture o f risk and harm is closely tied to
sociostructural disadvantage.
D e t e c t e d o r reported violence—that which c o m e s to the attention
o f the state—is generally enacted by and inflicted upon the m o r e mar-
ginal groups in society. Being young, being p o o r , and being African
American or Hispanic exposes the individual to violence—either as
victim o r offender. T h e s e positionings, or social identities, are associ-
ated with heightened risks o f harm, directed toward the self or others.
Class, ethnicity, and youth c o m b i n e t o place the individual within

potential n e t w o r k s o f violent relations. G e n d e r intersects with these
flashpoints o f vulnerability t o e x a c e r b a t e the likelihood o f m e n ' s
involvement in violent behavior and t o decrease the likelihood o f
w o m e n ' s involvement. H o w is gender implicated in the commission o f
violence? By what processes is violence included in or excluded from
the constructions o f gender? W h a t are the origins and explanations o f
violence in all its forms? H o w are gendered identities produced and
r e p r o d u c e d in society? H o w are cultural industries and institutions,
such as film and the mass media, involved in the formation o f ideas,
attitudes, and beliefs about gender and violence? H o w can the n e w
politics o f masculinity inform our discussion o f the nexus between
gender and violence? T h e s e are s o m e o f the specific questions
e x p l o r e d in the n e x t several chapters. T h i s exploration draws on the
knowledge bases o f several disciplines or interdisciplinary clusters:
psychology, sociology, history, anthropology, criminology, cultural
studies, media studies, w o m e n ' s studies, and m e n ' s studies.
Before embarking on our journey into the distinct and overlap-
ping terrains o f gender and violence, I wish t o w o r k through the
implications and ramifications o f our current perspectives on knowl-
edge. I do this in recognition o f the centrality o f knowledge sys-
tems for both e x p e r i e n c e and social action, and o f the profound
changes to the constitution o f knowledge that are n o w apparent at
the beginning o f the 2 1 s t century. As Elizabeth G r o s z ( 1 9 9 5 ) asserts,
" K n o w l e d g e s are n o t purely conceptual nor merely intellectual. . . .
K n o w l e d g e is an activity; it is a practice It does things" (p. 3 7 ) . Let
us reflect on our traditions o f knowledge: our ways o f organizing
e x p e r i e n c e , o f making sense o f the world, and o f doing things. D o i n g
so provides us with vital signposts for the intellectual w o r k ahead.
Knowing Violence/Gendering Knowledge
M a n y o f our understandings about self, the social world, and the

natural environment are grounded in the epistemological frameworks
laid down during the Enlightenment. T h e c o n c e p t i o n s o f knowledge,
integral to Enlightenment philosophy, were premised on assumptions
about the objective nature o f "reality," the accessibility o f reality to
human understanding, the accumulation o f knowledge through the fac-
ulty o f reason, and the universality o f knowledge-generating processes.
T h e s e 18th-century Enlightenment beliefs continue to inform
mainstream epistemological approaches t o the investigation o f social
and political institutions. Culturally pervasive beliefs define the

parameters o f human e x p e r i e n c e ; for e x a m p l e , such beliefs specify the
existence o f a stable, c o h e r e n t self, built on the foundations o f con-
scious awareness and, o f course, the faculty o f reason. H o w e v e r ,
within this belief system, reason has a life independent o f the self; it
transcends the particular and embraces the universal. Reason pro-
duces timeless knowledge, free o f the constraints o f location, and
adrift from culture—in short, it produces "truth." Claims t o the
authority or legitimacy o f knowledge are decided in the court o f rea-
son. T r u t h is harnessed to power, guaranteeing that both freedom and
progress are possible and attainable. Scientific knowledge, as the apo-
theosis o f the appropriate use o f reason, is the paradigm o f all valid
knowledge. Language, as the transparent representation o f reality, is
the rationalist vehicle for scientific inquiry. Interrogation o f the
nature o f self and o f the social and natural world proceeds through the
mechanism o f science, which is established as the preeminent and
privileged source o f knowledge in Western society.
T h e Enlightenment c r e d o , articulated by Kant as sapere aude—
" H a v e courage t o use your reason" (p. 8 5 ) — r e s t s on a deeply gen-
dered view o f human existence. In its call t o mobilize specific proper-
ties o f mind, it betrays the biased character o f an Enlightenment
philosophy in which the embodied and ethical perspectives on human
subjectivity were abandoned. In their place rose "an episteme o f rep-
resentation [that] presupposed a spectator conception o f the knowing
self, a designative theory o f meaning, and a detonative theory o f lan-
guage" (Benhabib, 1 9 9 0 , p. 1 1 0 ) . Aspects o f this Enlightenment leg-
acy bear close examination, especially those premises that strongly
influence c o n t e m p o r a r y understandings o f human action and human
experience. In particular, it is important to consider the role played by
the Enlightenment construction o f self as a stable, c o h e r e n t entity
mindful o f its capacity to utilize reason (see M a s c u c h , 1 9 9 6 ) . T h i s
e x a m i n a t i o n serves as a bridge t o an analysis o f the "crisis o f reason"
that threatens t o undermine the validity and utility o f modern, disci-
plinary knowledges (see G r o s z , 1 9 9 5 ) . Let us begin by thinking
through what is meant by the self.
The Self
O u r dominant definition o f the self is founded on an understand-

ing o f human beings as "self-contained unitary individuals w h o carry
their uniqueness deep inside themselves" (Burkitt, 1 9 9 1 , p. 1 ) . T h e
anthropologist Clifford Geertz ( 1 9 7 5 ) provides us with a succinct por-

trait o f the self. H e claims that we see the self as
a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cogni-

tive universe, a dynamic center of awareness, emotion, judgement,
and action organized into a distinctive whole and set contrastively
both against other such wholes and against a social and natural back-
ground, (p. 4 8 )
T h i s self-contained being is separate and divided from other selves,

and is seen as a self-protecting, self-controlling entity. M o r e o v e r ,
Giddens ( 1 9 9 1 ) notes that the m o d e r n self is a "reflexive project for
w h i c h the individual is responsible" (p. 7 5 ) . T h e self is also under-
s t o o d as embodied—that is, bounded—by the physical body although
n o t reducible t o it: T h e boundary o f the self is seen t o match the
boundary o f the body (Sampson, 1 9 9 3 ) . T h i s individualized perspec-
tive on selfhood may be described as the "independent construal o f
self" ( M a t s u m o t o , 1 9 9 4 , p. 2 0 ) , or as the Cartesian view o f the subject
(Gergen, 1995). 2
It may also be labeled the " m o n o l o g i c view"
(Sampson, 1 9 9 3 ) .
T h i s construction o f self is grounded in psychological essen-
tialism: the belief that individuals possess identifiable mental struc-
tures or processes that constitute a psychic interiority (Gergen, 1 9 9 6 ) .
T h e cultural conviction that individuals are enlivened by a psychic
c o r e is sustained by three principal conditions that emerged particu-
larly from the Enlightenment. T h e first condition supporting psycho-
logical essentialism relates t o the ontological configuration o f reality
(Gergen, 1 9 9 6 ) . In any culture, there is consensus about the categories
that organize and lend meaning t o existence. F o r us, at the beginning
o f the 2 1 s t century, these relate t o specific descriptions or categoriza-
tions o f e m o t i o n a l or cognitive life. F o r e x a m p l e , we talk o f e m o t i o n s
such as fear, greed, and envy as motivating factors in our behavior
(Gergen, 1996). T h e second condition supporting psychological
essentialism relates t o modes o f expression. In order to c o m m u n i c a t e
effectively, we acquire and utilize particular ways o f interacting in
society. W e assume, for e x a m p l e , that rationality underscores intelli-
gent forms o f speech. W e also read certain behaviors as indicative o f
particular mental states; we see tears, for e x a m p l e , as evidence o f sad-
ness o r grief (Gergen, 1 9 9 6 ) . Finally, the third condition supportive o f
psychological essentialism relates t o valued goals. W e share a broad
c o m m i t m e n t t o the worth o f cultural o u t c o m e s , and this fashions our
vocabulary o f human experience and action.
The Ideal Self
It is in the image o f the ideal self that w e find perhaps the clear-
est representation o f the dominant construction o f W e s t e r n selfhood.
T h e ideal self is a portrait o f h o w w e would like to be and what w e
are striving to b e c o m e . Callahan ( 1 9 9 3 ) notes that the ideal self o f
W e s t e r n society "has drawn heavily from the larger treasure chest o f
modern faith and sensibility" (p. 1 2 1 ) . A m o n g the most prized items
in that chest are self-control and self-direction. N o t surprisingly, a
c o r e ideal o f the modern self is t o be "independent and self-sufficient,
not dependent upon the help o f o t h e r s " (Callahan, 1 9 9 3 , p. 1 4 0 ) .
Autonomy—equated with independence, stability, and rational
functioning—is cultivated and highly valued. T h i s emphasis on self-
governance translates into a specific construction o f the self. In this
construction, individual responsibility is o f central significance (see
Pitch, 1 9 9 5 ) . As Callahan persuasively states,
We have come, in modern life, to shape an ideal of the self and its
character that is empty of all content save that of choice. Choice—
and the control over life and death that is its necessary condition—
has come to be understood as the final meaning of human existence:
the capacity to make of ourselves what we want to be. (p. 154)
F u r t h e r m o r e , Callahan argues that
we have come to think that we as individuals are our own invention,

not creatures of the state, or convention, or the past. In the idea of
self-determination—fashioned on a foundation of vaulting human
rights, and the elimination of slavery to fixed notions of human
good—we have written the final charter of freedom, (p. 121)
R a t i o n a l , emotionally contained, c o m p e t e n t , and in c o n t r o l o f b o t h

internal and external forces, the modern self is the epitome o f what
Bauman ( 1 9 9 2 a ) describes as modernity's relentless subjugation o f
the natural world, the banishing o f contingency and the ruthless im-
position o f order and predictability. T h e m o d e r n self is c o n c e r n e d
with the preservation o f autonomy n o t only as a personal goal, but
also as a manifestation o f the self's allegiance t o the order-imposing,
self-determining spirit o f modernity. V i o l e n c e , in the service o f the
modern self, preserves individuality and forestalls the possibility o f
fusion with the dangerous not-self. V i o l e n c e , as a modern strategy,
guarantees b o t h individual and social c o n t r o l , while maintaining and
perpetuating hierarchy and inequality. Benjamin ( 1 9 9 8 ) notes, " V i o -
lence is the outer perimeter . . . o f the tendency o f the subject to force

the o t h e r t o either b e or want what it wants, t o assimilate the o t h e r t o
itself or make it a threat" (p. 6 8 ) . V i o l e n c e , then, is the expression o f
e x t r e m e undifferentiation. I e x p l o r e this in m o r e detail in C h a p t e r 6 .
T h e spirit o f modernity is typified by Lasch's ( 1 9 8 4 ) n o t i o n o f the
"imperial self." As an a u t o n o m o u s , self-constituting subject with a
predictable and relatively fixed identity, the imperial self is n o t c o n -
tent with domination as the m e r e instrument o f order. T h e imperial
self is also narcissistic, materialistic, and expansionist; h e n c e e x p l o i t a -
tion, manipulation, and colonization o f the natural and social w o r l d
b e c o m e allied drives. T h e narcissistic dimensions o f the imperial self
are manifest in the preoccupation with the cultivation o f an image that
accords with socially constructed symbols o f perfection, status, and
success. T h e body, relationships, and knowledge itself b e c o m e objects
t o be exploited. Indeed, the imperial self o f the m o d e r n era has a vora-
cious appetite for expanding its domain o f ownership and its territory
o f c o n t r o l in a bid t o suppress all other c o m p e t i t o r s and to achieve
omnipotence.
It is in this c o n t e x t that the duality between self and O t h e r is artic-
ulated. T h i s d i c h o t o m y informs and shapes social, cultural, political,
and e c o n o m i c practices in modern W e s t e r n society. It also legitimizes
the altruistic claims o f democracy and justice. H o w e v e r , the self/Other
split may be read as a m e t a p h o r for both e m p o w e r m e n t and oppres-
sion; the duality between self and O t h e r reflects a hierarchical struc-
ture in which self is valued over the O t h e r (see P l u m w o o d , 1 9 9 3 ) , and
in which the latter may be viewed as the repository o f all that is nega-
tive, threatening, or devalued in m o d e r n W e s t e r n society. As Jessica
Benjamin ( 1 9 9 8 ) observes, "what w e c a n n o t bear t o o w n , w e can only
repudiate" (p. 9 5 ) . T h e O t h e r may also be viewed as all that is alien,
strange, o r different; the boundaries between self and O t h e r are often
vigilantly policed so that the specter o f mergence can be held at bay.
I e x p a n d on the significance o f boundaries to the modern imagination
a little later.
As w e have seen, the t h e m e s o f independence, self-reliance, self-
regulation, and self-control are implicit in the individualism that
underpins the definition and construction o f the m o d e r n self. D e -
pendence, from a W e s t e r n perspective, is an indicator o f developmen-
tal immaturity or e m o t i o n a l deficiency. It is also closely associated
with femininity and the normalized status o f w o m a n h o o d . Indeed,
C a r o l e Pateman ( 1 9 8 9 ) observes that "the meaning o f ' d e p e n d e n c e ' is
associated with all that is w o m a n l y " (p. 1 8 5 ) . T h e valorized construct
o f independence is associated with the exercise o f masculinities in the
public sphere; for e x a m p l e , the rights and entitlements o f the citizen

in the m o d e r n d e m o c r a t i c state are e m b l e m a t i c o f independence. A
central element o f the citizen's independence is his capacity for self-
government. T h i s involves the provision t o subordinates o f p r o t e c t i o n
and the buying and selling o f labor p o w e r (Pateman, 1 9 8 9 ; see H a t t y ,
1 9 9 2 ) . Indeed, the c o n t e m p o r a r y ideals o f citizenship, embracing
human rights and freedom o f expression—inalienable expressions o f
self-government—are so inextricably intertwined with the d o m i n a n t
characteristics o f W e s t e r n society that they are considered innate or
natural. H o w e v e r , as we shall see in later chapters, many social t h e o -
rists fiercely contest this view.
Given the privileging o f self-reliance and self-control within the
dominant discourses o f self in modern W e s t e r n society, the m o d e r n
self's e x p e r i e n c e o f loss—especially loss o f self-control or loss o f c o n -
trol over the O t h e r — i s likely t o have social, personal, and ontological
ramifications. Loss, signified by c o m m o n experiences such as physical
or mental illness, divorce, r e t r e n c h m e n t , and bereavement, is c o n -
strued by both society and the individual as a form o f defeat and as
a failure t o uphold our faith in modernity's power t o shape our own
destiny. Sander Gilman ( 1 9 8 8 ) notes, with reference t o illness,
It is the fear of collapse, the sense of dissolution, which contami-

nates the Western image of all diseases, including elusive ones such
as schizophrenia. But the fear we have of our own collapse does not
remain internalized. Rather, we project this fear onto the world in
order to localize it and, indeed, to domesticate it. For once we locate
it, the fear of our own dissolution is removed. Then it is not we who
totter on the brink of collapse, but rather the Other. And it is an-
o t h e r who has already shown his or her vulnerability by having col-
lapsed, (p. 1)
T h e fear o f loss is so profound and the ethos o f c o n t r o l is so en-

t r e n c h e d in m o d e r n W e s t e r n society that there is a tendency t o avoid
associating t o o closely with an individual experiencing the trauma o f
loss: loss o f self-control, loss o f health, loss o f a loved o n e , loss o f ma-
terial prosperity. Loss in all its manifestations represents an e n c r o a c h -
ment upon selfhood and is therefore a challenge t o the c o n t i n u e d
integrity o f the m o d e r n self (see Phelan, 1 9 9 7 ) . T h e effect o f loss is t o
remind the self o f its finitude and its mortality.
Loss clearly challenges the modernist notions o f the self as a
bounded, masterful, integrated, and a u t o n o m o u s universe, and it seri-
ously threatens the illusory security o f the m o d e r n self. F o r the m o d -
ern self, the realization o f the fragile and capricious nature o f life is
likely t o be deeply disturbing, engendering feelings o f fearfulness,

insecurity, and pervasive anxiety, which may linger indefinitely. I
e x a m i n e the implications o f this in our later discussion o f post-
modernism.
The Modern Self: Two Models
W i t h i n the c o n t e x t o f this individualized view o f the self, there

are t w o models o f p e r s o n h o o d or subjectivity that operate c o n c u r -
rently in modern W e s t e r n society (Gergen, 1 9 9 1 ) . T h e s e models cir-
culate throughout popular culture and inform academic and profes-
sional discourses o f self. B o t h o f these models c o n f o r m t o the dictates
o f the "independent construal o f self" ( M a t s u m o t o , 1 9 9 4 ) . I briefly
e x p l o r e the dimensions o f these models here, because they bear
directly on my analysis, in later chapters, o f gender and violence.
T h e first model is derived from the R o m a n t i c (or, m o r e properly,
romanticist) c o n c e p t i o n s o f self that emerged during the 1 9 t h century.
In this m o d e l , the hidden depths o f the person are emphasized, and
the individual is seen as driven or animated by invisible, but deeply
significant, forces (see Gergen, 1 9 9 1 , 1 9 9 7 ) . T h e key t o this model is
the c o n c e p t o f interiority. Carolyn Steedman, in her b o o k Strange Dis-
locations ( 1 9 9 5 ) , documents h o w , from the 1 8 t h century onward, the
c o n c e p t o f the self began m o r e and m o r e t o embrace interiority.
Interiority implied the existence o f the self located within the individ-
ual, a "richly detailed self" (Steedman, 1 9 9 5 , p. 4 ) whose identity
"was constituted in m e m o r y " (Taylor, 1 9 8 9 , p. 2 8 8 ) .
Paralleling the relocation o f the self from the outside t o the inside
was a strong cultural interest in the figure o f the child. T h e child c a m e
t o represent both the interiorized self and the past history that each
individual life contained. Steedman notes that "what was turned
inside in the course o f individual development was that which was
also latent: the child was the story waiting t o be t o l d " (p. 1 1 ) . Freud's
w o r k m o s t clearly crystallized these ideas about interiority and child-
h o o d . His account o f infantile sexuality, for e x a m p l e , rearticulated
many 19th-century ideas and, most importantly, theorized childhood,
giving it another n a m e — t h e unconscious. W e still live with the legacy
o f this spacialized view o f the self. M a n y o f our prevailing notions o f
love and r o m a n c e are a testament t o the persistence o f this 1 9 t h -
century perspective (Gergen, 1 9 9 1 ) .
T h e r e are other sites where conflicting views o f the self are appar-
ent. T h e recent controversy over the validity o f the construct o f
repressed (or recovered) m e m o r i e s is indicative o f the struggle over
differing models o f the self, particularly when these touch on gender

issues. Based on the twin precepts o f repression and the infantile
capacity for m e m o r y (Yapko, 1 9 9 4 ) , the idea o f recovered m e m o r i e s
relies on the romanticist c o n c e p t i o n o f self. T h o s e w h o object t o the
Freudian or post-Freudian view o f the self challenge this n o t i o n o f
repression (see Loftus, 1 9 9 3 , 1 9 9 4 ) . S o m e point to the need t o dis-
tinguish between the processes o f repression and dissociation.
Kristiansen ( 1 9 9 4 ) claims that repression implies the ejection from
consciousness o f traumatic material, whereas dissociation implies the
displacement o f conscious awareness during or after the traumatic
event. According to Kristiansen, this has profound consequences for
the encoding and retrieval o f material from m e m o r y . M e m o r y , as a
result o f traumatic dissociation, is likely to be iconic: that is, organized
on a somato-sensory level. T h i s may be expressed as flashbacks or
somatic sensations.
Critics o f recovered m e m o r i e s label the p h e n o m e n o n False
M e m o r y S y n d r o m e ( F M S ) . T h i s occurs when the alleged victim e x -
periences distorted or confabulated m e m o r i e s . Proponents o f F M S
believe that the techniques o f therapists and the ill-advised approaches
o f self-help groups are primarily responsible for generating false
memories.
T h e second model o f selfhood—the modernist view o f self—is
founded on the scientific imperative o f observing, measuring, and re-
cording the visible aspects o f human behavior (see G e r g e n , 1 9 9 1 ,
1 9 9 7 ) . In the modernist model, the self is seen as transparent and
open to scientific scrutiny. It is also viewed as predictable and accessi-
ble. T h e self is understood to be a product, in the main, o f environmen-
tal influences. T h e modernist self, therefore, is knowable, and it
constitutes a c o m p l e x source o f knowledge (or data) for the c o n t e m p o -
rary scientist.
T h e discipline o f psychology has been critical to the formulation
and application o f the modernist view o f self. In his influential b o o k ,
Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self ( 1 9 9 1 ) , N i k o l a s
R o s e claims that
our selves are defined and constructed and governed in psychologi-

cal terms, constantly subject to psychologically inspired techniques
of self-inspection and self-examination. And the problems of defin-
ing and living a good life have been transposed from an ethical to a
psychological register, (p. xiii)
F u r t h e r m o r e , as Gergen ( 1 9 9 7 ) argues, "Psychological expertise n o w

holds out the promise n o t o f curing pathology but o f reshaping subjec-
tivity," leading us t o conclude that psychological categories and terms

are n o w c o r e constituents o f c o n t e m p o r a r y cultural practices.
W e were witness, in the second half o f the 2 0 t h century, t o the
rise o f the "desiring, relating, actualizing self" (Rose, 1 9 9 1 , p. xiii).
T h i s led t o the advent o f what might be called the therapeutic cul-
ture o f the self, in which the vocabulary o f the psychotherapeutic
penetrates every aspect o f life. R o s e ( 1 9 9 1 ) nominates four aspects
o f this psychotherapeutic culture: first, the subjectification o f w o r k
(the installation o f a c o n c e r n with identity, fulfillment, and personal
success at the heart o f w o r k ) ; second, the psychologization o f the
mundane (the translation o f everyday occurrences into "life events");
third, the therapeutics o f finitude (the renaming o f endings, clos-
ings, and limits as therapeutic opportunities); and, fourth, the neu-
rotization o f social intercourse (the recasting o f our relationships
into a series o f categories, such as normal/abnormal or functional/
dysfunctional). 3
T h i s suggests that the modernist self is amenable to being re-

shaped; it further suggests that invitations t o self-change flicker across
our everyday lives, enticing us with their possibilities. T h e modernist
view o f the self encourages us t o see ourselves as incomplete (or, per-
haps, even deficient) in mind, behavior, or body. H o w e v e r , the m o d -
ernist view o f self offers us hope: It suggests that, ultimately, we are
capable o f a significant degree o f personal transformation. Atwater
( 1 9 9 4 ) notes, "Americans spend millions o f dollars every year in the
h o p e o f improving themselves, buying and trying self-help manuals
and cassettes and attending workshops, n o t t o mention academic
courses in psychology" (p. 1 6 5 ) . I would venture to say that the rest o f
the W e s t e r n w o r l d is not far behind.
H o w e v e r , as we have seen, this model also implies that we are
responsible, t o a large extent, for achieving this transformation (see
Giddens, 1 9 9 1 ) . T o refuse t o take up this opportunity t o change our-
selves is t o risk not b e c o m i n g the people w e could be—it is t o deny
our optimum selves.
Patrolling the Borders of the Self
As the m o d e r n self is conceptualized as a distinct entity m a r k e d

off from others by clear divisions, there is a great deal o f attention
given t o the issue o f borders and boundaries within dominant c o n -
structions o f the self. T h i s is manifest in several spheres. Personality,
as the public and private expression o f self, is understood t o develop
within specific e x p e c t e d parameters. Traditional approaches t o psy-
chology have viewed the self as developing through stages or phases.

T h e experiences o f attachment and separation, and the processes o f
individuation, are the dominant elements in the development o f the
self and o f identity. D e v e l o p m e n t a l psychologists, in particular,
endorse the view that the self grows and develops through identifiable
stages (Carlson, 1 9 9 3 ) . F o r e x a m p l e , Piaget ( 1 9 6 3 , 1 9 6 5 , 1 9 6 9 ) , in his
m o d e l o f cognitive development, e x p l o r e s the relationship between a
child's e x p e r i e n c e s or cognitive abilities and external stimuli. As the
child passes through the four stages o f cognitive development, she o r
he learns t o differentiate between the self and external objects. W i t h
this development c o m e s an understanding o f object p e r m a n e n c e ,
which leads t o the ability t o represent objects or things symbolically.
E r i k s o n ' s ( 1 9 6 8 ) theory o f psychosocial development divides the
life span into eight stages ranging from birth t o old age. Erikson
believed that social relationships and circumstances change through-
out the life span, and he articulated the various personal and inter-
personal crises that might confront the individual as she o r he m o v e s
through these stages o f development. Underlying the theoretical
framework o f the life span trajectory is the premise that the ultimate
goal o f these developmental processes is the achievement o f a u t o n o m y
and self-determination.
Inherent in these theories o f stage development is the idea that
failure t o master the tasks or crises peculiar t o each stage may result in
a series o f problems for the individual. Indeed, the construct o f "cri-
sis," as articulated by Erikson and other theorists, may be u n d e r s t o o d
as a "border e x p e r i e n c e " in which the individual is required t o find a
route b a c k t o "the c e n t e r " or t o m o v e across the b o r d e r into a n o t h e r
domain ( M c N a m e e , 1 9 9 2 , p. 1 8 8 ) . I e x p l o r e , in the section on
postmodernism, the effects o f b o r d e r crossings, b o r d e r wars, and b o r -
der erasures.
First, however, I reflect on the significance o f reason t o m o d e r n
life and the construction o f the self.
Raising the Barricades
M o d e r n i t y is founded on the primacy o f reason and rationality.

R e a s o n offers us security and c o n f i d e n c e ; it promises mastery, c h o i c e ,
and c o n t r o l . R e a s o n gives us access t o the real. As Bauman ( 1 9 9 2 b )
explains, " R e a s o n is first and foremost the art o f separating the real
from the apparent. . . . R e a s o n is b o t h the umpire a n d the trademark
o f the r e a l " (pp. 1 8 0 - 1 8 1 ) . R e a s o n erects a boundary around the terri-
tory o f the real; it excludes and denies the legitimacy, and indeed the
existence, o f extraneous knowledge. Outside the boundaries o f the
real lie all that reason does n o t claim: the irreal. T h i s may be the c o u n -
terfeit, the fake, the deception—that which dissimulates or pretends.
R e a s o n and rationality are the vehicle for probing, examining, and
testing that which lies beyond, but which also seeks admittance t o , the
domain o f the real. T h e knowledge systems o f modernity, grounded in
the tenets o f empiricist science, provide the tools for assessing the sta-
tus o f sensory e x p e r i e n c e . T h i s involves the search for meaning—the
penetration o f the w o r l d o f appearances and the discovery, through
interrogation, o f the essence o f things. T h i s essence is understood t o
be located b e l o w the surface; it is seen to reside in the depth o f objects
or experiences. As Bauman observes, " M e a n i n g can only be grasped
through pursuing the relation between elusive appearance and solid,
yet hidden, reality" (pp. 1 8 2 - 1 8 3 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , " M e a n i n g is the
hard yet invisible c o r e wrapped tightly in what offers itself t o the
senses, what can be seen and heard: the signifier. T h a t c o r e can be
uncovered and repossessed if the carapace o f the signifier is b r o k e n "
(p. 1 8 3 ) . Science, in all its manifestations, is the instrument that makes
this quest possible.
R e a s o n and rationality are the central organizing principles o f the
modern self. Indeed, the birth o f the modernist construction o f self
o c c u r r e d in direct relation t o the ascendancy o f reason. T h e rationalist
project o f the 1 7 t h century, driven in particular by the anxious imag-
inings o f Descartes, provided the basis for the development o f the idea
o f the individuated, contained, and regulated self. H a u n t e d by fears o f
m e r g e n c e with the c o s m o s , Descartes, in his Meditations, began the
intellectual w o r k o f establishing b o u n d a r i e s — o f delineating the dif-
ferences between here and there, inside and outside. The embedded
consciousness o f the M i d d l e Ages receded; arising in its place was the
differentiated consciousness: an inner self c o m p o s e d o f introspection
and self-observation, in which knowledge is understood to be the pos-
session o f a vertically layered self. T h e idea o f the inwardness o f m e n -
tal life displaced the m o r e archaic, organic view o f the relations
between humans and the c o s m o s ( M e r c h a n t , 1 9 9 0 ; B e r m a n , 1 9 8 1 ) .
T h i s was the beginning o f the processes o f interiorization. T h e s e pro-
cesses reverberated throughout Renaissance culture, affecting all lev-
els o f social discourse, shaping the patterns o f e x p e r i e n c e , and setting
the terms for m o d e r n modes o f interaction (see Elias, 1 9 7 8 , 1 9 8 2 ;
H a t t y & Hatty, 1 9 9 9 ) .
T h e "dialectics o f separation and individuation," which under-
score Descartes's Meditations, were the product o f profound fear and
dread at immersion in nature and entrapment within the body ( B o r d o ,

1 9 8 6 , 1 9 8 7 ) . In the first b o o k o f the Meditations, Descartes draws the
reader into speculation about the continuity between madness and
dreams, and questions whether our very existence might not be an
illusion. T h e o u t c o m e o f this speculation is "the securing o f all the
boundaries . . . between the 'inner' and the 'outer,' between the sub-
jective and the objective, between self and w o r l d " ( B o r d o , 1 9 8 6 ,
p. 4 5 0 ) . W i t h the establishment o f the t w o distinct ontological catego-
ries o f mind and body, and the privileging o f the former over the lat-
ter, c a m e the centrality o f reason, which is "bent on foreclosing,
finalizing, c o m p l e t i n g " (Bauman, 1 9 9 2 b , p. 1 8 1 ) . And, o f course, bent
on assuaging dread and anxiety at the prospect o f organic unity with
the c o s m o s . B o r d o ( 1 9 8 6 , 1 9 8 7 ) refers t o this p h e n o m e n o n as the
17th-century flight from the feminine. F r o m this affective source
emerged the philosophical and scientific culture we inherited with
modernity. T h e prohibitions against c o m m i n g l i n g — o f self with
O t h e r , subject with object—still inform the pragmatics o f empiricist
science. Independence, detachment, impartiality: T h e s e are the hall-
marks o f legitimized knowledge systems. R e a s o n is the architect o f
these valorized forms o f inquiry. As Susan B o r d o ( 1 9 8 6 ) so astutely
observes, " T h e new epistemological anxiety is . . . evoked by the m e m -
ory or suggestion o f union. . . . T h e otherness o f nature is n o w what
allows it to be k n o w n " (pp. 4 5 2 - 4 5 3 ) .
R e a s o n , o f course, also attaches itself to masculine subjectivity.
T h i s subjectivity coheres in its proximity t o the real. T h e irreal, and all
its contents, belongs t o the dangerous territory beyond the confines o f
normalized masculine subjectivity. T h e r e reside disturbing e m o t i o n s ,
confused thoughts, transports o f delight—madness, desire, and the
feminine. M a d n e s s and its torments are n o w viewed as the antithesis
o f reason; the so-called disordered mind, and its corresponding lack
o f mastery over the body, stands in stark opposition t o that m o d e r n
invention, the rational mind, which is governed by ordered thought
processes disposed t o a u t o n o m o u s and responsible functioning. It was
Foucault w h o argued that sovereign reason excluded all that threat-
ened it; he n o t e d in Madness and Civilization ( 1 9 6 7 ) that "the lan-
guage o f psychiatry, which is a m o n o l o g u e o f reason about madness,
could be established only on the basis o f such a silence" (p. 1 2 ) .
T h e modern construct o f reason, however, is profoundly gen-
dered. J a n e F l a x acknowledged over a decade ago that Enlighten-
ment epistemologies reflect what Susan B o r d o ( 1 9 8 6 ) describes as the
"Cartesian masculinization o f thought" (p. 4 3 9 ) . F l a x ( 1 9 8 3 ) notes,
"In H o b b e s , Freud and Rousseau . . . reason can only emerge as a sec-
ondary process, under the authority and pressure o f the patriarchal

father. . . . R e a s o n is seen as a triumph over the senses, o f the male
over the female" (p. 1 3 4 ) . Desire, associated with the body and its
unpredictable ways, is linked to the sensual. W o m e n , according to
Rousseau, evoke desire in men and tempt them away from the path o f
reason. F u r t h e r m o r e , sexual desire, o n c e aroused, may interfere with
rational functioning; self-control may be undermined and irrational
actions ensue. W o m e n , therefore, possess the capacity to draw men
closer to the outer boundaries o f masculine subjectivity, and may even
entice them over the edge into the abyss o f the irreal. I consider the
implications o f this border travel in later chapters. Let us n o w briefly
e x p l o r e the rise o f the "sciences o f man."
The Human Sciences: The Subject of Crime
Foucault argued in his early w o r k that it was during the modern

episteme that man b e c a m e the subject and object o f knowledge. In his
b o o k The Order of Things ( 1 9 7 1 ) , Foucault provided a detailed analy-
sis o f the rules and ordering procedures underlying the Renaissance
era, the classical era, and the modern era, focusing on the alterations
in the sciences o f life, labor, and language. In this w o r k , Foucault pre-
sented what he called an " a r c h a e o l o g y " o f the c o n t e m p o r a r y dis-
courses o f W e s t e r n civilization.
According to Foucault ( 1 9 7 1 ) , it was during the m o d e r n era
( 1 8 0 0 - 1 9 5 0 ) that the knowledges that formed the basis o f the human
sciences emerged. T h e s e new knowledges included criminology, psy-
chology, sociology, and anthropology. Foucault claimed that the rise
o f the human sciences as fields o f scholarly inquiry o w e d a great deal
to the spread o f disciplinary technologies. T h i s was exemplified by the
Panopticon, the early model for the prison, which was adapted for
the hospital, the school, and the factory. Indeed, Foucault nomi-
nated the Panopticon, developed by J e r e m y B e n t h a m in 1 7 9 1 , as a
paradigmatic example o f a political technology based on discipline.
Foucault viewed the Panopticon as the archetypal expression o f disci-
plinary power: T h e surveillance o f the inmates was ceaseless and all-
encompassing. T h e y b e c a m e objects on permanent display. Foucault
( 1 9 7 9 ) described the cells as being like "small theatres in which
each actor is alone, perfectly individualized and constantly visible"
(p. 2 0 0 ) . T h e Panopticon, argued Foucault, "is the diagram o f a mech-
anism o f p o w e r reduced to its ideal form" (p. 2 0 5 ) . It was n o t only
a highly efficient structure to ensure the direct c o n t r o l o f individu-
als but also a laboratory in which experiments could be carried out.

C o n s t a n t observation made possible the recording and tabulation o f
events.
T h e knowledge that forms the basis o f the human sciences was
first c o m p i l e d within these disciplinary sites. Foucault did n o t regard
this as a noble m o m e n t in the history o f knowledge. H e noted, " T h e
birth o f the sciences o f man [sic] . . . is probably to be found in . . .
ignoble archives, w h e r e the m o d e r n play o f c o e r c i o n over bodies, ges-
tures and behavior had its beginnings" ( 1 9 7 9 , p. 1 9 1 ) .
As w e have already seen, the gaze reigned supreme in these sites.
Visual surveillance o f the highly visible subjects confined or held
within the walls o f these institutions produced a body o f scientific
data. As the activities within these sites b e c a m e m o r e specialized, a
vast array o f data (or knowledge) was compiled. As the human sci-
ences t o o k shape, they drew their legitimacy and authority from the
discourses and practices integral t o these sites o f p o w e r / k n o w l e d g e . 4
Correspondingly, power/knowledge in the human sciences began t o

mark out and categorize man, rendering man k n o w a b l e . According t o
Foucault ( 1 9 7 9 ) , the production o f docile and manageable bodies
within the n e t w o r k o f disciplinary technologies
called for a technique of overlapping subjection and objectification.

. . . [This] network constituted one of the armatures of this power/
knowledge that made the human sciences possible. Knowable man
[italics added] (soul, individuality, consciousness, conduct, whatever
it is called) is the object-effect of this analytic investment, of this
domination-observation, (p. 3 0 5 )
T h i s is not t o suggest that the human sciences are the direct o u t c o m e

o f the disciplinary m a t r i x that is the prison, but rather t o suggest that
they arose out o f a c o m m o n historical legacy and share an investment
in the power/knowledge technologies that characterize the prison.
T h e constant compilation o f data, the continuous expansion o f
recordkeeping systems, and the conduct o f experimentation in the
c o n t e x t o f the disciplinary m a t r i x o f the prison converged with the
emergence o f the human sciences.
It is in this sense that the modern individual—observed, objecti-
fied, categorized, and analyzed—can be viewed as a historical achieve-
ment, the product o f the c o m p l e x strategic developments in disci-
plinary technologies (see R o s e , 1 9 9 6 a , 1 9 9 6 b ) . Such disciplinary
technologies n o w order and shape everyday social practices in an
extension o f the biopolitics o f coercive institutions (Lyon, 1 9 9 3 ;
D a n d e k e r , 1 9 9 4 ) . T h e entire society is n o w invested with disciplinary

techniques and strategies designed t o regiment and subdue. D e e p l y
imbricated in this disciplinary system is the censure o f O t h e r n e s s — o f
disease, madness, and social disorder.
C r i m i n o l o g y , as the science o f moral transgression, had its origins
in the Italian s c h o o l o f criminal anthropology. Cesare L o m b r o s o
sketched an outline o f the "born criminal" in 1 8 7 6 . H e claimed t o
have identified significant anatomical features—twisted faces and
large jaws reminiscent o f an earlier ancestral type—that distinguished
the criminal from his n o r m a l counterpart. L o m b r o s o also d e n o t e d
physiological features that m a r k e d the born criminal, including an
insensitivity t o pain and an instinctive tendency t o antisocial behavior.
T h e s e w e r e identified in an attempt t o map out the c o n t o u r s o f a pre-
ventive science capable o f predicting dangerous and criminal behav-
ior. Early F r e n c h criminologists, like their Italian peers, sought t o
catalog the diagnostic criteria linked t o criminality. T h e F r e n c h , h o w -
ever, were m o r e c o n c e r n e d t o construct a criminal sociology, and
regarded their fellow Italians as excessive in their positivist zeal.
Nevertheless, both schools developed secular and scientific rationales
for the exclusion o f specific groups or classes o f people. T h e s e ratio-
nales legitimized the practices designed t o manage perceived political
threats t o the social order.
Governing Subjectivity
According t o N i k o l a s R o s e ( 1 9 9 2 ) , the societies o f N o r t h A m e r i c a

and E u r o p e w e r e increasingly driven during the late 1 9 t h and early
2 0 t h centuries by the desire t o govern individuals. R o s e claims that
while these political and social maneuvers were diverse in shape and
form, they w e r e united by a belief in the possibility, and indeed neces-
sity, o f managing specific aspects o f social organization. R o s e n o t e s
that in order for these programs t o be successful, it was vital t o find a
way t o represent the domain t o be governed.
It was under the auspices o f the h u m a n sciences that vocabularies
for the systematic governing o f human subjectivity could be formu-
lated. As w e have seen, an acquaintance with the w o r k o f F o u c a u l t
reveals the historical origins o f these discourses and social practices
and, o f course, the centrality o f power t o the formulation o f vocabu-
laries for governing the human subject (see R o s e , 1 9 9 6 a , 1 9 9 6 b ) .
W e have also seen that it was the human sciences that assisted in
the project o f delineating the human subject and that provided a lan-
guage for establishing normality and inducing discipline. R o s e ( 1 9 9 2 )
believes that w e could view the human sciences as "techniques for the
disciplining o f human difference: for individualizing humans through
classifying t h e m , calibrating their capacities and conducts, inscribing
and recording their attributes and deficiencies, and managing and uti-
lizing their individuality and variability" (p. 1 2 3 ) .
W e might c o n c l u d e that disciplinary p o w e r n o w operates at the
level o f the individual. T h e apparatus o f normalization subsumes all
varieties o f disorder. Distributed across the entire social field, the
h e g e m o n y o f the normative exists in a cooperative relationship t o
other modalities o f power. Disciplinary techniques serve these pro-
cesses o f normalization, inducing the individual t o adopt strategies
supportive o f a generalized normative order. T h e human sciences
legitimize and prescribe the limits o f this normative order. C r i m i n o l -
ogy, in particular, is central to this project.
In deconstructing the traditional domain o f criminology, Pfohl
and G o r d o n ( 1 9 8 7 ) claim that it is the desire t o master O t h e r n e s s — t o
empty N a t u r e o f her subversive and unpredictable power, to dispel
fear and substitute a cruel d o m i n a t i o n , t o objectify—that characterizes
the science o f criminology. T h e gaze o f the criminologist is a form o f
mastery: It surveys, fixes, classifies, and disciplines. T h i s is the carceral
gaze o f the P a n o p t i c o n (Pfohl & G o r d o n , 1 9 8 7 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , crimi-
nology, as the science o f Otherness, is a discourse o f truth. T h e cri-
minologist is positioned as the truth-teller: the normalized, legal
subject sitting in judgement over other disqualified and illegitimate
knowledges.
O n the individual level, W e s t e r n man, the "confessing a n i m a l "
(Foucault, 1 9 8 0 , p. 6 0 ) , n o w possessed the authority t o annunciate
the truth. T h e self had b e c o m e "the locus o f truth, the locus o f cer-
tainty" (Pfohl & G o r d o n , 1 9 8 7 , p. 2 4 2 ) . T h e criminologist has fash-
ioned an interpretive device to render the Other's confession
understandable. T h e pleasure o f criminology, according to Pfohl and
G o r d o n ( 1 9 8 7 ) , is t o subject the O t h e r — t h i s "unreasonable savage
other, dark and unruly" (p. 2 3 0 ) — t o the authority o f reason.
B e l o w we canvass the impact and effects o f the arrival o f the
postmodern m o m e n t , with its profound challenges t o m o d e r n knowl-
edge systems and its accompanying social and technological manifes-
tations.
From the Modern to the Postmodern
Modern civilization simultaneously appears both frenzied and de-

crepit.
—Peter Beilharz
The shock of modernization was that things were never going to be

the same again but at least it offered the reassurance that the direc-
tion in which things were going to change was, at least in principle,
perceptible. . . .
The shock of postmodernization is that directionality is totally
unclear; the only certainty is continuing uncertainty.
—Stephan Crook, Jan Pakulski, and Malcolm Waters
T h e r e is n o doubt that c o n t e m p o r a r y W e s t e r n society is in the grip o f

pervasive anxiety about the present and about the future—about the
present as a result o f the rapidly changing social circumstances that
enfold us as w e slip from the m o d e r n to the p o s t m o d e r n epoch, and
5 6
about the future as a result o f the close o f o n e century (and, indeed,

one millennium) and the opening o f another, replete with the
u n k n o w n and the unknowable (see G e r y , 1 9 9 6 ; N o w o t n y , 1 9 9 4 ;
Pähl, 1 9 9 5 ; T h o m p s o n , 1 9 9 5 ) . M a r k Dery ( 1 9 9 9 ) c o m m e n t s ,
The belief that we are history's witnesses to extremes of social frag-

mentation and moral malaise, that we stand at critical junctures and
teeter on the brink of momentous decisions, is part and parcel of the
fin-de-siecle; the fin-de-millennium simply turns up the cultural vol-
ume tenfold, (p. 31)
W h a t , then, are the effects o f the social and technological changes

that surround us?
Social c o m m e n t a t o r s n o w proclaim the transition from the
2 0 t h century t o the 2 1 s t century as a time o f profound transforma-
tion equivalent in magnitude to the Renaissance. Douglas Rushkoff
( 1 9 9 4 a ) , for e x a m p l e , claims that the Renaissance had a technological
stimulus—the invention o f the Gutenberg Press—that assisted in the
dissemination o f knowledge. H e also claims that the Renaissance was
spurred on by the discovery o f visual perspective. At the present
m o m e n t , we have the technological stimulus o f the computer and the
aesthetic and structural stimulus o f the hologram.
Rushkoff ( 1 9 9 4 b ) maintains that the invention o f the c o m p u t e r

m o d e m and the Internet, as well as the proliferation o f satellites and
the fiberoptic c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , have radically altered our relationship
with the media. T h e one-way model o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n , in which
there was an identifiable viewer or listener, has disappeared. Interac-
tive models o f multimedia, accessed and c o n t r o l l e d by multitudes,
have emerged as the c o n t e m p o r a r y construction o f media. Further-
m o r e , we are n o w firmly located in the era o f repetition, in which the
distinction between the original and the copy, between innovation
and seriality, has been effaced ( E c o , 1 9 9 0 ) . T h e modern c o n c e p t o f
unique artistry, inspired by creative talent or even genius, has been
supplanted by the replicability o f postmodern media forms. E l e c t r o n i c
reproduction o f images guarantees the ceaseless circularity o f data,
trends, styles, and gestures ( D e b o r d , 1 9 9 0 ) . As Baudrillard ( 1 9 9 0 b )
notes, " N o t h i n g disappears any m o r e through an end or death,
but through proliferation, continuity, saturation and transparence"
(p. 1 2 ) . T h e transience and i m p e r m a n e n c e o f postmodern life is cap-
tured by the unlimited replication o f images, the demise o f the " n e w , "
and the perpetual rehearsal o f events or experiences. Critical theorist
M a r k Poster ( 1 9 9 5 ) believes that recent developments in electronic
media have so altered our c o m m u n i c a t i o n practices and so trans-
formed the process o f identity construction that we are justified in
calling the present a second media age. I will e x p l o r e this issue further
in C h a p t e r 3 .
N i c h o l a s N e g r o p o n t e claims that we are living in the post-
information age in which everything is made t o order, information is
extremely personalized, and the audience is singular. In his recent
w o r k , Being Digital ( 1 9 9 5 ) , N e g r o p o n t e suggests that digital t e c h n o l -
ogy is an empowering force, which has the potential t o bring people
into greater w o r l d h a r m o n y . N e g r o p o n t e acknowledges the negative
possibilities o f what he calls "being digital," but remains highly opti-
mistic about the future.
Clearly, although s o m e c o m m e n t a t o r s worry about the "digital
colonization o f the analogue dataspace" (Chesher, 1 9 9 4 ) , w e could
conclude that technological and social change can result in b o t h U t o -
pian and dystopian tendencies. Dystopian tendencies often receive e x -
pression in apocalyptic fears and desires (Sartelle, 1 9 9 4 ) , manifest
perhaps as apocalypse culture (Bertsch, 1 9 9 4 ) or as technological/
biological revenge ( T e n n e r , 1 9 9 6 ) .
Best and Kellner ( 1 9 9 1 ) note that the information t e c h n o l o g y rev-
olution could w o r k either t o multiply knowledge (and information) or
t o overwhelm us with a surfeit o f data; it could democratize access t o
significant sources o f information or it could strengthen the c o n t r o l

and domination o f e c o n o m i c or political elites.
Multiple Selves in the Postmodern Era:

Toward Transgressive Knowledge
Together with the build-up of information superhighways we are

facing a new phenomenon: loss of orientation. . . . A duplication of
sensible reality, into reality and virtuality, is in the making. A stereo-
reality of sorts threatens. A total loss of bearings of the individual
looms large.
—Paul Virilio
Well, welcome to the 21st century. We are all immigrants to a new

territory. Our world is changing so rapidly that we can hardly track
the differences, much less cope with them. . . . Without having mi-
grated an inch, we have, nonetheless, traveled further than any gen-
eration in history.
—Douglas Rushkoff
H o w might we define the important features o f postmodernism?

Although there are varieties o f postmodernism—for e x a m p l e , ludic or
resistance approaches (see E b e r t , 1 9 9 8 ) — i t is possible t o assert that
postmodernism, in general, debunks the myths o f modernity: the "lib-
eration" o f progress; the "advances" o f W e s t e r n civilization; the total-
izing narratives surrounding nation, state, society; the linearity o f
time; and the barriers and markers o f geographical space.
Postmodernism rejects the products and processes o f the scientific
revolution: the primacy o f scientific knowledge; the objective, neutral
character o f scientific m e t h o d ; the division o f knowledge into disci-
plines; and the fragmentation o f knowledge. Postmodernism derives
from a "sense o f the inadequacy o f Enlightenment theories o f knowl-
edge and traditional rationalist or empiricist methodologies and a
shift towards the aesthetic as a means o f discovering an alternative t o
Cartesianism and Kantian R e a s o n " (Waugh, 1 9 9 2 , p. 4 ) . Postmodern-
ism replaces the modernist striving for determinacy, unity, synthesis,
and specificity with their opposites—indeterminancy, diversity, dif-
ference, and c o m p l e x i t y . Frederic J a m e s o n ( 1 9 9 1 ) observes that "the
rise o f postmodernism is signaled in parallel developments in our
culture: diffusion o f power, decentering o f c o n t e x t s , and denaturing
o f the physical" (p. 3 8 ) .
Distinguished by its disillusionment with the unfulfilled m o d e r n -

ist promises o f reason and scientific progress, postmodernity repudi-
ates the grand narratives, renounces the truth claims o f science, and
challenges the traditional arbiters o f truth. T h e prevailing m e t a p h o r
o f postmodernity is "the g a m e , " in which the rules are changeable and
modernist notions o f chance have n o place. M o d e r n i t y , by contrast, is
characterized by the dominance o f deterministic, orderly Law, which
upholds the primacy o f "the n o r m " and denies the legitimacy o f
chance. T h e Law floats independently "above scattered individuals,"
while rules exist only when shared by the games' participants
(Baudrillard, 1 9 9 0 a , p. 1 3 2 ) . A multitude o f games exist in post-
modern society. T h e s e games subsume all: N o o n e can escape involve-
ment. Yet the game is fluid, malleable, and unpredictable:
C o n t i n g e n c y is banished in favor o f ambiguity; durability is cast out in
favor o f transience. T h e " e p h e m e r a l i t y and evanescence o f things"
b e c o m e s apparent (Bauman, 1 9 9 2 b , p. 1 8 7 ) in the embrace o f open
space-time (Lyotard, 1 9 8 8 ) .
T h e critical theorist M a r k Poster ( 1 9 9 5 ) reminds us that the post-
modern age has been a c c o m p a n i e d by an explosion o f narrativity led
by the revolution in computer technologies. O f course, the question o f
narrative has been central t o a discussion o f the postmodern condition
(Lyotard, 1 9 8 6 ) . Literary theory and criticism, historiography, media
and cultural studies, and various other social science disciplines have
all been affected by the preoccupation with narrative form (see, for
e x a m p l e , Lieblich & Josselson, 1 9 9 4 ; Polkinghorne, 1 9 8 8 ) .
As a result o f the transformations in knowledge and social experi-
ence wrought by postmodernization, subjectivity has c o m e t o the fore
(see Bradley, 1 9 9 5 ; Edge, 1 9 9 4 ; F l a x , 1 9 9 3 ; H a b e r , 1 9 9 4 ; K o l a k ,
1 9 9 1 ; Luntley, 1 9 9 5 ; M a r s h , 1 9 9 5 ; Seidman, 1 9 9 5 ) . In addition, sus-
tained challenges have been launched by those w h o s e voices have tra-
ditionally been silenced—women, indigenous peoples, ethnic and
racial minority groups, to name a few. T h e question o f O t h e r n e s s —
w h e t h e r defined in biological, psychological, cultural, or political
terms—is being debated anew. T h e issue o f difference, played out
within categories o f race, ethnicity, and gender, is integral t o discus-
sions about hegemony, social change, and the potential for social
transformation (Barker, 1 9 9 5 ; Brinker-Gabler, 1 9 9 4 ; Hall & du
G r a y , 1 9 9 6 ; San J u a n , 1 9 9 5 ; Sarup, 1 9 9 6 ) .
W h a t does this imply for the modern view o f self? Nikolas R o s e
( 1 9 9 6 a ) states, " T h e idea o f 'the s e l f has entered a crisis that may well
be irreversible" (p. 1 6 9 ) . K. J . G e r g e n ( 1 9 9 6 ) claims that the c o n c e p t
o f psychological essentialism is losing its credibility. T h e cultural sig-

nificance attached to the idea o f psychic interiority is being devalued
in the wake o f technological change. W i t h the trend t o w a r d the
demise o f psychological essentialism, the conditions sustaining a dis-
course o f the self have also changed. According t o G e r g e n , w e n o w
have the proliferation o f ontologies; there are n o w multiple ap-
proaches to making sense o f existence. N o single o r t h o d o x y prevails:
Instead, we are presented with a range o f vocabularies t o describe our
experiences o f everyday life. Taussig ( 1 9 9 3 ) describes c o n t e m p o r a r y
human ontology in terms o f "mimesis"—coming-into-being in the
continuous interplay between the copy (that is, the representation)
and the copied. W e b e c o m e ourselves by copying and incorporating
observed fragments o f others' experiences; however, we also b e c o m e
ourselves through the process o f differentiation. T h e r e is a link, there-
fore, between mimesis and alterity. Finally, according t o G e r g e n
( 1 9 9 6 ) , there is resistance to the idea o f consensual cultural goals as a
result o f the decentering o f some power relations and the rise o f the
voices o f the previously marginalized or excluded.
Consequently, it is clear that the o n c e confident, hopeful, and
masterful imperial self (Lasch, 1 9 8 4 ) is n o longer ascendant. T h e
imperial self, with its solid, fixed sense o f identity and its constitu-
tion as an autonomous subject, has all but disappeared. T h e personal
history, friends, family, and a sense o f place, which comprised the
core identity o f the imperial self, n o longer c o m m a n d the focus o f
attention. Instead, these aspects o f self-definition are scattered and
divided.
A postmodern analysis reveals that the self is in a state o f continu-
ous construction and reconstruction. T h e self in the p o s t m o d e r n era
appears t o have n o center, and is n o t a u t o n o m o u s ; anti-essentialist
readings o f the self n o w prevail. T h e self may be viewed as a narrative,
arising out o f discourse and constrained by e c o n o m i c , political, social,
and cultural imperatives ( L a x , 1 9 9 2 ) ; hence the self may b e viewed as
a " t e x t , " interpreted through its history and "rewritten through recol-
l e c t i o n " (Freeman, 1 9 9 3 , p. 1 6 ) . T h i s perspective emphasizes the role
o f m e m o r y in evoking a past history that the individual may use as a
guide t o the self. T h e psychologist J o h n Shotter ( 1 9 9 3 ) refers t o
"linguistically constructed relationships" characterized by "the contin-
gent flow o f continuous communicative interaction between human
beings" (pp. 2 , 7 ) . T h i s approach emphasizes the intertextuality o f
human c o m m u n i c a t i o n systems, and exposes as an illusion the m o d -
ernist view o f the individual as self-enclosed and "possessing an inner
sovereignty" (p. 4 3 ) . Following Deleuze and Guattari ( 1 9 8 8 ) , R o s e

( 1 9 9 6 b ) suggests that we might conceive o f the self as an assemblage
that alters or m e t a m o r p h o s e s as new c o n n e c t i o n s are entered into. In
this view, subjectivity is constituted through the linkage o f humans
and other objects with practices, multiplicities, and forces ( R o s e ,
1 9 9 6 b ) . (See also the groundbreaking w o r k o f G e r g e n , 1 9 9 1 ; G e r g e n ,
1 9 9 5 ; M c N a m e e & Gergen, 1 9 9 2 ; S h o t t e r & Gergen, 1 9 9 2 ; see also
G r o d i n & Lindlof, 1 9 9 6 ; Grossley, 1 9 9 6 . )
As we have seen, the self may n o w be understood as an array o f
constructed p h e n o m e n a , loosely encapsulated within the sexed body.
H o w e v e r , the social categories o f body and gender are n o w hotly c o n -
tested. T h i s has been exacerbated by the arrival o f new c o m m u n i c a -
tion technologies and new forms o f social e x p e r i e n c e , such as virtual
reality.
W h a t o f the body in this new environment? Clearly, we could
argue that the body is always present as a social construct in virtual
space. T h e critical media theorist A. R . S t o n e ( 1 9 9 1 ) notes that, in vir-
tual systems, there is an interface between the human body (or bodies)
and an associated J (or T s ) . T h e r e is also a great deal o f corporeal play.
She observes, however, that such corporeal play in a virtual medium is
n o t new. S t o n e points, for e x a m p l e , t o the conjuring o f the b o d y by
phone sex w o r k e r s , especially the ways in which verbal gestures and
hints may produce an image o f a particular kind o f body; she claims
that after a verbal engagement with a client over the p h o n e , all s e x
workers appear t o be white, 5 ' 4 " tall, with red hair ( S t o n e , 1 9 9 5 b ) .
H o w e v e r , virtual worlds present the opportunity for a thorough
and interactive engagement in sexual fantasy. Julian Dibbell ( 1 9 9 9 )
describes h o w he invented an online persona, called D r . B o m b a y , w h o
developed a virtual sexual relationship with another online persona.
In his account o f their affair, Dibbell calls this passionate virtual union
"tinysex."
S t o n e ( 1 9 9 1 ) suggests that, as a result o f technological innovation,
the boundaries between subjects, technology, and nature are "under-
going a radical refiguration" (p. 1 0 1 ) . T h e technological restructuring
o f these boundaries might provide a space in which t o reevaluate the
categories o f s e x and gender, redefine the body, and establish n e w the-
ories o f subjectivity (Mazur, 1 9 9 4 ) .
W h a t are the effects o f the new c o m m u n i c a t i o n technologies on
accepted gender categories? D o n n a Haraway's Manifesto for Cyborgs
( 1 9 8 9 ) paved the way for a discussion o f the identity issues at stake
in the digital age. Judith Butler ( 1 9 9 0 ) notes that the category o f
woman is often viewed as both stable and coherent. H o w e v e r , Butler

asks whether this gender system is not an "unwitting regulation and
reification o f gender relations?" (p. 5 ) . I investigate this further in
Chapter 4 .
According t o Sherry T u r k l e , Professor o f C o m m u n i c a t i o n s at
M I T , the n e w c o m m u n i c a t i o n technologies offer significant possibili-
ties for gender redefinition. She has said o f the c o m p u t e r , "It can be
negotiated with, it can be responded t o , it can b e psychologized"
( 1 9 8 4 , p. 1 1 8 ) . B o t h T u r k l e and S h a n n o n M c R a e ( 1 9 9 4 ) n o t e that in
M U D s (Multi-User D u n g e o n s on the Internet), gender—as a primary
marker o f identity—is often subverted. O f course, Internet Relay C h a t
( I R C ) also offers unbounded opportunities for self-invention. In text-
based virtual worlds, gender b e c o m e s "a verb, n o t a noun, a position
to occupy rather than a fixed role, and in many cases, the effect that
one individual can have upon a n o t h e r " ( M c R a e , 1 9 9 4 ) .
In her m o r e recent w o r k , T u r k l e is c o n c e r n e d with the boundary-
challenging potential o f computer mediated interactions. In her latest
b o o k , Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet (1995),
T u r k l e maps out the potential o f a set o f boundary negotiations
around identity, gender, and embodiment. In discussing the politics o f
virtuality, T u r k l e ( 1 9 9 6 ) asks, "Is the real self always the o n e in the
physical world? . . . W h e r e does real life end and a game b e g i n ? "
H o w e v e r , she also believes that "virtual personae can be a resource for
self-reflection and self-transformation."
Clearly, c o m p u t e r mediated c o m m u n i c a t i o n challenges our cul-
tural assumptions about gender and e m b o d i m e n t ( M c A d a m s , 1 9 9 6 ) .
Lynn C h e r n y ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes that "virtual reality technology poses par-
ticularly obvious challenges to a politics o f identity." T h i s is n o w h e r e
m o r e evident than in what are called immersive virtual technologies.
In immersive virtual reality technologies—as opposed t o the text-
based versions involved in M U D s , for example—bodies b e c o m e
"flickering signifiers, characterized by their tendency toward u n e x -
pected m e t a m o r p h o s e s , attenuations, and dispersions" (Hayles, 1 9 9 3 ,
p. 7 6 ; see also C h e r n y , 1 9 9 5 , C h e r n y & W e i s e , 1 9 9 6 ) .
Indeed, it has been claimed that cyberspace itself is grounded in "a
curious form o f disembodiment" (Wilson, 1 9 9 5 , p. 2 2 4 ) . In his recent
b o o k , Digital Sensations ( 1 9 9 9 ) , Ken Hillis asserts that the develop-
ment o f virtual reality is the actualization o f the W e s t e r n desire t o
escape the confines o f the body. W e can therefore view the e m e r g e n c e
o f these technologies as the expression o f cultural tendencies toward
s o m a t o p h o b i a (Hatty & Hatty, 1 9 9 9 ) .
Boundary Wars
Consistent with the current emphasis on narrativity, I would like

to conclude this section with a story. T h i s is a story that illustrates the
problematic nature o f identity in the 1 9 9 0 s (Stone, 1 9 9 3 , 1 9 9 5 a ,
1 9 9 5 b ) . It illustrates the congruence between psychological and legal
understandings o f identity, and the divergence between these under-
standings and postmodern readings driven by cultural and media the-
ory. Consequently, it is a story that reveals the struggles between disci-
plinary knowledges t o assume the authority to define aspects o f
human e x p e r i e n c e . It also tells us something about the variable poten-
tial o f each o f these disciplinary knowledges t o resonate with c o n t e m -
porary human e x p e r i e n c e .
As we p r o c e e d with the narrative, we should r e m e m b e r that the
shift from the modern to the postmodern era involves the erosion o f
singularity in all its forms. As S t o n e ( 1 9 9 3 ) explains, " A m o n g the phe-
n o m e n a at the close o f the mechanical age which it is useful to n o t e is
the pervasive burgeoning o f the ontic and epistemic qualities o f multi-
plicity in all their forms. . .
T h i s is a story about interpersonal violence and multiple identi-
ties. It begins in 1 9 9 0 with a claim by a Wisconsin w o m a n that she had
been sexually assaulted in her car by an acquaintance. H o w e v e r , this
was a complaint with a difference. T h e w o m a n alleged that her assail-
ant had attacked her after carefully drawing out one o f her personali-
ties, a naive young w o m a n w h o m he thought would be willing t o have
sex with him.
T h e complainant had been diagnosed some time earlier with M u l -
tiple Personality Disorder ( M P D ) . T h i s condition is categorized in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual o f the American Psychiatric Asso-
ciation (the DSM-TV) as a dissociative disorder, and it involves severe
disruption or alteration o f identity, m e m o r y , or consciousness. It is
characterized by the presence o f t w o or m o r e distinct personalities in
one person, "each with its own relatively enduring pattern o f perceiv-
ing, relating to, and interacting with the e n v i r o n m e n t " (Kendall 8 t
H a m m e n , 1 9 9 5 , p. 2 0 9 ) . It is a disorder that is being detected at an
increasing rate. It is also a disorder that disproportionately affects
women.
S o what happened in this trial? H o w did the law respond t o this
profound challenge t o the widely accepted definition o f self and o f
identity} T h e defendant's attorney tried two approaches. T h e first was
to suggest that the rape shield law, the legislation that prevented the
defense from questioning the victim about her sexual history, did n o t
apply t o all o f the victim's personalities; h e n c e h e w a n t e d t o question
the victim's other so-called personalities. T h e judge in the case ruled
that this could n o t be done and that the rape shield law applied t o all
o f the victim's personalities.
T h e defendant's attorney then m o v e d t o his s e c o n d approach.
T h i s was t o suggest that M P D had n o credibility. T o this end, he
assembled a "cadre o f M P D infidels" (Stone, 1 9 9 3 ) w h o rejected the
c o n c e p t o f M P D . O n e such "infidel," D o n a l d T r a v e r s , claimed that
MPD has n o validity as a diagnostic category. W h e n asked, " H o w
many psychologists actually have patients with M P D ? , " he replied,
" T h e r e ' s a band o f very intense believers w h o have all the sightings,
w h e r e the rest o f us never see any." T h e s e sightings were described as
the " U F O s o f psychiatry" (Stone, 1 9 9 3 ) .
T h e victim's attorney responded to this strategic maneuver by
putting the victim on the stand. First, o f course, he had t o ensure that
he had the right personality: that is, the o n e that had e x p e r i e n c e d the
abuse. T h e attorney asked t o speak t o Franny. Franny duly material-
ized, and confirmed that she had been the victim o f sexual assault in
J u n e , 1 9 9 0 . T h e presiding judge then swore in Franny, as if swearing
in several identities in the o n e body was an everyday court o c c u r r e n c e .
F r a n n y — a distinct legal subject—proceeded to give her evidence.
T h e defense continued to present evidence that M P D is a sham, a psy-
chological h o a x , and that the victim's accounts were duplicitous o r
fantastic. Surprisingly, perhaps, the trial ended with the conviction o f
the defendant.
W h a t are s o m e o f the important subtexts o f this trial? Clearly,
the substance o f the trial dealt with the cultural meanings attached t o
bodies and to selves. M o r e specifically, the trial was an exercise in
juridical p o w e r , an attempt to fix in position a particular view o f sub-
jectivity. T h i s fixing was assisted by the enterprise o f m o d e r n psychol-
ogy and psychiatry.
M o d e r n psychology and psychiatry confirm the construction o f
identity as finite and self-enclosed by suggesting that the presence
o f c o e x i s t e n t selves, not orchestrated by a centralized e g o , is patho-
logical. T h e psychologist Colin Ross notes " T h e term [multiple per-
sonality] suggests that it is necessary t o debate w h e t h e r o n e person can
really have m o r e than o n e personality, or, put m o r e e x t r e m e l y ,
w h e t h e r there can really be m o r e than o n e person in a single body. O f
course there c a n ' t . . . " (quoted in S t o n e , 1 9 9 3 ) . Indeed, S t o n e ( 1 9 9 3 )
perceptively argues that the "origin o f this ' c o r r e c t ' relationship
between body and persona seems t o have been c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s with

the same cultural m o m e n t that gave birth t o what w e sometimes call
the sovereign subject."
S t o n e also observes, however, that this trial focused on a "fidu-
ciary entity called the person, w h o s e varying m o d e s o f existence both
s u p p o r t e d ] and problematize[d] the obduracy o f individual identity
and its refractoriness t o deconstruction." F u r t h e r m o r e , the trial cap-
tured "the m o m e n t o f rupture . . . when the seamless surface o f reality
can be ripped aside" (Stone, 1 9 9 3 ) ; h e n c e we might regard the victim
in this trial as a liminal figure, crossing boundaries and disrupting
modernist understandings o f p e r s o n h o o d . T h e victim's identity did
not c o n f o r m t o the dominant construction o f subjectivity, in which a
single, unified self is attached t o or grounded in the body. T h e appear-
ance o f F r a n n y — t h e personality w h o directly e x p e r i e n c e d the victim-
ization—violated the veneer o f normative identity, posing a threat t o
these dominant understandings o f the development and m a i n t e n a n c e
o f the singular, unified self.
H o w e v e r , S t o n e asks w h e t h e r , at this m o m e n t , we should n o t be
searching for m o r e culturally and socially appropriate ways o f c o n -
structing subjectivity. She is j o i n e d in this by Sherry T u r k l e , w h o
asserts that psychology needs t o confront the fact that unitary n o t i o n s
o f identity are problematic and illusory. B o t h S t o n e and T u r k l e call
for new accounts o f subjectivity in which there is an a c c o m m o d a t i o n
o f n o n t r a u m a t i c (or nonpathological) multiplicity. As w e have already
seen, T u r k l e does not regard the multiplication o f personae as a sign
o f pathology, but as a potential liberation in the postmodern, digital
age.
Despite these urgings, we need t o pay attention t o a cultural trend
identified by R o s e ( 1 9 9 6 b ) : the maintenance o f the individuated view
o f the subject in governmental systems at precisely the m o m e n t w h e n
constructions o f the self are not only in crisis, but also subject t o
reinvention and revision. R o s e implies that regulatory regimes inte-
gral t o social systems such as law, medicine, and health are n o t only
holding fast t o this m o d e r n view o f the self, but are deepening their
c o m m i t m e n t t o surveillance and intervention. Alerting us to these
s o m e w h a t contradictory developments, he states, " T h e conceptual
dispersion o f 'the s e l f appears t o g o hand in hand with its 'govern-
mental intensification'" (p. 1 0 7 ) .
B e l o w , I draw upon the preceding discussion t o articulate i m p o r -
tant conceptual premises for the arguments developed in this w o r k . I
outline these vital "signposts" as a guide t o what ensues.
Signposts
T h i s w o r k is premised on the claim that we need t o resituate and

r e w o r k our theoretical understandings o f the gender/violence nexus.
Specifically, I argue the following:
• It is important to go beyond simple legal definitions of violence and to

connect violence to notions of self, boundaries, relatedness, and de-
pendency. We must also locate understandings of violence within par-
ticular political, historical, and social moments.
• It is important to employ a feminist epistemological framework that
poses a challenge to the Cartesian paradigm: that is, one that overturns
the centrality of scientific knowledge to the human project, detaches
violence from reason, and admits the affective and corporeal dimen-
sions of the experience of violence.
• It is important to place masculine subjectivity at the core of our inqui-
ries and to explore recent developments in theorizing masculinities.
• It is important to move beyond the description of violence or mascu-
linity as a clutch of actions or social practices, and instead to embrace
the significance of the body to both identity and experience.
• It is important to acknowledge the arrival of the postmodern moment
and the subsequent transformations in the intellectual and social cli-
mate.
• Finally, theorizing about the gender/violence nexus cannot proceed
without a recognition of the impact of technological and social change
on our understanding of the person, identity, and experience. As we
have seen, postmodernism springs from a rejection of Enlightenment
theories of knowledge, with their rationalist and empiricist methodol-
ogies, and advocates instead context-specific knowledge, heterogene-
ity, pragmatism, and reflexivity.
It is in this spirit—and with these "signposts"—that we p r o c e e d .
Notes
1. Several datasets indicate that sex offenders are generally older than violent
offenders, and that they are more likely to be white (Greenfield, 1 9 9 7 ) . Offenders who
have victimized a child are on average five years older than offenders who have com-
mitted crimes against adults, and are also more likely to have victimized several chil-
dren, most of whom are less than 12 years of age (Greenfield, 1 9 9 6 ) .
2. It is clear from what we have discussed so far that a series of classic Cartesian
splits lie at the base of modern ideas about subjectivity. These dualisms are closely asso-
ciated with dominance and oppression (Plumwood, 1 9 9 3 ) . This interlocking system of
dualisms has been described as follows:
culture nature
reason nature
male female
mind body (nature)
master slave
reason matter (physicality)
reason emotion (nature)
freedom necessity (nature)
universal particular
human nature (nonhuman)
civilized primitive (nature)
production reproduction (nature)
public private
subject object
self other
(Plumwood, 1 9 9 3 , p. 4 3 )
3. It would seem that the therapeutic culture of the self has been extended to the
Internet. Media commentator and critic Douglas Rushkoff (1997) recently predicted
that the Internet will transform human consciousness from an individual to a collective
experience (p. 3 ) . Rushkoff declares, "I believe we are in the midst of a transition—inti-
mated by the Internet—towards more collective thinking, with the individual psyche
becoming a component of a larger group mind" (p. 3 ) . The psychologist of the future
will be charged with the responsibility of supporting the growth of global community.
"At first," notes Rushkoff, "psychologists will be called on to address the panic and
paranoia associated with forced cultural intimacy." Collective therapy delivered via the
new media will then follow. Finally, the mandate of these psychologists "will be to
reduce cultural fear and anxiety associated with the collapse of boundaries and the for-
mation of collective awareness" (p. 3 ) .
4. Foucault, in The History of Sexuality ( 1 9 8 0 ) , presents us with a number of
propositions about power. First, according to Foucault, power relations are unequal
and fluid or mobile. Power, then, "is not a commodity, a position, a prize, or a plot; it is
the operation of the political technologies throughout the social body" (Dreyfus &
Rabinow, 1 9 8 6 , p. 1 8 5 ) . The playing out of these "political rituals of power" is what
shapes the nonegalitarian relations that characterize society.
Foucault's second proposition states that power does not reside within the sub-
ject, either as a property or a possession. Instead, power circulates throughout society,
and is conceptualized as both positive and productive. Madan Sarup ( 1 9 8 8 ) summa-
rizes this well when he states,
Power is not an institution, a structure, or a certain force with which certain

people are endowed; it is a name given to a complex strategic relation in a
given society. All social relations are power relations. . . . (p. 9 2 )
Furthermore, writes Sarup, Foucault inverts . . . the commonsense view
of the relation between power and knowledge. Whereas we might normally
regard knowledge as providing us with the power to do things that we could
not do without it, Foucault argues that knowledge is a power over others, a
power to define others. In his view knowledge ceases to be a liberation and
becomes a mode of surveillance, regulation, and discipline, (p. 7 3 )
Power, in Foucault's schema, is multidimensional, operating not only from the top
down but also from the bottom up. As power is not an attribute, institutions do not pos-
sess it. Power is, nevertheless, productive: It produces a certain kind of subject, for
example the obedient schoolchild, the docile patient, or the disciplined prisoner.
Furthermore, power, according to Foucault, is exercised in the context of aims

and objectives; it is intentional and instrumental, and it is to social practices that
Foucault turns to comprehend the intentionality of power.
5. Drawing on the work of the social theorists Emile Dürkheim, Karl Marx, and
Max Weber, the authors Crook, Pakulski, and Waters ( 1 9 9 2 ) identify three outcomes
of social change, especially the transition into the phase described as the modern era:
differentiation, commodification, and rationalization.
The concept of differentiation emerged in the 19th century as social theorists
attempted to make sense of industrial capitalism. Differentiation refers to the specific-
ity in organization, operation, or function within units of the social structure. Such
units include the family, the economy, the political system, and organized religion.
Modern societies are characterized by increasing distance (separation) between these
units (or institutions). Also, as noted above, modern societies are distinguished by their
trend toward greater internal differentiation or specialization within social institutions.
Commodification is a concept drawn from Marx's analysis of the capitalist mode
of production. The process of commodification refers to the translation of social items
or experiences into objects that can be bought or sold. This might include human labor,
the human body, and, of course, knowledge.
Rationalization comes from the work of Weber, and it refers to the rendering of
action as both impersonal and calculable. According to Roger Brubaker ( 1 9 8 4 ) , ratio-
nalization involves "the depersonalization of social relationships, the refinement of
techniques of calculation, the enhancement of the social importance of specialized
knowledge, and the extension of technically rational control over both natural and
social processes" (p. 2 ) . Weber viewed rationalization as critical to the transformation
of four areas: law, administration, ethics, and production.
Crook, Pakulski, and Waters (1992) claim that
differentiation, commodification and rationalization . . . define the transfor-

mation of premodern into modern systems as well as the central internal pro-
cesses of modern societies. The three processes are closely related: modern
social systems have a high or complex level of differentiation and are equally
characterized by progressive commodification and rationalization, (p. 10)
It is this process of modernization that permitted the development of the scientific

enterprise as we know it today.
6. The claim that we are now living in a postmodern era is often sustained by ref-
erence to three features of contemporary life: the demise of the grand master narratives
of rationality and progress; the collapse of the distinction between highbrow and low-
brow (or popular) culture; and the proliferation of simulated images in the age of mass-
mediated communications.
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2
Bodily Harm
Violence and the
Cultural Imagination
My power. So powerful. And the guns and these magazines filled

with bullets, I could go bang, bang, bang.
—Martin Bryant, convicted mass murderer
Before, with his long, unruly blond locks, he had an individuality, an

image. . . . But with the crew cut . . . he had become just another
man. He could have been anybody on the street. A neighbor. A work
colleague. He had become Everyman.
—Matt Condon, journalist,
describing Martin Bryant at his trial
O
V_/n the 2 8 t h April, 1 9 9 6 , M a r t i n Bryant rose early and p a c k e d a
sports bag full o f weapons—three military style, semi-automatic fire-
arms, including an Armalite A R I S . 2 2 3 calibre rifle, large quantities o f
ammunition, handcuffs, a hunting knife, and rope. H e drove t o a local
guesthouse and shot the t w o elderly inhabitants. Bryant then traveled
a short distance to the historic tourist site o f Port Arthur in T a s m a n i a ,
Australia.
Port Arthur was originally a brutal penal establishment founded in
1 8 3 0 to house the most intransigent and difficult o f convicts. K n o w n
in the 19th century as "the abode o f misery" or the Earthly Hell, the
Port had an extremely harsh regime. It relied on physical violence and
severe psychological deprivation: Prisoners were forbidden to m a k e
43
eye c o n t a c t with others, and w e r e forced t o wear a h o o d e d mask t o

enforce this. V i o l e n c e , in the form o f floggings, beatings, and whip-
pings, was endemic. Escape was well-nigh impossible. T h e site has
long been thought t o be haunted by the souls o f those w h o w e r e tor-
tured and died there. N o w marketed as a tourist destination, c o m p l e t e
with ghost tours and evening visits t o the dissection r o o m , Port Arthur
continues to assume a vivid significance in Australia's painful past. F o r
M a r t i n Bryant, there could be n o m o r e appropriate killing ground.
Around lunch time on April 2 8 t h , 1 9 9 6 , M a r t i n Bryant calmly
entered the B r o a d A r r o w Cafe at Port Arthur, ate lunch, then pro-
duced a w e a p o n and p r o c e e d e d to s h o o t 2 2 people in 1 5 seconds.
T w e l v e o f these people were killed, and 1 0 w e r e injured. Bryant
moved methodically between the tables in the cafe, aiming directly at
the diners' heads and pulling the trigger. H e continued shooting, and
within t w o minutes, Bryant killed 8 m o r e people. O n e victim r e m e m -
bers him saying, " N o o n e gets away from m e . "
Outside the cafe, Bryant pursued tourists and shot them in the
back. M a n y o f the visitors t o the site thought the shootings in the cafe
were s o m e sort o f tourist r e e n a c t m e n t — a bringing t o life o f earlier
convict horrors. S o m e realized t o o late that this was, in fact, not enter-
tainment but real life.
Bryant was convicted in N o v e m b e r , 1 9 9 6 , o f the murder o f
3 5 people, the attempted murder o f 2 0 others, and 1 7 additional
charges relating t o unlawful wounding, aggravated assault, grievous
bodily harm, and arson. Bryant was sentenced t o 3 5 life terms, o n e for
each c o u n t o f murder, and another 3 7 terms, each for a duration o f
2 1 years. As Australia does n o t have capital punishment, his file was
marked, " N e v e r t o be released."
In sentencing Bryant, Justice W i l l i a m C o x stated,
It is difficult to imagine a more chilling catalog of crime. . . . The

prisoner, having had a murderous plan in contemplation and active
preparation for some time, deliberately killed two persons against
whom he held a grudge. . . . [He] then embarked on a trail of devas-
tation that took the lives of a further 33 other human beings.
Despite psychiatric testimony at his trial that suggested M a r t i n

Bryant suffered from Asperger's S y n d r o m e , the media was saturated
with speculation about the reasons for Bryant's aberrant behavior.
T h e s e speculations covered the range o f theoretical possibilities: S o m e
suggested that the cult o f the individual was t o b l a m e ; others invoked
biology, and in a strange doubling, referred t o Bryant as a "natural
Bodily Harm 45
born killer." O t h e r c o m m e n t a t o r s alluded to the role o f socialization

in the production o f the violent male. H e r e , in a reiteration o f the
principles o f linear causality, was evidence o f the pathologization the-
sis, the availability-of-weapons thesis, and the media-violence thesis.
Each was a search for an explanation. T h i s search was rendered m o r e
urgent by M a r t i n Bryant's refusal to a c c o u n t publicly for his actions.
Although Bryant's crimes did lead t o a major review o f gun own-
ership legislation in Australia, Bryant himself remains an enigmatic
figure. D e s c r i b e d by his m o t h e r as "a m o n s t e r , " the fair-haired, blue-
eyed Bryant is popularly understood as intellectually and emotionally
immature: a figure o f pathos, not power. H e is seen as a young man
nursing the cumulative hurt o f repeated episodes o f ridicule and rejec-
tion, a young man o f wealth and privilege w h o destroyed for n o
apparent reason. A rare and opaque specimen.
T h i s chapter reviews the various ways in which we construct and
define violence, including both understandings integral t o social insti-
tutions, such as the law, and definitions developed t o take a c c o u n t o f
the perspectives o f victims and survivors o f violence. I consider the
range o f theoretical explanations for aggression and violence in soci-
ety, acknowledging, as I p r o c e e d , the ideological c o n t e n t o f these
explanations. I then insert these definitions, constructions, and expla-
nations in the wider sphere o f cultural politics, posing questions about
the primacy o f particular violent formations. T h i s leads to an analysis
both o f the c o n t e m p o r a r y popular and politico-legal responses t o the
rise o f specific configurations o f violent behavior, and o f the remark-
able persistence o f gendered m o d e s o f violence.
Naming the Limits:

Aggression, Conflict, and Violence
H o w do we define violence? And h o w do we distinguish violence

from conflict or aggression?
Aggression is often defined in behavioral or affective terms. It is
thought t o range from acts o f assault and threats o f abuse t o e m o t i o n a l
outbursts. Silverberg and G r a y ( 1 9 9 2 ) define aggression as "the initi-
ating t o w a r d s o m e other(s) o f an act that is higher o n the violence
scale than the previous act in a given interaction sequence, i.e., a
readiness t o initiate acts at higher levels o f v i o l e n c e " (p. 3 ) . In a m o r e
straightforward rendition, Gottfredson and Hirschi ( 1 9 9 3 ) state that
"the idea o f aggression c o n n o t e s unprovoked, senseless, or unjustifi-
able violence or threat o f v i o l e n c e " (p. 5 2 ) .
Conflict has been defined as "incompatibility o f interests, goals,

values, needs, expectations, and/or social cosmologies (or i d e o l o g i e s ) "
(Van D e r D e n n e n , 1 9 9 0 , p. 2 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , conflict can be viewed as
an objective or subjective p h e n o m e n o n , or as functional or dysfunc-
tional in its effects. Nevertheless, V a n D e r D e n n e n ( 1 9 9 0 ) asserts that
conflict exists at all levels o f organic existence, and is "pervasive, per-
sistent, ubiquitous" (p. 1 ) .
V i o l e n c e has been defined as the infliction o f " e m o t i o n a l , psy-
chological, sexual, physical and/or material damage" (Stanko, 1 9 9 4 ,
p. x i v ) . H e a r n ( 1 9 9 6 b ) defines violence as "that which violates or
causes violation, and is usually performed by a violator upon the vio-
lated" (p. 4 2 ) . M o r e o v e r , violence may be sexual, physical, verbal,
cognitive, e m o t i o n a l , or representational. V i o l e n c e may also include
the "creation o f conditions o f violence, potential violence, threat and/
or n e g l e c t . . . [and] can be dramatic, subtle, occasional or c o n t i n u o u s "
(Hearn, 1 9 9 6 a , p. 4 3 ) .
Legal definitions o f violence are somewhat m o r e restrictive than
those outlined above. T h e s e definitions are premised on the use o f in-
tentional physical force applied t o another person, contrary to that
person's will. T h e degree o f physical force may vary, and may range
from minimal (e.g., nonconsensual touching) t o severe (e.g., fatal
injury). Offences that fall under this broad banner include assault, at
one end o f the spectrum, and h o m i c i d e , at the other.
Physical acts are generally viewed as the paradigmatic case o f vio-
lence in society, both in law and in everyday accounts (see H e a r n ,
1 9 9 6 a ) . In the W e s t e r n tradition o f liberal legalism, violence is under-
s t o o d t o be a corporeal e x p e r i e n c e , involving the collision o f bodies,
the extension o f touch (painful or injurious) into spaces and places
where it is not w e l c o m e . V i o l e n c e , then, involves the crossing o f
boundaries relating to personal space and, in particular, the trans-
gression o f bodily b o u n d a r i e s — o f skin, o f muscle, o f visceral tissue—
by hands, fists, feet, or weapons. T h i s construction o f violence reso-
nates with the legal privileging o f the body perimeters as the defining
characteristic o f p e r s o n h o o d : the body as the boundary marking off
one person from another. Consequently, in the doctrine o f liberal
legalism that dominates W e s t e r n legal systems, it is the body that artic-
ulates the limits o f p e r s o n h o o d and that circumscribes the range o f
o t h e r s ' behavior. A gesture can, therefore, be translated into a crimi-
nal offense when it c o n n e c t s with or invades this physical boundary.
Ironically, although the law recognizes a variety o f physical incursions
as criminal offenses, it does so t o p r o m o t e the idea that the rational
Bodily Harm 47
subject is enclosed within a material container, and so denies the

i m p o r t a n c e o f the body t o p e r s o n h o o d .
Legal definitions o f violent behavior are under constant challenge
and revision as the law responds t o shifting political and social circum-
stances. M i c h a e l Allen ( 1 9 9 6 ) relates h o w United Kingdom laws on
1
assault have undergone recent and dramatic change: T h e definition o f

assault has been stretched t o incorporate psychological harm and the
effects o f the accused's actions. T h i s has redirected the emphasis away
from the c o n d u c t o f the accused, and has placed in doubt the previous
legal requirement that the victim must apprehend immediate personal
violence. T h e case that catalyzed the change in U . K . laws c o n c e r n e d
incidents o f telephone harassment. T h e question before the court
turned on w h e t h e r or not such actions could be construed, in legal
terms, as an assault. T h e C o u r t o f Appeal affirmed the appellant's c o n -
viction o f assault occasioning actual bodily harm. T h e harm suffered
by the three victims included physical manifestations o f stress and
anxiety—dizziness, sweating, heart palpitations, and so on. Allen
regards this judgment as highly controversial, because it has produced
a definition o f violence that diverges from that which exists in c o m -
m o n law.
T h e other end o f the violence spectrum, involving various forms
o f h o m i c i d e , is less subject t o legal modification. H o m i c i d e , as the
m o d e o f interpersonal violence that marks the boundaries o f the
human condition, articulating in law the limits o f reason/unreason and
setting down the psychological parameters for mens rea (guilty m i n d ) ,
continues t o be defined as the unlawful taking o f another's life. It is
the methods or means used t o achieve this purpose that are subject t o
redefinition at law. F o r e x a m p l e , we n o w have an understanding o f
the ways in which individuals, infected with particular contagious
viruses, can be held responsible for harming others in specific circum-
stances. T h e r e are n o w laws in many jurisdictions that criminalize
unsafe sexual conduct on the part o f HIV-positive individuals.
V i o l e n c e is n o t the province only o f law. T h e r e are many groups
in society that have an investment in contesting the meanings and
interpretations o f violence. T h e r e have been many attempts t o rede-
fine the individual experience o f violence. W o m e n ' s advocates have
sought t o admit the psychic and social aspects o f violence t o the domi-
nant legal and theoretical constructions o f violence (see F a w c e t t ,
F e a t h e r s t o n e , H e a r n , & T o f t , 1 9 9 6 ; Hatty 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 9 2 a , 1992b;
N i c o l s o n & Sanghui, 1 9 9 3 ; W e l l s , 1 9 9 4 ) . At the same time, s o m e
researchers and activists have raised objections to contemporary
approaches t o defining and describing the patterns o f violence in soci-

ety (see Gelles & L o s e k e , 1 9 9 3 ; Krista, 1 9 9 4 ; Letellier, 1 9 9 4 ; L u c a l ,
1 9 9 5 ; M c N e e l y & R o b i n s o n - S i m p s o n , 1 9 8 7 ) , and t o current strate-
gies o f response (see H a m b e r g e r & P o t e n t e , 1 9 9 4 ) . O t h e r researchers
point t o the qualitative differences between the received categories o f
violence. Jeffrey Fagan ( 1 9 9 6 ) , in a recent report on the criminaliza-
tion o f domestic violence, notes that domestic violence differs from
other forms o f violence in several important respects. H e argues that
the emotional ties between assailants and victims, the private and
recurring nature o f the violence, the prevalence o f domestic violence
c o m p a r e d with o t h e r crimes, and the often irrational and rage-driven
outbursts associated with domestic violence m a k e the logic o f deter-
rence largely irrelevant. F o r these reasons, the effective legal c o n t r o l
o f domestic violence is difficult (Fagan, 1 9 9 6 ) .
T h e r e have also b e e n attempts t o open up the definition o f vio-
lence to include a focus on collectivities and corporations (see, for
e x a m p l e , H e a r n , 1 9 9 6 b ) . T h i s has relied on an a c k n o w l e d g m e n t o f
the role o f the state, its instrumentalities, and multinational and local
c o r p o r a t i o n s in the production and perpetuation o f harms. O t h e r dis-
cussions have e x a m i n e d types o f harms, arguing that they are directed
not only at individuals, but also at groups and, o f course, the social
and natural environment. V i o l e n c e , from this perspective, is often
viewed as the prerogative o f the nation-state and o f governments. T h e
m a i n t e n a n c e o f public order and the protection o f national security
and international interests are seen t o hinge on the use o f institution-
alized and routinized violence. S o m e o f this violence is legitimate (that
is, consistent with the legal m a n d a t e ) , and s o m e is illegitimate (espe-
cially unauthorized covert actions in foreign jurisdictions or excessive
force utilized by criminal justice professionals). W e could n o m i n a t e
here the brutal policing o f ethnic and minority groups that has been
reported in many W e s t e r n nations, including the United States. W e
could also n o m i n a t e the systematic violation o f marginal groups, such
as homeless youth, by police, security guards, and vigilante squads in
s o m e countries.
W h i l e these attacks on the young homeless are a feature o f street
life for many in the W e s t (see Hatty, Davis, & B u r k e , 1 9 9 6 ) , they are a
predictable and terrifying e x p e r i e n c e for large numbers o f young p e o -
ple in T h i r d W o r l d countries. In T h a i l a n d , for e x a m p l e , children may
be assaulted and beaten in the course o f their w o r k in the ever grow-
ing trade in recreational child s e x . In South American nations such as
Brazil and C o l o m b i a , street children are assassinated by professional
hitmen, police officers (both on- and off-duty), and citizen "justice-
Bodily Harm 49
m a k e r s " (see Higgins, 1 9 9 3 ) . A climate o f terror pervades the popu-

lace o f these nations; certain groups o f people are literally viewed as
expendable, and the killing o f these people is spoken o f as a "social
cleansing" ( B u c h a n a n , 1 9 9 4 ) . Such m e t a p h o r s o f pollution obscure
the fact that the state itself may b e c o m e an instrument o f torture o r
may intimidate its citizens through fear. Taussig ( 1 9 8 4 ) describes the
processes whereby state instrumentalities terrorize the citizenry o f
C o l o m b i a by dispensing arbitrary and e x t r e m e violence in public
places. W i t h i n this "space o f death" (Taussig, 1 9 8 4 ) , individuals may
simply disappear and p o w e r is m a d e manifest as "unfettered, undis-
guised f o r c e " ( M a r c u s , 1 9 9 1 , p. 1 2 9 ) . It is w o r t h noting that state-
based torture is n o w carried out on an ever increasing scale, despite its
denunciation by the United N a t i o n s (Millett, 1 9 9 4 ) .
M a s s v i o l e n c e , occurring through warfare, civil strife, or the cre-
ation o f life-threatening conditions (Geliert, 1 9 9 5 ) , is also a 2 0 t h -
century p h e n o m e n o n . G e n o c i d e , defined as "the systematic, planned
annihilation o f a racial, political, or cultural g r o u p " (Geliert, 1 9 9 5 ,
p. 9 9 7 ) , was undertaken by at least 4 0 nations during the last century.
Social conditions conducive to genocidal campaigns include national-
ist tendencies to invade or rule others; explicit expressions o f national,
ethnic, or racial superiority by o n e group at the expense o f o t h e r s ; and
the denigration and subjugation o f minority groups (Straub, 1 9 8 9 ) .
An exhaustive and painful exploration o f genocide has recently
o c c u r r e d in Australia. A national inquiry c o n d u c t e d by Australia's
H u m a n Rights and Equal O p p o r t u n i t y C o m m i s s i o n ( H R E O C ) e x a m -
ined the history, effects, and appropriate responses to the widespread
practice o f forcibly removing indigenous children from their families
and their cultural c o n t e x t . T h e commission heard testimony, either
oral or written, from 5 3 5 indigenous people. M u c h o f this testimony
was redolent with grief, sadness, and p r o n o u n c e d feelings o f loss. O n e
respondent keenly captured the pain o f abduction and separation:
We may go home, but we cannot relive our childhoods. We may

reunite with our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles,
communities, but we cannot relive the 2 0 , 3 0 , 4 0 years that we spent
without their love and care, and they cannot undo the grief and
mourning they felt when we were separated from them. We can go
home to ourselves as Aboriginals, but this does not erase the attacks
inflicted on our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, by caretakers who
thought their mission was to eliminate us as Aboriginals.
T h e c o m m i s s i o n heard that the "stolen children" suffered from a

lack o f knowledge about their o w n culture, genealogy, and language,
and felt an alienation caused by a lack o f spiritual c o n n e c t i o n t o their

tribal country. T h e children w e r e told that aboriginal culture was
worthless, a r e m n a n t o f an earlier evolutionary stage, and that they
themselves must adopt A n g l o - C e l t i c ways o f knowing and seeing.
Aside from these assaults on culture and kin, the children suffered
direct attacks. T h e y w e r e paid insufficient wages o r received n o remu-
neration at all. T h e y were housed in harsh and punitive institutions.
And they w e r e sexually assaulted and beaten by those w h o had
responsibility for their welfare.
O n e indigenous w o m a n told h o w everyday life at the h o m e c a m p
b e c a m e infused with danger and e x t r e m e fear. S h e said,
During the raids on the camps it was not unusual for people to be
shot—shot in the arm or the leg. You can understand the terror that
we lived in, the fright—not knowing when someone will come
unawares and do whatever they were doing—either disrupting our
family life, camp life, or shooting at us.
Several people spoke o f the violence m e t e d out in the institutions:
There was no food, nothing. . . . Sometimes at night we'd cry with

hunger.
They were very cruel to us, very cruel. . . . I remember once, I must
have been 8 or 9, and I was locked in the old morgue. The adults
who worked there would tell us of the things that happened in
there, so you can imagine what I went through. I screamed all night,
but no one came to get me.
I've seen girls naked, strapped to chairs and whipped. We've all
been through the locking up period, locked in dark rooms.
T h e intergenerational effects o f forcible removal are tangible. M a n y

spoke t o the H R E O C o f their lack o f parenting skills, their inability t o
form close e m o t i o n a l ties, their unresolved grief and trauma, the
depression associated with such removal, and the very high rates o f
self-harm. V i o l e n c e within families was also c o m m o n . O n e parent, a
m e m b e r o f the "stolen generation," c o m m e n t e d , " T h e r e ' s things in my
life that I haven't dealt with and I've passed t h e m on to my children.
G o n e t o pieces. . . . S o m e h o w I'm passing down negativity t o my
kids."
O n the question o f indigenous identity, and a place in w h i c h t o
begin the healing, it was n o t e d by o n e respondent that
Bodily Harm 51
going home is fundamental to healing the effects of separation.

Going home means finding out who you are as an Aboriginal: where
you come from, who your people are, where your belonging place
is, what your identity is. Going home is fundamental to the healing
process of those who were taken away as well as those who were left
behind.
F u r t h e r m o r e , the report n o t e d that
just as there are many homes, there are many journeys home. Each
one of [the stolen children] will have a different journey from any-
one else. The journey home is mostly ongoing and in some ways
never completed. It is a process of discovery and recovery, it is a
process of (re)building relationships which have been disrupted, or
broken or never allowed to begin because of separation.
As w e can already see, the naming o f actions as " v i o l e n c e " is

inherently p o l i t i c a l . Penny G r e e n ( 1 9 9 4 ) claims that the state, with its
2
powerful vested interests, selectively labels its o w n actions and those

o f its o p p o n e n t s . S h e states,
Violence which defends the status quo, or violence which ensures

the continuing conditions required by the capitalist economy to
thrive does not carry with it the pejorative connotations of criminal
"violence." These connotations are reserved for people and activi-
ties which undermine the conditions upon which the established
order relies, (p. 3 3 )
F u r t h e r m o r e , G r e e n alleges that such selective naming generates a cli-

mate o f anxiety in which the c o m m u n i t y is riven by internal tensions,
and fails to turn its attention to a critique o f the existing inequities and
injustices:
By creating public straw-enemies (terrorists, serial killers, drug traf-

fickers, striking miners, etc.) and shrouding them with the attire of
violence, widespread fear may be engendered and the state's
monopoly over the use of violence to "protect" the victim popula-
tion is reinforced. In this process public attention is deflected from
the sources of real violence in our society, and the brutality of an
economic system based on profit and inequality is obscured, (p. 3 8 )
T h i s forces us t o question directly h o w culture contributes t o the

production and dissemination o f violence. H o w might cultural institu-
tions, industries, and everyday practices make certain types o f violent
actions or processes both possible and inevitable? H o w might the cul-
ture in which w e live e x e r t an influence that forcefully shapes our

lived reality? W h a t are the constraints that operate on the frameworks
we employ t o m a k e sense o f human subjectivity and human a c t i o n ?
W h i c h alternative visions are excluded and denied? W h o s e voices are
silenced, and which discourses prevail? W e are reminded, perhaps, in
our attempts to answer these questions, o f the sporadic and sustained
violence o f the nation-state, the w o r k p l a c e , the s c h o o l , the family and
the church. W e may also be reminded o f the pervasiveness o f
racialized and gendered violence, and o f the bleak and chilling impact
o f the "deadly w o r d s " o f violent rhetoric (see Feder, 1 9 9 7 ; R o s g a ,
1 9 9 7 ) . V i o l e n c e , as a cultural construct, is a site o f both struggle and
resistance. Contesting and negotiating the definition and meaning o f
violence is a continuing project.
Indeed, it is possible to suggest that our c o n t e m p o r a r y definitions
and constructions o f violence are often essentialist and m o n o l i t h i c .
Different types o f violence are viewed as related, as erupting from the
same motivational wellspring. Acts o f violence occurring over a life-
span are viewed as events in a linear sequence, with m e m o r y being the
vehicle that enables individuals t o e x t e n d or diversify their violent
repertoire. H o w e v e r , violence is "incidentalized," viewed as both an
incident and incidental (Hearn, 1 9 9 6 a , p. 3 4 ) . I f w e w e r e to search for
o t h e r ways o f approaching violence w e might find it m o r e appropriate
t o speak o f a multiplicity o f violent forms and a plurality o f violent
practices. W e might inject greater subtlety into our understandings o f
violence, basing them on an appreciation o f the nuances o f c o n t e x t .
R a t h e r than assuming that individual defects in character or a b n o r m a l
motives are critical determinants o f violence, w e might place m o r e
emphasis on the social and political crosscurrents o f violence. T h i s
might entail the a b a n d o n m e n t o f our current prescriptive and rigid
t a x o n o m i e s o f violence, and the p r o m o t i o n o f a m o r e context-driven
interpretation t o legitimize a range o f meanings. Let us e x p l o r e what
this might mean.
T a k i n g physical behavior as our starting point, and assuming the
above conditions, w e could propose that it is the appreciation o f the
differences wrought by various violent practices that is o f primary sig-
nificance. F o r e x a m p l e , we accept as evident that t o kill with a gun is a
qualitatively different act than t o kill with a knife. T h i s is so for b o t h
the assailant and the victim. T h e geographical distance between the
killer that the victim, the possible verbal and nonverbal c o m m u n i c a -
tions, the apprehension o f i m m i n e n t danger by the victim, the degree
o f pain inflicted on the victim, the c o n t a c t between bodies and spilling
or merging o f bodily fluids, and the speed o f death all vary according
Bodily Harm 53
t o the modality o f the violence. T o take another e x a m p l e , w e can say

that t o punch an individual with w h o m o n e is intimate is n o t the same
act (or experience) as punching a stranger; the affect, the perceived
rationale, and the impact o f the crime will vary markedly between the
t w o circumstances. Nevertheless, although the qualitative difference
between these acts will remain constant, the meaning varies according
t o c o n t e x t and may not be replicated in a future episode o f violence.
T h e s e actions may assume an alternative meaning or significance i f en-
acted in a n o t h e r temporal, social, or political c o n t e x t . V i o l e n c e , then,
can be regarded as both intersubjective and context-dependent—as
the behavioral bridge that inexorably links t w o or m o r e people, but
w h o s e meaning and significance may vary both within and between
subjects. T h i s is n o t to imply that the responsibility, moral or legal, for
violence is necessarily shared, but that the experience o f violence is
about process or flow, rather than circumscribed acts or stasis. I
e x p l o r e this in m o r e detail in Chapter 6 .
F u r t h e r m o r e , we need in general t o distinguish between aggres-
sion, violence, and conflict. T o aggress is t o injure or destroy through
s o m e form o f violence. V i o l e n c e is the expression—the physical
manifestation—of aggression. Conflict, unlike aggression or its literal
c o m p a n i o n , violence, always implies mutuality, a dispute occurring
between t w o or m o r e parties. B e l o w , we consider h o w we explain the
linked constructs o f aggression and violence.
Explaining Aggression and Violence
W h a t are the various explanations for aggression and violence?

B e l o w , I canvass s o m e o f the major schools o f thought, including
sociobiology, psychology, and sociology. T h i s review is not intended
t o be exhaustive, but rather t o give the flavor o f the various and often
incompatible readings o f violence in society.
Biological, physiological, and evolutionary perspectives on vio-
lent behavior have their origins in scientific discourse about animals
and humans. G e n e t i c and h o r m o n a l approaches have contributed sig-
nificantly t o the body o f theoretical knowledge about violence, and
have proven increasingly popular as explanations o f b o t h socially a c -
ceptable and deviant human conduct (Mariani, 1 9 9 5 ) . W e could think
here, for e x a m p l e , o f the ill-fated biocriminology o f the V i o l e n c e
Initiative sponsored by the N a t i o n a l Institute o f M e n t a l H e a l t h . 3
G e n e t i c studies o f violent behavior have e x a m i n e d , in the main,

heritability and crime. Typically, this has involved research on m o n o -
zygotic (identical) and dizygotic (nonidentical) twins in an attempt t o

tease out the varying influences o f genetics and the environment. T h i s
has generated conflicting o u t c o m e s ; differences in m e t h o d o l o g y and
problems with the definition and measurement o f the variables under
study have undermined the reliability and validity o f the results (see
Turner, 1994).
Neural and physiological factors have also been implicated in
the genesis o f violent behavior. Although genes w e r e thought t o influ-
ence aggression or violence by acting on the central nervous system,
n o w physiology rather than genetics is thought t o c o n t r o l aggression.
According t o this n e w view, l o w arousal may be associated with the
absence o f a fear response to a high-risk situation, and this may be
associated with the suppression o f pituitary h o r m o n e s that increase
the likelihood o f avoidance behaviors. O t h e r b i o c h e m i c a l factors,
such as differences in serotonin levels, are thought t o be linked t o
aggression as well (see T u r n e r , 1 9 9 4 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , studies have
also shown a relationship between traumatic brain injury and sub-
sequent verbal and physical aggression (Warnken, Rosenbaum,
F l e t c h e r , H ö g e , & Adelman, 1 9 9 4 ) . Indeed, R o s e n b a u m , Höge,
Adelman, W a r n k e n , F l e t c h e r , and Kane ( 1 9 9 4 ) found that males
with head injuries were six times m o r e likely than their noninjured
counterparts t o engage in aggressive behavior toward their female
partners.
H o w e v e r , h o r m o n e s , with their important role in fetal and ado-
lescent development, are most prominently featured in biological
explanations o f aggressive or violent behavior. Androgens, particu-
larly testosterone, have been extensively studied. R e s e a r c h on humans
and primates has sought t o determine the role played by such hor-
m o n e s in violent and criminal behavior (see Archer, 1 9 9 1 ) . Again,
methodological problems have led t o equivocal results, leading at least
o n e critic t o conclude that variations in aggression or violence c a n n o t
be a c c o u n t e d for by genetic or h o r m o n a l factors alone ( T u r n e r , 1 9 9 4 ) .
Nevertheless, clinical reports o f aberrant behaviors continue t o sug-
gest that physiological factors may play a critical role in the produc-
tion o f certain e x t r e m e forms o f violence. T h e consumption o f
anabolic steroids by athletes, for e x a m p l e , has been the topic o f much
medical and legal debate. Psychiatric evidence o f symptomatology,
including heightened irritability, grandiosity, paranoid delusions, hal-
lucinations, and impulsivity culminating in episodes o f violence, is not
u n c o m m o n a m o n g heavy steroid users (see, for e x a m p l e , Pope &
Katz, 1 9 9 0 ) .
Bodily Harm 55
Evolutionary approaches to violence emphasize the intense c o m -

petition between males for access t o reproductive females. T h i s c o m -
petition may not necessarily assume the form o f violent confrontation,
but it may include competition within the social and political arena,
especially competition that enhances reproductive opportunities.
Consequently, resources other than physical strength and prowess
may inform the struggle between males. Intrasexual c o m p e t i t i o n
between males o f many species, including Homo sapiens, is viewed as
integral t o evolutionary processes (Wilson & Daly, 1 9 8 5 ) . C o m p e t i -
tive and perhaps dangerous risk-taking is therefore posited as an
"evolved aspect o f masculine psychology" (Wilson & Daly, 1 9 8 5 ,
p. 6 6 ) . T h i s assertion is based on a recognition o f the importance o f
sexual selection to evolution; it does not, however, imply that m e n ' s
violence is genetically determined. It does, nevertheless, imply that
violence performs a useful function: It is a means t o defend and pro-
tect the self, and to subdue, expel, or eradicate a reproductive c o m p e t -
itor. V i o l e n c e , then, c a n n o t be dismissed as pathological. Daly and
W i l s o n ( 1 9 9 4 ) assert, "Dangerous acts are adaptive choices if posi-
tive fitness c o n s e q u e n c e s offset the possible negative c o n s e q u e n c e s "
(p. 2 6 8 ) .
V i o l e n c e against w o m e n is also explained by reference to m e n ' s
reproductive interests. Sexual infidelity, a b a n d o n m e n t o f the relation-
ship, o r conflicts over parental investment in raising offspring can b e
catalysts to violence. M a l e sexual jealousy propels the violent re-
sponse (Daly, W i l s o n , & W e g h o r s t , 1 9 8 2 ) , which is a tool wielded t o
control the behavior o f a (potential) reproductive partner (Daly &
W i l s o n , 1 9 8 8 a , 1 9 8 8 b , 1 9 8 9 , 1 9 9 0 ) . Y o u n g men are disproportion-
ately at risk o f being caught up in violent events, either as perpetrators
or victims. T h i s risk-prone behavior derives, according to Daly and
W i l s o n ( 1 9 9 4 ) , from selection pressures that operated in the r e m o t e
past. Y o u n g men were e x p e c t e d t o demonstrate continuing c o m p e t i -
tive success in order t o sustain their position in the group and t o main-
tain access t o their chosen mate. Failure to achieve this could result in
ostracism within the c o m m u n i t y and the long-term denial o f repro-
ductive opportunities. Daly and W i l s o n ( 1 9 9 4 ) call this the young
male syndrome (see also W i l s o n & Daly, 1 9 8 5 ) .
An evolutionary approach must account for the variation in the
levels o f violence against w o m e n reported in different societies and
for the uneven use o f violence in a society at any particular time.
Smuts ( 1 9 9 2 ) believes that situational factors are central t o an expla-
nation o f this c o n u n d r u m . Employing an evolutionary framework,
Smuts proposes several hypotheses regarding these varying patterns o f

violence. She claims that violence against w o m e n is m o r e prevalent
when alliances between w o m e n are weak and alliances between men
are valued and strong, and when w o m e n lack support from their
family o f origin. W o m e n ' s exposure t o violence increases when rela-
tionships between males are less egalitarian and when m e n ' s c o n t r o l
o f material and social resources increases. Although these s o c i o -
biological perspectives o n aggression and v i o l e n c e remain c o n t e n t i o u s
(Segerstrale, 1 9 9 0 ) , they c o n t i n u e , for many, t o possess significant
explanatory power.
Sociological and psychological perspectives on aggression and
violence encompass a n u m b e r o f diverse theoretical positions. Social
structural accounts emphasize the ways in which the organization o f
society generates the conditions conducive t o violence (Hatty, Davis,
& B u r k e , 1 9 9 6 ) . T h i s relates t o the distribution o f power in society
and frequently contains reference t o gender. F o r e x a m p l e , J e f f H e a r n
( 1 9 9 6 a ) notes, " W h e n violence is understood as fundamental t o gen-
der, and power is recognized as adhering to all social relationships,
then a different kind o f social theory is required: o n e that simulta-
neously deals with differences, conflict, and forms o f violent c o n t a c t "
(p. 3 5 ) . Feminist accounts o f violence against w o m e n are, in general,
premised on the insertion o f power at the center o f the explanatory
discourse (see Caputi, 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 8 9 ; D o b a s h & D o b a s h , 1 9 7 9 , 1 9 9 2 ;
Kelly, 1 9 8 8 ; S t a n k o , 1 9 8 5 ; Y l l ö & B o g r a d , 1 9 8 8 ) .
Psychocultural accounts o f aggression and violence locate the
source o f the explanation at the level o f the actors themselves (Ross,
1 9 9 2 ) . T h e s e accounts c o n c e n t r a t e on the effects o f socialization, and
on the beliefs, cognitions, and personality characteristics o f both vio-
lent individuals and their victims (Petersen & Davies, 1 9 9 7 ) . B e l o w ,
I consider various applications o f this perspective.
Social learning theory (Bandura, 1 9 7 3 , 1 9 7 7 , 1 9 8 6 ) deals with
the triadic relationship between environment, behavior, and cognitive
attributes. Stith and Farley ( 1 9 9 3 ) , for e x a m p l e , tested a predictive
model o f severe relationship violence utilizing social learning theory.
T h e y found that observing marital violence as a child had only an indi-
rect effect on later relationship violence. It had a direct effect, h o w -
ever, on the perpetrator's approval o f this violence. F u r t h e r m o r e ,
involvement in marital violence, emerging out o f the m a t r i x o f every-
day experiences, instilled p o o r self-concept and l o w self-esteem in the
violent male.
T h e frustration-aggression theory proposed by B e r k o w i t z ( 1 9 6 9 )
originally held that increases in frustration can lead to displays o f
Bodily Harm 57
aggressive behavior. A revision o f this theory proposed that aversive

events that instigate negative affect can produce aggressive behavior
(Berkowitz, 1 9 8 9 ) . T h i s theory broadens the earlier hypothesis:
Aversive events are thought t o include psychological and physical
pain, in addition t o the blocking o f goals. T h i s contrasts the social in-
teractionist perspective, which emphasizes the i m p o r t a n c e o f trans-
actions between individuals and which does n o t suggest a direct
c o n n e c t i o n between negative affect and aggression (see Felson, 1 9 9 2 ) .
Personality trait approaches t o aggression and violence search for
typical or defining characteristics that distinguish, on a statistically
significant basis, between violent and nonviolent individuals (see
Barnett, Fagan, & B o o k e r , 1 9 9 1 ; M a i u r o , C a h n , V i t a l i a n o , W a g n e r ,
& Z e g r e e , 1 9 8 8 ) . T h i s approach often generates profiles o f assaultive
or aggressive individuals. Meaningful profiles o f the male likely t o
engage in partner violence, however, have proven elusive ( H a m b e r g e r
& Hastings, 1 9 8 6 , 1 9 9 1 ) , which raises doubts about the validity and
utility o f typologies o f assaultive men (see G o n d o l f , 1 9 8 8 ; Hastings &
H a m b e r g e r , 1 9 8 8 ) . Critics o f the personality trait approach point t o
the fact that such research is based mainly on detected or volunteer
samples and, therefore, may not yield representative results ( T o l m a n
& B e n n e t t , 1 9 9 0 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , this research c a n n o t provide an
explanation for the link between personality traits and behavior (see
Bersani, C h e n , Pendleton, & D e n t o n , 1 9 9 2 ) .
T h e r e has also been significant interest in the contribution o f lan-
guage and discourse t o theories about aggression and violence. H a n s
T o c h ( 1 9 9 3 ) points t o the importance o f public or official accounts o f
violent actions, especially those provided by the perpetrator. T h e for-
mulation o f these accounts, according to T o c h , is a means to provide
either an excuse or a justification for the violence. An excuse is an
admission regarding the violent acts, but not an admission o f responsi-
bility for those acts. A justification is an admission o f responsibility,
but also a denial o f the c o n d e m n a t o r y nature o f the violent acts. Public
accounts o f violence, generally prepared for audiences that adjudicate,
such as authority figures or powerful institutions, are intended t o
lessen the likelihood o f punishment or the severity o f the sanction.
Private accounts, in contrast, are designed for consumption by peers
or intimates in c o n t e x t s characterized by shared social values, with
interactions based on loyalty and comradeship. Public or private
accounts may discount the level o f violence or its effects. T h e y may
also invite empathy with the circumstances surrounding the violence
and with the violent actor himself, while encouraging relative distance
between the audience and the victim o f violence.
T o c h also draws a distinction between the ways in which violence

itself is conceived. T o c h notes that violence may be understood as
good or bad; g o o d violence is deployed for a just cause. It may redress
a loss; it may avenge an incident o f bad v i o l e n c e ; or it may restore
order and balance t o the social system. V i o l e n c e is viewed as g o o d if
there is consensus regarding the worthiness o f the goals underlying it
and the appropriateness o f the means used t o achieve these objectives.
Narratives about this g o o d violence are stories about c o m m e n d a b l e
violence. T o c h labels these narratives "war stories." Such stories
mythologize violence within the group, romanticize the actors and
their behaviors, engage in self-congratulation, and reinforce reputa-
tions for bravery in dealing with the avowed enemy.
O f course, talk about violence c o m m u n i c a t e s profound messages
about gender in society. M e n ' s accounts o f violence within the family,
especially violence against a female partner, may minimize, excuse,
deny, or justify the use o f violence (see H e a r n , 1 9 9 8 ) . M e n may e x -
clude certain behaviors from the definition o f violence—verbal o r sex-
ual abuse, for e x a m p l e — t h e r e b y slicing away large parts o f the violent
experience (see G o o d m a n , Koss, Fitzgerald, Russo, & Kerta, 1 9 9 3 ;
Koss, G o o d m a n , B r o w n e , Fitzgerald, Keita, & Russo, 1 9 9 4 ) . M e n
may absent themselves from the c o n s e q u e n c e s o f their actions by
constructing self-portraits based on restraint and self-control under
" n o r m a l " circumstances. M e n may also employ particular rhetorical
devices t o reinforce the contours o f their version o f reality—of their
entitlement t o use violence and o f their interpretation o f the w o m a n
and her presumed attitudes or behavior. In analyzing the statements o f
violent men, Adams, T o w n s , and Gavey ( 1 9 9 5 ) found evidence o f cul-
turally pervasive discourses o f male d o m i n a n c e , including a discourse
o f natural entitlement. T h e s e discourses were the resources that indi-
vidual men depended on to rationalize their behavior. T h e specific
texts o f m e n ' s speech about violence revealed a number o f t h e m e s ; for
e x a m p l e , they demonstrated a reliance on ambiguity, a strategic
maneuver intended t o confuse those beyond the relationship and t o
attack the w o m a n ' s sense o f certainty. M e n ' s speech also contained
global statements that served as indicators o f omniscient thoughts.
T h e s e were often statements about "the way things are in the w o r l d , "
authoritative statements dispelling the legitimacy o f another point o f
view. All o f these speech acts prepare the ground for violence, support
the man's use o f violence, and psychologically destablize the victim o f
the abuse. Consequently, narratives about violence, and the discourses
that underpin these narratives, are central t o the patterning o f vio-
lence in society.
Bodily Harm 59
Anne Campbell ( 1 9 9 3 ) argues that there are clear gender differ-

ences in the meanings ascribed by men and w o m e n t o aggression and
violence. M e n view aggressive or violent acts as a means t o assert or
maintain c o n t r o l over others. T h e s e violent acts are an attempt t o re-
affirm a positive self-concept, enhance self-esteem, and reclaim inter-
personal power. T h e y are also an attempt t o pacify and tame the
"disruptive and frightening forces in the w o r l d a r o u n d t h e m " ( C a m p -
bell, 1 9 9 3 , p. 1 ) . W o m e n , in contrast, view aggressive or violent acts
as a failure o f self-control, as the literal expression o f overwhelming
anger and frustration leading to guilt and self-recrimination. C a m p -
bell asserts that w e acquire gendered social representations about
aggression as we develop. T h e s e representations are socially condi-
tioned ideas about the entitlement to aggression, the form aggression
might assume, and the meanings w e might attribute to it. Campbell
notes that, by adulthood, these social representations describe parallel
but divergent ideas about aggression, which leads t o serious misunder-
standings and misinterpretations: M e n and w o m e n have great diffi-
culty in finding c o m m o n ground on the issues (see also C a m p b e l l &
Muncer, 1994).
B e l o w , I consider the interpretations and responses to violence
evident in the c o n t e m p o r a r y cultural landscape. It is unmistakable in
this discussion that certain theoretical explanations o f violent c o n d u c t
possess m o r e potency than others; these are the explanations that
direct social policy and that mould our everyday experiences.
New Dangers, New Safeguards
Fin de siecle America . . . has created and commodified "ambient

fear"—a kind of total fear that saturates day-to-day living, prodding
and silently antagonizing, but never speaking its own name. This
anxiety manifests itself symptomatically as a cultural fascination
with monsters—a fixation that is born of the twin desire to name
that which is difficult to apprehend, and to domesticize (and there-
fore disempower) that which threatens.
—Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
The decency and civility of our society has been fractured. Women
are terrified, men are feeling feeble. . . . [W]e just want to stop the
killing.
—Denis Glennon, father of Ciara, murdered
by an unknown serial killer
T o d a y , public c o n c e r n about mass killings is widespread, but during

the 1 9 8 0 s acts o f serial violence tended t o stir c o m m u n i t y ire and fear.
It was during this decade, according t o Philip J e n k i n s ( 1 9 9 4 ) , that
serial homicide b e c a m e defined as a major social problem. J e n k i n s
argues that the threat o f serial murder l o o m e d large in the public
imagination in the m i d - 1 9 8 0 s . T h e news and entertainment media
showcased the violent acts undertaken by individuals such as Charles
Starkweather, T e d Bundy, David Berkowitz, and J o h n W a y n e G a c y .
T h e stereotype o f the serial killer as the white male w h o preferred t o
kill young w o m e n or young gay men began to form. F u r t h e r m o r e ,
serial killers were seen t o be different, lacking the normal psychic
apparatus that constrains an individual o r attaches o n e human being
to another. In his b o o k Serial Killers ( 1 9 8 8 ) , J o e l N o r r i s informs us
that these offenders "belong to a newly identified class o f criminals . . .
motiveless killers, recreational killers, spree killers, or lust murderers
whose numbers are increasing at an alarming r a t e " (p. 1 5 ) . N o t sur-
prisingly, these transgressive figures b e c a m e the object o f intense offi-
cial scrutiny and popular speculation (see, for e x a m p l e , C a m e r o n &
Frazer, 1 9 8 7 ; Egger, 1 9 9 0 ; H i c k e y , 1 9 9 1 ; H o l m e s & D e B u r g e r ,
1988; Keppel, 1 9 8 9 ; Leyton, 1 9 8 6 a , 1 9 8 6 b ; Linedecker, 1 9 8 7 ;
O ' B r i e n , 1 9 8 5 ; Ressler & S c h a c h t m a n , 1 9 9 2 , 1 9 9 7 ) .
T h e s e killers b o r e the mark o f difference: T h e y e x e c u t e d their
crimes at the margins o f human society; they e x t e n d e d the limits o f
human cruelty, crossing borders into forbidden territory and entering
new behavioral domains. T h e i r excursions beyond the bounds o f
socially acceptable behavior seemed to hint at the possible breakdown
o f the existing cultural order. It was claimed that "male serial killers
represent the darkest, most sinister side o f human e x i s t e n c e " (Hickey,
1 9 9 1 , p. 1 2 8 ) . Disturbed and violated from within, society was
gripped by new levels o f fear, a fear o f annihilation by something not
quite human, something monstrous. T h i s is especially the case for
serial killers like Jeffrey D a h m e r , a man w h o confounded societal
understandings o f normalcy by dismembering and devouring his vic-
tims. T h e fact that D a h m e r was also gay was deeply unsettling; this
bizarre m i x o f cannibalism and homosexuality served to underscore
D a h m e r ' s monstrousness.
T h e political climate o f the 1 9 8 0 s and 9 0 s supported the develop-
m e n t o f a retributivist approach t o crime and justice. T h e stereotype
o f the sexually deviant serial killer nurtured the growth o f this increas-
ingly punitive perspective on violent offenders. Novels, true-crime
b o o k s , magazines, and academic works seemed t o concur on the size
and scope o f the problem, and on the urgency for greater efforts at
Bodily Harm 61
law enforcement. Philip J e n k i n s ( 1 9 9 4 ) argues that such sentiments

provided the ideal political c o n t e x t for the Federal Bureau o f Investi-
gation's Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU) in the U.S. D e p a r t m e n t o f J u s -
tice t o e x p a n d its purview and t o influence the public and the upper
echelons o f government on issues o f crime and punishment. H e claims
that the exaggeration o f the problem o f serial killing in the United
States served the ideological interests o f the B S U and o t h e r social c o n -
trol agencies. J e n k i n s concludes that the social problem o f serial h o m i -
cide was contrived out o f sensationalized material, appropriated by
political groups, and seized upon by a fearful and vengeful public.
O f course, retributive justice models have not always been in as-
cendance. Foucault ( 1 9 7 8 ) demonstrates that in the 1 9 t h century the
law was witness t o the medicalization o f crime, madness, and the dan-
gerous individual. Criminal psychiatry began to define itself as a "pa-
thology o f the monstrous" (Foucault, 1 9 7 8 , p. 5 ) . T h e crimes observed
by the psychiatrists were "against nature," "without r e a s o n , " and
unintelligible (Foucault, 1 9 7 8 , p. 5 ) . T h e medico-legal term invoked
t o describe this condition was monomania, and it called up a specific
idea o f the dangerous individual as anonymous and unpredictable—
invisible before the crime and undifferentiated from his peers:
Everyman.
Medico-legal knowledge o f the dangerous individual provided the
ground for the evolution o f the clinical model o f dangerousness, the
first conceptual approach t o the management o f dangerous offenders
in civil society (Petrunik, 1 9 9 4 ) . T h i s model assumed the existence o f
an individual pathology that diminished legal responsibility, and it
suggested that treatment rather than punishment was the appropriate
response. T h e clinical model was displaced in many jurisdictions by
the justice model (Petrunik, 1 9 9 4 ) , which advocated an increased
emphasis on the offender's rights, due process, and a minimal intru-
sion on the offender's long-term prospects. T h e severity o f the current
offence and the offender's criminal history were paramount in sen-
tencing. Central t o the justice model was accountability for criminal
behavior by those not deemed insane.
T h e most recent approach to conceptualizing and managing dan-
gerousness is the c o m m u n i t y protection model. Emerging in the
1 9 8 0 s , this model drew on the heightened public fear about sen-
sationalized and bizarre killings, and it led to legislative and p r o c e -
dural change. T h e interests o f the so-called general c o m m u n i t y were
p r o m o t e d with these changes: T h e focus on public safety, victim's
rights, and revised understandings o f punishment has led t o increased
recourse to indeterminate confinement, post-sentence detention, and
public notification o f offender release. As w e see b e l o w , this m o d e l

continues to h o l d sway. Consequently, it is w o r t h looking at the legis-
lative maneuvers undertaken under the auspices o f this m o d e l t o un-
cover the implicit or explicit c o n c e p t i o n s o f violent behaviors en-
c o d e d within it.
O n an explicit level, it would appear that adult male sexuality
underpins the construction o f dangerousness in the c o m m u n i t y pro-
tection m o d e l . A plethora o f recent legislation deals with what might
be defined as sexual psychopaths and their insidious relatives, sexually
violent predators. Sexual psychopaths are often defined against tra-
ditional psychiatric criteria o f psychopathology; that is, they are
viewed as affected by a mental illness that predisposes t h e m t o c o m m i t
sexual offenses, which constitute a m e n a c e t o the health and safety o f
others. Typically, such psychopathology is understood t o affect the
individual's emotional or volitional, rather than intellectual, capaci-
ties. T h e countless laws n o w dealing with sexually violent predators
often take detected sexual transgression as their starting point. In the
state o f W a s h i n g t o n , for e x a m p l e , a sexually violent predator has been
defined as a person convicted or charged with a crime o f sexual vio-
lence w h o suffers from an abnormality o f mind or personality that
makes it likely the person will engage in predatory acts o f sexual vio-
lence if he or she is not confined in a secure facility. T h e statute in
California, likewise, refers t o convictions for sexually violent offenses
against t w o or m o r e victims and to the presence o f a diagnosed mental
disorder.
T h e express purpose o f these laws is t o render visible and to c o n -
trol the behavior o f the multiple and repeat s e x offenders w h o are
judged to be disproportionately responsible for the volume of
detected or r e p o r t e d sex offenses. T h e s e laws emphasize the danger o f
recidivism posed by child s e x offenders and by mentally disordered
offenders. T h e thrust o f the legislation is t o e x p o s e the geographical
m o v e m e n t s o f convicted sex offenders and other problematic individ-
uals t o the gaze o f law e n f o r c e m e n t officials and m e m b e r s o f the local
c o m m u n i t y . Sexually violent predator laws seek t o protect the public,
first, by introducing indeterminate detention (e.g., civil c o m m i t m e n t
on release from prison) and, sometimes, mandatory treatment; sec-
ond, by requiring that released sex offenders be registered with local
authorities; and, third, by providing for varying degrees o f public
access t o this registered data.
Civil c o m m i t m e n t has proven t o be especially controversial in this
n e w regime. Legislatures and the court system have oscillated between
diametrically opposed perspectives on the civil c o m m i t m e n t o f s e x
Bodily Harm 63
offenders. According to J a n u s ( 1 9 9 6 ) , the U.S. S u p r e m e C o u r t has

veered towards a therapeutic jurisprudence, which places mental dis-
order at the c o r e o f the debate about the limits o f civil c o m m i t m e n t . In
doing so, the court has rejected the jurisprudence o f prevention—a
series o f legal strategies adopted t o protect the public against future
harm. In this latter calculus, mental disorder b e c o m e s irrelevant; the
state's interest in the preventing violence outweighs the individual's
interest in the circumstance o f liberty. T h e jurisprudence o f preven-
tion approach is linked historically to traditional models o f public
health, in which there is a strong appeal t o the idea o f c o n t a g i o n and a
clear reliance on the practices o f quarantine. I f such models are
e x t e n d e d to law, they absolve the state o f the n e e d t o prove the exis-
tence o f mental illness t o justify civil c o m m i t m e n t . H o w e v e r , as I have
noted, the U . S . Supreme C o u r t has rejected the jurisprudence o f pre-
vention position, holding that mental disorder is a constitutional
requirement for civil c o m m i t m e n t .
It could be argued that the pursuit o f civil c o m m i t m e n t as a
means o f reducing sexual violence is seriously flawed. J a n u s ( 1 9 9 6 )
maintains,
Criminal proceedings focus on what the defendant did, and the

intent with which the defendant acted. In contrast, in sex offender
commitment cases, the respondent is treated as an object to be
examined and evaluated. . . . The language of commitment is
the language of determinism, not free agency. It is the language of
classification—objectifying and demeaning, (p. 16)
F u r t h e r m o r e , in addition to the problematics o f predicting dangerous-

ness, there are definitional dilemmas surrounding mental disorders
generally (see Quinsey, 1 9 9 5 ; S c h o p p & Sturgis, 1 9 9 5 ; W a k e f i e l d ,
1992).
Laws c o n c e r n i n g sexually violent predators may be regarded as a
political and legal response t o the public's strident and incessant asser-
tion o f the right both t o k n o w about the potential dangers posed by
those in their midst and t o find protection from those individuals. A
violent incident in 1 9 9 4 provided the catalyst for many o f these legal
reforms. In 1 9 9 4 in N e w J e r s e y , seven-year-old M e g a n K a n k a was
kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered by convicted sex of-
fender Jesse T i m m e n d e q u a s . T h e killing o f young M e g a n K a n k a gal-
vanized the nation.
In O c t o b e r , 1 9 9 4 , three m o n t h s after M e g a n K a n k a ' s death, N e w
J e r s e y passed the legislation familiarly called M e g a n ' s L a w (N.J.S.A.
2 C : 7-1 to 7 - 1 1 ) , which requires convicted sex offenders to register

with law enforcement officials, and sets in place a mechanism t o alert
the public, i f necessary, to prevent or resolve incidents o f sexual abuse
or to attend to cases o f missing persons. Under this law, offenders are
categorized according to the seriousness o f the offense, their offense
history, the characteristics o f the offender, and c o m m u n i t y support. I f
offenders are classified as high risk, the prosecutor is required to
notify all m e m b e r s o f the public likely t o c o m e into contact with the
offender. Information provided can include the offender's physical
description, address, place o f employment or schooling, and the
license plate number o f the offender's vehicle. Although the phrase
"sexually violent p r e d a t o r " is n o t employed as a descriptive category
in the legislation, reference is made to offenders w h o c o m m i t non-
sexual "predatory acts" on children and to the mentally ill w h o might
"prey on o t h e r s . "
In 1 9 9 4 , the J a c o b Wetterling Crimes Against Children and S e x -
ually V i o l e n t Offender Registration Act ( § 1 7 0 1 0 1 o f the V i o l e n t
C r i m e C o n t r o l and L a w E n f o r c e m e n t Act o f 1 9 9 4 ) , c o m m o n l y called
the Wetterling Act, was also passed. T h i s federal act requires the state-
wide registration o f two classes o f offenders: those convicted o f a
criminal offense, in particular a sexually violent offense, against a vic-
tim w h o is a m i n o r ; and those defined as sexually violent predators.
By the close o f 1 9 9 6 , all 5 0 states had passed legislation requiring the
registration o f sex offenders (see Finn, 1 9 9 7 ) .
T h e W e t t e r l i n g Act defined a sexually violent predator as "a per-
son w h o has been convicted o f a sexually violent offense and w h o
suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes
that person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses"
( § 1 7 0 1 0 1 [a][3][C]). T h e act defines a mental abnormality as a condi-
tion "involving a disposition to c o m m i t criminal sexual a c t s " that
make the person "a m e n a c e " to others. T h e act offers n o definition o f
personality disorder; consequently, states are free either to rely on
standard diagnostic criteria, such as that contained in the fourth edi-
tion o f the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
c o m m o n l y called the DSM-W (APA 1 9 9 4 ) , or to devise their own cri-
teria ( § 1 7 0 1 0 1 [ a ] [ 3 ] [ D ] ) .
Interestingly, the act defines a predatory act as o n e "directed at
a stranger or at a person with w h o m a relationship has been es-
tablished or p r o m o t e d for the primary purpose o f victimization"
( § 1 7 0 1 0 1 [ a ] [ 3 ] [ E ] ) . T h i s construction o f predation is n o t e w o r t h y
for its emphasis on public, rather than private, relationships—for its
Bodily Harm 65
focus on strangers, albeit manipulative and devious strangers, rather

than destructive and dangerous fathers, stepfathers, uncles, or o t h e r
kin. T h e legislation deepens the presumed divide between the b e -
nevolent, safe, and (re)productive sexual behaviors supposedly
enacted by men in a domestic or familial setting and the malevolent,
dangerous, and damaging sexual behaviors enacted by a minority o f
apparently perverse, strange, and frightening men in the public arena.
T h i s d i c h o t o m y is both false and misleading. Clearly, the push t o
recognize the reality o f m e n ' s violent behavior in the h o m e still
meets resistance.
A 1 9 9 6 a m e n d m e n t t o the W e t t e r l i n g Act requires states t o estab-
lish registries o f sex offenders and t o inform the public about violent
sex offenders released from prison or released on parole. According t o
the D e p a r t m e n t o f J u s t i c e ( 1 9 9 7 ) , the federal M e g a n ' s L a w effectively
negates the privacy provisions attached t o registration data under the
W e t t e r l i n g Act and strengthens the language relevant t o the release o f
information provisions. T h e a m e n d m e n t sets down the principle that
"information must be released to m e m b e r s o f the public as necessary
t o protect the public from registered offenders" (Department o f J u s -
tice, 1 9 9 7 , p. 1 6 1 8 9 ) . T h i s release o f information is based on the c o n -
cept o f specific risk assessments o f registered offenders.
At a c e r e m o n y arranged to coincide with the signing o f M e g a n ' s
Law in M a y , 1 9 9 6 , President Clinton relied on frontier r h e t o r i c t o
c o m m u n i c a t e his message. H e declared,
Today, America warns: If you dare to prey on our children, the law
will follow you wherever you go, state to state, town to town.
Today, America circles the wagons around our children.
Megan's Law will protect tens of millions of families from the dread
of what they do not know. It will give more peace of mind to our
parents.
Such sentiments clearly imply that s e x offenders—even sexually vio-

lent predators—are akin t o "marauding Indians" o r stealthy wolves,
watching and waiting for an opportunity to abduct and harm Amer-
ica's most vulnerable and i n n o c e n t individuals. Y e t w e might ask the
question: W h o constitutes this America that threatens t o hunt down
the enemy? W e might also ask: W h a t are we to do about the institu-
tionalized and routinized abuse o f children in families, schools,
churches, and recreational groups? C l i n t o n ' s p r o n o u n c e m e n t is silent
on these transgressions; it assumes, instead, the existence o f an identi-
fiable and visible O t h e r . T h i s O t h e r does not resemble the law-abiding

and socially responsible citizen. H e lurks on the margins with a dis-
ordered mind and a twisted heart, waiting t o p o u n c e on his frail
quarry. H e is at best barely human, and at worst s o m e kind o f savage,
untamed beast.
T h i s splitting o f the forms o f masculinity into the respectable and
the dangerous mirrors the way in which masculinity is constructed in
legal doctrine. Collier ( 1 9 9 5 ) notes that the law distinguishes between
intrafamilial and extrafamilial masculinities. T h e former are presumed
t o be nonthreatening, and the latter are presumed t o be potentially
destructive. T h i s distinction reflects the dualisms that underpin gen-
der relations: public/private, w o r k / h o m e , and dangerous/safe. T h e
attribution o f danger to the public domain has its origins in the 1 9 t h
century, when anxiety about working-class males, loosed from the
moral bonds o f d o m i n a n t society, reached exaggerated p r o p o r t i o n s
(Collier, 1 9 9 5 ) . T h e family man was legally defined in opposition t o
4
the so-called dangerous classes. T h i s respectable family man is the

quintessential legal subject: reasonable, responsible, and e c o n o m i c a l l y
successful. H o w e v e r , t o suggest that intrafamilial masculinity is anti-
thetical t o crime and violence is t o subscribe t o t o x i c ideologies about
gender and society. It is t o relegate the monstrous t o the zone b e y o n d
the family, outside the domestic.
Indeed, w e might argue that the clutch o f laws passed since the
killing o f M e g a n K a n k a in 1 9 9 4 contains a n e w "pathology o f the
m o n s t r o u s " (Foucault, 1 9 7 8 , p. 5 ) . W h a t is the significance o f this
shift? W e k n o w that monsters surface at a time o f cultural crisis, when
existing structures and categories are beginning to tremble ( C o h e n ,
1 9 9 6 a ) . T h e instability o f these systems o f order sets the g r o u n d w o r k
for the possible collapse o f borders. T h e failure o f the borders to
hold—to contain and separate that which should not mingle—
unleashes the potential for border crossings, for entry into t a b o o
terrain. F u r t h e r m o r e , monsters undo binary oppositions. T h e y are
"disturbing hybrids," w h o "resist attempts t o include them in any sys-
tematic structuration" ( C o h e n , 1 9 9 6 a , p. 3 ) . T h i s is what renders the
monster culturally and socially dangerous. T h r o u g h engagement with
monsters, writ large on c i n e m a or television screens, we seek t o allay
our anxieties about the category crisis that threatens t o imperil our
ontological e x p e r i e n c e .
W h a t kinds o f category crises confront us today? W h a t kinds o f
b o r d e r crossings are implied? T o answer these questions, w e n e e d t o
inspect the nature and character o f c o n t e m p o r a r y monsters. I have
Bodily Harm 67
argued in this chapter that the male and the male body are n o w ,
through specific readings, culturally p r o d u c e d as monstrous. T h e
monstrous figure is the male w h o misdirects his sexuality, w h o desires
prepubescent children, and w h o refuses t o fit within the gendered,
heterosexual order, with its n o r m s o f family, domesticity, and p r o -
ductive labor. T h e serious violent predator—the " s e x m o n s t e r " — i s a
figure o f excess (Braidotti, 1 9 9 4 ) , o f unrestrained and unregulated
public desire. As W a r n e r ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes, "Alongside the warrior, the
figure o f the sex criminal has deep roots in the cultural formation o f
masculinity" (p. 2 3 ; see also Caputi, 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 8 9 ; Smith, 1 9 8 9 ) .
T h e predatory pedophile and the roving serial or mass killer have
emerged t o haunt society. T h e s e cultural creations, and their living
manifestations, disturb the borders between the categories o f adult/
child and pleasure/pain. I believe it is also possible t o argue that such
monstrous aberrations distort the categorical distinctions between
different kinds o f masculinities. T h e y b o t h represent and signify a pro-
found category crisis around gender, especially the proper constitu-
tion o f masculinity.
T h e new pathology implicated in the sexually violent predator
laws, embedded in the criteria o f abnormality developed by the psy-
chiatric profession, conjures into being a malevolent and foreboding
figure o f religious dimensions. Indeed, Rosi Braidotti ( 1 9 9 4 ) declares,
" T h e monster is the bodily incarnation o f difference from the basic
human n o r m ; it is a deviant, and a-nomaly; it is a b n o r m a l " (p. 7 8 ) .
Although these n e w laws have been subject t o extensive and ongoing
litigation regarding their constitutionality (see J a n u s , 1 9 9 6 ) , this ratio-
nal challenge t o the laws' integrity will n o t erase the predatory male
figure from the public imagination. J a n u s ( 1 9 9 6 ) cites the following
legal reading o f o n e such figure within the proceedings o f the M i n n e -
sota C o u r t o f Appeal, 1 9 9 5 :
The trial court cited testimony that Toulou [the defendant] was like
a wild, predatory animal, which will strike when it is hungry and
when prey is available unless deterred by other larger predators. The
court found that Toulou is "totally dependent on external forces to
conform to society's mores," and that a "removal of those external
controls, however, will predictably result in [Toulou] acting on his
impulses." (p. 4 0 )
T h i s figure serves t o distract the culture from the grimy and seedy
activities o f ordinary m e n : T h e latter are displaced by the specter o f
sexualized evil. Society is cleaved by v i o l e n c e — a terrible violence
laden with abnormal intent, born o f difference, and directed at the

youngest and most defenseless members o f the c o m m u n i t y .
T h e articulation o f these boundaries between self and O t h e r ,
between ordinary men and predators, shifts the social and legal frame.
W i t h i n this schema, essential human qualities, a c c o r d e d t o all citizens
under liberal d e m o c r a t i c systems, are allocated t o s o m e and denied t o
others. J u s t i c e models based on exclusion and e x t e r m i n a t i o n b e c o m e
possible under these circumstances. V i o l e n c e , coursing through the
veins o f the body politic like a poison, segregates and segments soci-
ety. Citizens are possessed by fear—fear o f neighbors, fear o f strang-
ers, fear o f the u n k n o w n (see Massumi, 1 9 9 3 ) . It is a n e w fear o f
proximity, a rereading o f social distance and physical space. K n o w l -
edge about O t h e r s forearms and forewarns; visibility protects from
the ever present threat o f uncontrolled male sexual impulses.
Fatal Outcomes:
Ordinary Men and Extraordinary Violence
I inhabit a culture which is not simply sexist but occasionally lethal

for women.
—Joan Smith
A balmy summer evening. A beach party. A large group o f teenagers

celebrating a 16-year-old's birthday. A rape. A murder. A 14-year-old
girl dead in the sand, a bloodied r o c k lying beside her head. T h e s e are
the circumstances in which Leigh Leigh, a young Australian w o m a n ,
died in N o v e m b e r 1 9 8 9 . H e r murder, in a small town on the east
coast, sparked outrage. H o w could a teenage girl m e e t with such sav-
age violence at a beach party? T h e b e a c h — t h e quintessential space o f
pleasure and indulgence in the Australian psyche—is usually a safe
place. And teenagers gathering together for a birthday party are n o t
generally viewed as a threat t o each other. In the story o f Leigh Leigh's
brutal death, however, lie the dark secrets nestled at the c o r e o f c o n -
temporary masculinity, especially the nascent strivings o f adolescent
masculinity. F o r s o m e , violence enacted in c o m p a n y is the social glue
that knits together the c o m m u n i t y o f young males. It valorizes the
masculine identity o f each boy, positioning individuals within a
hierarchized order and emphasizing the difference between the gen-
Bodily Harm 69
ders. W i t h i n this system o f domination and submission, coercive

s e x — r a p e — m a y b e c o m e a form o f institutionalized recreation for
young males, an explicit gesture o f group membership.
Lethal violence against w o m e n is the ultimate cultural statement
about the presumed social value o f females. T h e young males at the
tragic beach party told investigating police that o n e particular young
man, n o w serving a 2 0 - y e a r jail sentence for Leigh Leigh's murder,
a n n o u n c e d t o his mates that he was going t o get her drunk so that all
the boys could have intercourse with her. T h a t night Leigh did indeed
c o n s u m e m o r e a l c o h o l than was usual for her. Returning t o the party
very distressed, she claimed that she had been raped by o n e b o y . S h e
was spat on and pushed t o the ground by other males at the party. S h e
stumbled, crying, into the distance and was followed by 18-year-old
M a t t h e w W e b s t e r , the convicted killer. A virgin before the party,
Leigh Leigh suffered multiple, severe genital injuries during the course
o f the evening. T h e r e was also evidence that she was repeatedly hit
with a large r o c k t h r o w n from different directions, implying that
there was m o r e than o n e b o y involved in Leigh's murder. Despite this,
c o m m u n i t y silence descended on the events. In the w e e k following the
crime, only t w o sets o f parents volunteered t o assist the police with
their inquiries. Leigh Leigh's m o t h e r , R o b y n Leigh, claimed that she
had t o leave town due t o the harassment she received when trying t o
piece together the events that had culminated in her daughter's mur-
der. In a subsequent judicial appeal regarding the criminal c o m p e n s a -
tion paid t o Leigh's m o t h e r and sister, the presiding judge asserted
that he had serious doubts about the integrity o f the original police
investigation. T h e partygoers revealed little t o the p o l i c e ; the parents
o f these teenagers w e r e uncooperative; and the police themselves
neglected t o scrutinize thoroughly the statements and the evidence.
T h e y also failed t o lay charges against a number o f young people w h o
admitted c o m m i t t i n g crimes, including sexual assault, at the party. It
is, indeed, remarkable that such serious violence should e n c o u n t e r
such a resistant response. It indicates the e x t e n t t o which m e n ' s vio-
lence against w o m e n , including that c o m m i t t e d by young, suburban
males living at h o m e and attending s c h o o l , is normative: an everyday
occurrence.
W h a t distinguished the violence directed at Leigh Leigh from t h e
routine applications o f abuse in an everyday c o n t e x t was the severity
o f the violence. In other respects, the behavior o f the boys, their par-
ents, the wider c o m m u n i t y , and the police was ordinary. C o n n e l l
( 1 9 9 6 ) is c o r r e c t in stating that masculinities are deeply implicated in

many forms o f violence. B e l o w , I survey the typical scenarios o f mas-
culine violence revealed through homicide reports.
H o m i c i d e , according t o Ken Polk ( 1 9 9 4 ) , can be classified in
terms o f the relationship between the victim and the offender. In his
research, Polk divided homicide into several categories: homicides
characterized by sexual intimacy, homicides characterized by family
intimacy, confrontational homicides, homicides originating in other
crimes, conflict resolution homicides, and mass killings. T h e s e c a t e g o -
ries i n c o r p o r a t e d most forms o f h o m i c i d e .
M a s c u l i n e possessiveness o f a female partner was a staple t h e m e
in homicides between sexual intimates. T h e s e killings constituted 1 9 %
o f the homicides studied by Polk. T w o - t h i r d s w e r e planned, and many
were preceded by intentionally abusive behaviors, such as stalking.
Histories o f violence lay behind many o f these murders. About o n e -
third o f the killers alleged infidelity on the part o f their female part-
ner. T h i s was often dismissed as delusional thinking by those w h o
k n e w the victim. In 2 0 % o f the cases in which a male killed his female
partner, he also ended his own life. M o s t o f these events appeared t o
be murder-suicides.
M a n y homicides are the product o f confrontational struggles
between men (Polk, 1 9 9 4 ) . Such homicides tend t o o c c u r in public
places, frequently in and around licensed premises. Polk alludes t o the
significance o f individual reputation and personal h o n o r in these
homicides. M a n y offenders (and their victims) are w o r k i n g class, and
the violence often involves alcohol or other drugs. T h e killing is n o t
planned but may evolve out o f a fight between t w o or m o r e males.
Offenders and victims are generally strangers or distant acquain-
tances. Typically, one male will issue a public challenge t o the mascu-
line reputation o f another male. T h i s may involve a small gesture or
c o m m e n t ; however, the presence o f an audience and the involvement
o f a l c o h o l inflame the situation. T h e violence often escalates through
stages until the final violent act. ( O n the relationship between violence
and public alcohol consumption, see Hornel, T o m s e n , & T h o m m e n y ,
1 9 9 2 ; T o m s e n , Hornel, & T h o m m e n y , 1 9 9 1 . )
Referring t o these masculine confrontations, S t a n k o and H o b d e l l
( 1 9 9 3 ) state,
Part of men's knowledge involves anticipating and/or avoiding mas-

culine character contests, even if they choose actively to initiate
them. Vulnerability to attack [stems] . . . from situations where the
(later) victim did not start the fight himself or where the "rules"
Bodily Harm 71
changed; for example, with the opponent pulling out a knife,

(p. 4 0 5 )
Polk ( 1 9 9 4 ) also notes that confrontational homicides may result from

racially motivated attacks or acts o f collective violence aimed at m e m -
bers o f minority ethnic groups. T h e s e attacks typically o c c u r in public
thoroughfares.
O t h e r categories o f homicide studied by Polk include lethal vio-
lence inflicted during the course o f a n o t h e r c r i m e , such as burglary,
armed robbery, or drug dealing. Needless t o say, w e a p o n s , especially
guns, are often involved. T h i s violence, which may result in the death
o f the offender or o f his intended victim, occurs mostly between
strangers. Such excessive force may be viewed as integral t o the high-
risk activities o f property offenders. Included under the rubric o f
homicide originating in other crime are professional killings, police
killings, and deaths in custody.
Polk also describes a category o f homicide dedicated t o conflict
resolution or problem solving. Accounting for about 1 0 % o f the
homicides studied, these killings frequently t o o k place between those
w h o had k n o w n each other for s o m e time and w h o had shared
resources o f s o m e kind. Conflict between the individuals had grown
t o unmanageable proportions, and o n e person elected t o settle the
conflict by violent means. In general, these homicides involved males
living on the edge o f respectability. Socially marginal males w e r e m o r e
likely to c h o o s e t o dispose o f problematic individuals than w e r e their
m o r e conventional counterparts. T a k e the case o f R h i n o , as reported
by Polk ( 1 9 9 4 ) . R h i n o had been for s o m e time "a source o f trouble for
his friends" (p. 1 1 9 ) . H e had been accused by his friend, Perry, o f
breaking into Perry's sister's house, stealing a stereo and video, and
perhaps s o m e pills. R h i n o apparently threatened Perry and struck o n e
o f Perry's children. A wild argument ensued. T h i s was followed by a
session o f "serious drinking." Later, o n e o f the people attending the
session suggested t o Perry that they should "kill the scumbag." After
m o r e drinking, the t w o paid a visit t o R h i n o ' s truck. T h e y w o k e
R h i n o , and p r o c e e d e d t o stab him several times. T h e y buried his body
in a shallow grave, later e x h u m i n g it, removing the head, and drop-
ping the headless body down a mineshaft.
Such killings, occurring against a b a c k g r o u n d o f provocation and
inebriation, suggest that responses to a challenge t o masculine author-
ity can c o m e in many forms and lead t o many o u t c o m e s . B e l o w , I
e x a m i n e s o m e o f these variations and consider the implications for the
wider sphere o f gender politics.
Defending the Indefensible:

Rationales for Murder
Is it that ordinary people think that truth is to be defined in terms of

the coherence of a story? Or is it that they take the coherence of a
story to be one of the tests of truth? Indeed, do they think that the
more coherence we see in a story the more likely it is to be true?
—Ian E. Morley
Of the many people I have interviewed over the years relating to

various offences the most cunning, the most manipulative people in
their story-giving are pedophiles.
—Said Morgan, "Killer cop"
In N e w South W a l e s , Australia, three murder cases recently ended

with acquittals. T h e s e acquittals sparked strong c o m m u n i t y c o n c e r n
and a b r o a d fear that these verdicts signaled that it is n o w legally
acceptable to kill another person, that such action will n o t necessarily
result in judicial sanction. T h e s e acquittals also t h r o w light on the
intersection between gender, violence, and the law; they provide a
unique insight into the manner in which masculinities and feminini-
ties, saturated with ideas about reason and e m o t i o n , are constantly
being reaffirmed in law.
O n e case c o n c e r n e d a young pregnant w o m a n , Belinda L o w e ,
w h o admitted killing a drunken flatmate w h o had punched her in the
abdomen. S h e pleaded self-defense, and was acquitted by the jury
within four hours. At her trial, L o w e ' s apprehension o f i m m i n e n t
harm and her feelings o f panic were paramount in the legal argument
for her defense. H e r status as mother-to-be, protecting n o t only her-
self but also her unborn child, was undoubtedly a vital aspect o f the
crime narrative presented to the jury (see Pennington & Hastie,
1 9 9 3 ) . L o w e emerged as a figure o f moral virtue and psychological
strength.
T h e s e c o n d case c o n c e r n e d a young man w h o had, at his father's
behest, shot and killed his former stepmother's new partner. D e a n
W a t e r s ' s defense o f diminished responsibility, arising from exposure
t o his father's brutality and violence, was successful. W a t e r s was por-
trayed in court as a man w h o had been deprived o f his individuality
and lost his will t o assert himself. W e can easily recognize these char-
acteristics as synonymous with e x t r e m e forms o f femininity. W a t e r s
was able t o derive benefit from the contentious but groundbreaking
Bodily Harm 73
legal argument o f battered w o m a n syndrome (Walker, 1 9 8 4 , 1 9 8 9 a ,

1 9 8 9 b , 1 9 9 1 , 1 9 9 4 ) . W a t e r s did not appear a totally feminized figure
in court proceedings, however. Despite the suggestion o f (induced)
psychopathology, he emerged as a credible and sympathetic figure in
large part because o f his history as a successful b o x e r . T h i s counter-
balanced W a t e r s ' s temporary loss o f rationality and free will; his
aggressive and competitive actions as a b o x e r provided ample evi-
dence o f his essential masculinity.
T h e third case c o n c e r n e d a young man w h o shot an alleged child
sex abuser at close range. Said M o r g a n , w h o was then a police officer,
had obtained the victim's address from the confidential data available
on the police computer system, and he had used his police revolver to
shoot the victim. His trial occurred in the midst o f public anxiety
about child sexual abuse and pedophilia, and the apparent failure o f
the criminal justice system to detect, prosecute, or deliver appropriate
punishments to convicted abusers. M o r g a n made much o f his role as
protector in a traditional family o f M i d d l e Eastern background. H e
told the jury that he acted to protect the safety o f three young girls in
his own e x t e n d e d family w h o had alleged abuse. Disavowing revenge
as a motive, M o r g a n stated, "I did not kill the man to right a w r o n g . . . .
I was n o t the jury. I was not the executioner. I was there as the pro-
t e c t o r " (quoted in W o o d l e y , 1 9 9 7 , p. 2 0 ) . M o r g a n relied, further-
m o r e , on masculine metaphorics to p r o m o t e his case. In graphically
depicting the alleged abuse o f the six-year-old, he told the jury, " T h e
pain she would have had to be experiencing while these assaults w e r e
taking place—I liken to a fight between a heavyweight and a flyweight
b o x e r . Y o u k n o w the result before they get into the ring" (quoted in
the Weekend Australian, 1 9 9 7 , p. 2 6 ) . M o r g a n ' s attorneys had already
attempted to plead provocation, but this was rejected by the judge.
T h e y then attempted a variation o f the self-defense plea. T h i s pre-
sented the jury with three choices: to convict o f murder, to convict o f
manslaughter on the grounds o f diminished responsibility, or t o
acquit on the grounds o f an extended plea o f self-defense. T h e jury
t o o k less than 4 5 minutes to acquit M o r g a n . T h e decision effectively
widened the scope o f self-defense plea by accepting as valid n o t only
pleas based on the imminent threat to oneself, but also those based on
a future threat to others.
Said M o r g a n developed for the court a cogent masculine identity,
situated within ideas about the patriarchal family and entitlement to
violence, and a believable and legally defensible narrative to describe
his actions. M o r g a n , portrayed as a conventional, morally driven pub-
lic figure o f justice pushed beyond the limits o f tolerance by the details
o f the alleged assaults and the appeals o f a female relative, is v i e w e d

by m a n y as a r a t i o n a l , c o m p a s s i o n a t e , and principled m a n . T o these
observers, his lethal i n t e r v e n t i o n s in the justice p r o c e s s are u n d e r -
standable a n d even laudable.
W e can c o n t r a s t this against the mass killer, M a r t i n B r y a n t , with
w h o m I o p e n e d this c h a p t e r . B r y a n t is v i e w e d as an i n c o h e r e n t , in-
articulate, i n a p p r o p r i a t e figure w h o failed t o provide a public e x p l a -
n a t i o n for his episode o f slaughter. H e a p p e a r e d t o have n o justifiable
m o r a l cause, a n d offered n o understandable a c c o u n t o f his a c t i o n s .
W e k n o w him as a narcissistic, i m m a t u r e , a n d e m o t i o n a l l y and intel-
lectually u n d e v e l o p e d individual. T h e law, as a s o c i a l instrument, can
n e i t h e r m a k e sense o f n o r support the version o f violent masculinity
r e p r e s e n t e d by M a r t i n B r y a n t . 5
Notes
1. Violence, of course, has increasingly come to constitute the measure of crime

itself. The significant penal reforms of the 19th century witness the rise of violence as
the central arbiter of criminality (see Foucault, 1977). The incorporation of violence
within the core conceptions of crime initiated the great sociopolitical divisions we now
experience between the convicted and the unconvicted. These penal reforms arguably
placed the criminal beyond the boundaries of the human community, suggesting at the
same time that the (violent) criminal is less than human.
2. The political nature of labeling an action "violence" is clearly indicated by the
production of the UNESCO-sponsored position on violence, entitled The Seville State-
ment on Violence. This statement, issued in 1 9 8 6 and adopted by UNESCO in 1 9 8 9 ,
sets down several propositions on violence. In summary, they are as follows:
1. It is scientifically incorrect to say that we have inherited a tendency to

make war from our animal ancestors.
2. It is scientifically incorrect to say that war or other violent behavior is
genetically programmed into our human nature.
3. It is scientifically incorrect to say that in the course of human evolu-
tion there has been a selection for aggressive behavior more than for
other kinds of behavior.
4. It is scientifically incorrect to say that humans have a "violent brain."
5. It is scientifically incorrect to say that war is caused by "instinct" or
any single motivation.
See Silverberg and Gray ( 1 9 9 2 ) for the full text of the statement and a critique of its
contents (pp. 1-2).
3. One of the most controversial statements on this subject was issued in the
1990s by Frederick Goodwin, a neuropsychiatrist who was, at the time, Director of the
National Institute of Mental Health. Goodwin said, in 1 9 9 2 ,
If you look, for example, at male monkeys, especially in the wild, roughly
half of them survive to adulthood. The other half die by violence. That is the
Bodily Harm 75
natural way of it for males, to knock each other off and, in fact, there are
some interesting evolutionary implications of that because the same
hyperaggressive monkeys who kill each other are also hypersexual, so they
copulate more and therefore they reproduce more to offset the fact that half
of them are dying.
Now, one could say that if some of the loss of social structure in this
society, and particularly within the high impact inner-city areas, has
removed some of the civilizing evolutionary things that we have built u p , . . .
[then] maybe it isn't just [a] careless use of the word when people call certain
areas of certain cities jungles, that we may have gone back to what might be
more natural, without all of the social controls that we have imposed upon
ourselves as a civilization over thousands of years in our own evolution,
(quoted in Mariani, 1 9 9 5 , pp. 1 3 7 - 1 3 8 )
This conflation of the simian male with the youthful African American male sparked a
vociferous outcry. The implied convergence between blackness and a reversion to the
"primitive" state of Nature was profoundly offensive to many groups and individuals.
4. Ruth Harris ( 1 9 9 1 ) deduced, from her study of French attitudes and practices
in the 19th century, that court representations of working-class males accused of alco-
hol-related violent crimes stressed the inability of these men to take up the duties of cit-
izenship or fatherhood. The latter implied the transference of responsibility for pater-
nal care from the individual to the state—the establishment of the convention of in loco
parentis. Furthermore, the most dishonorable and criminally disposed men of the
working class were viewed as utterly savage and barbaric, akin to Lombroso's notion of
the born criminal. This was especially the case in urban areas where "the image of sav-
agery was applied most consistently to the urban apaches, whose 'tribal' ritual under-
scored a sense of ferocity and menace" (Harris, 1 9 9 1 , pp. 3 2 7 - 3 2 8 ) . Working-class
men, who disavowed crime and remained gainfully employed, were viewed as childlike
and hence morally deficient. This vision of childishness was not the sentimentalized
version reserved for "innocent children," but a much bleaker view based on the poten-
tial for ill temper and violence.
5. To introduce a sense of proportion here, we need to consider the circum-
stances of many victimized women who kill. For these women, there is often no vocab-
ulary and no meaningful framework in which to speak about what has transpired (see,
also, Stewart, Dobbin, & Gatowski, 1 9 9 6 ) . As Terry Threadgold ( 1 9 9 6 ) has acknowl-
edged, there "are issues of semantics and narrative, of the need for textual analysis and
for the telling of different stories, stories lived from different positions of embodi-
ment." These are the stories whose telling is prohibited in public forums, and that are
frequently erased from memory and relegated to the space of silence. Yet these stories
are deeply revealing about our cultural codes, our regimes of value, and the processes
of Othering.
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3
Of Excess, Lack,
and Displacement
Reel Violence
Grace (to Mickey): You're a vampire, or the devil, or a monster, or

cyborg, or something like that. But you're not human.
—Natural Born Killers (1994)
The masculinist descent to the primitive has resurfaced in another

guise—the return of the monster as hyper-masculine beast. . . . In
Wolf, Jack Nicholson's transformation reconnects his character, a
somewhat stuffily effete book editor, with a fierce, heroic, and sen-
sual nature that civilized discourse had all but completely sapped.
(Even his vision gets sharper.) But for James Spader, his rival, that
same descent brings out a deeper cruelty, less concealed by social
convention. Nicholson uses his descent to elevate his manhood
while Spader uses his as an invitation to unchecked depravity.
Nicholson becomes a passionate lover, Spader becomes a rapist.
—Michael Kimmel
Ρ
JL ublic fear and c o n c e r n about serial killers, bizarre violence, and
urban crime rose significantly in the 1 9 8 0 s . As we saw in C h a p t e r 2 ,
this translated into a raft o f dangerous offender legislation that c o n -
tinues to depict violent criminals as predators. T h e increased media
attention t o violent crimes, especially extraordinary crimes, has
inflated the level o f c o m m u n i t y fear and reshaped the public p e r c e p -
tion o f offenders. T h e confluence o f these factors has led t o a c o r r e -
spondence between imagined and felt reality: M e d i a portrayals
81
validate laws (and law e n f o r c e m e n t ) , and vice versa, in an escalating

cycle o f e m o t i o n and reaction.
T h e language o f representation has enthusiastically e m b r a c e d the
m o t i f o f (sexual) predation, and has perpetuated and e x t e n d e d this
within media coverage. As a c o n s e q u e n c e , the discussion o f serial kill-
ing has not abated, but rather continues t o feed on itself producing
ever m o r e anxious responses. T o d a y , serial killers are hunted every-
w h e r e ; law enforcement officials instruct the public that the killer
could be located anywhere, suggesting that the entire c o n t i n e n t is his
"killing field" and the entire population is at risk o f harm. T h e F B I led
the media coverage o f the search for Rafael Resendez-Ramirez in
1 9 9 9 in this way. D e s c r i b e d as highly mobile and in possession o f
many manufactured identities, R a m i r e z was defined as the antithesis
o f the law-abiding, normalized citizen. T h e Hispanic R a m i r e z was
portrayed as an elusive figure, slipping across state lines and shedding
aliases as he traveled. T h e fear o f attack was thus n o t localized in o n e
region or o n e state, but was e x p e r i e n c e d on a national level.
Another c o n t e m p o r a r y site o f spectacular panic involves youth
access t o visual materials—film videos and video games (see C e r u l o ,
1 9 9 8 ; Levine, 1 9 9 6 ) . In the wake o f the 1 9 9 9 school shootings in
Littleton, C o l o r a d o , the U . S . legislature attempted t o impose controls
on the film and entertainment industry. T h e C o l o r a d o incident,
driven by the apparently apocalyptic and alienated desires o f t w o
young men, seared the public consciousness. It suggested to a popu-
lace greedy for answers that there is a potent relationship between
visual violence and gun violence. Indeed, so convincing did this rela-
tionship seem that the parents o f three students killed in a prior s c h o o l
shooting in Kentucky filed a $ 1 3 0 million lawsuit against t w o Internet
sites, several c o m p u t e r game companies, and T i m e W a r n e r and Poly-
gram, makers and distributors o f the film The Basketball Diaries
( 1 9 9 5 ) , which contains a dream sequence in which the main character
shoots a teacher and s o m e o f his classmates. T h e irony o f this situation
is that sections o f the population are b o t h attracted t o and repulsed by
the depiction o f graphic violence (see Dudley, 1 9 9 9 ) .
T h e preoccupation with e x t r e m e violence is clearly evident in
recently produced films, where we often encounter the predatory
male w h o is, in many instances, synonymous with the serial killer. It
might be argued that these films afford the audience the opportunity
to assume a short-lived psychological proximity t o the predatory
male, and that such proximity might yield a sense o f c o n t r o l , a body
o f knowledge, and a catalog o f signs that can guide b o t h individuals
E x c e s s , L a c k , and D i s p l a c e m e n t 83
and society. Consequently, films such as The Silence of the Lambs

( 1 9 9 1 ) , Seven ( 1 9 9 5 ) , Copycat ( 1 9 9 5 ) , and American Psycho (2000)
may be read, in part, as a cinematic response to the c o n t e m p o r a r y
groundswell o f fear and anxiety about victimization and public safety
that has been particularly evident since the 1 9 8 0 s .
T h i s chapter explores the ways in which multitudes o f social and
psychic boundaries are n o w being breached. I e x a m i n e h o w represen-
tations o f violence have b e c o m e m o r e e x t r e m e and confrontational in
the last thirty years, exploring the possibility that this may be expres-
sive o f the prevailing m o o d in W e s t e r n society. I also e x p l o r e h o w
these postmodern desires and fears draw on constructions o f identity
that suggest that the self is n o longer a unified entity, but a raft o f frag-
m e n t e d elements. F u r t h e r m o r e , I investigate h o w cinematic violence
is both implicated in this process o f self-disintegration and reflective
o f it, looking particularly at the overt and covert violence in the hor-
ror film, the often bloody violence in the recent films depicting the
crime-ridden underworld, and the television portrayal o f real crime
and violence. First, however, I probe the significance o f our temporal
c o n t e x t for current renderings o f violence.
Millennial Violence:
Loss of the Center
Various social c o m m e n t a t o r s claim that many W e s t e r n societies

experience a heightened sense o f uncertainty and apprehension at
the turn o f b o t h the century and the millennium. G e r r a r d (1996)
acknowledges this, stating,
Violence . . . is an image bred in the bone for the way we live as we

approach the end of the millennium; it feeds off the lurching fears
we have about our society. And as such it crosses the boundary be-
tween fantasy and fact. (p. 88)
W e may also be witnessing the emergence o f n e w modes o f violence,

or violence deployed in new forms. S i m o n Chesterman ( 1 9 9 8 ) de-
scribes this as
violence that is unrecognizably sterilized or distorted to serve other

ends. Violence justified by reference to a consensus reducible to a
single voice. Violence that derives meaning only from representa-
tion, which perfect representation emerges as the ordering principle
of a world rendered pure by the disavowal of reality beyond the bor-
ders of the image.
I return t o a discussion o f the transgression o f the a c c e p t e d boundaries

between fantasy and fact a little later. Let us first focus on h o w vio-
lence is integrated into media, especially film.
V i o l e n c e is e n c o d e d in popular films in various ways. In e x a m i n -
ing the techniques used, N e w m a n ( 1 9 9 8 ) divides violence into instru-
mental (or goal-directed) violence and expressive (or emotion-driven)
violence, and defines violence as a series o f events that culminate in
injury t o persons or damage to property. H e specifies ten c i n e m a t i c
rationales for the use o f instrumental violence in films and eleven for
expressive violence, arguing that these justifications for the inclusion
o f violence in popular films are employed in a range o f genres: west-
erns, crime dramas, and futuristic films, t o n a m e a few.
V i o l e n c e is e n c o d e d in popular movies, not only by use o f the
rationales enumerated by N e w m a n , but also via a range o f techniques,
such as shocking the viewer, drawing the viewer into the violence,
employing innovative or particularly harmful forms o f violence, set-
ting up contests between opponents, and exposing hidden or secret
aspects o f e x p e r i e n c e . An e x a m p l e o f this last m e t h o d is the body-
revelations technique so integral to h o r r o r movies. In this technique,
the viewer is shown severed body parts or internal organs in lurid
detail. N e w m a n ( 1 9 9 8 ) claims that such impulses t o peer inside the
b o d y parallel, albeit in a much m o r e diluted form, the compulsive
desire o f s o m e violent individuals to dissect and dismember their vic-
tims. Curiosity about the body's internal structure and function is
high in society, but access to knowledge is restricted t o a select few,
for e x a m p l e , surgeons (Newman, 1 9 9 8 ) .
V i o l e n c e is central t o the narrative frames o f c o n t e m p o r a r y cin-
ema and justified by recourse to the devices o f character and c o n t e x t .
Indeed, cinematic violence is n o w a major medium o f entertainment.
So pronounced is this trend toward movie violence that Nigel
Andrews ( 1 9 9 6 ) believes that " V i o l e n c e as variety s h o w " characterizes
late 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y American c i n e m a (p. 1 4 5 ; see also B o k , 1 9 9 8 ) .
Y o u n g ( 1 9 9 6 ) speaks o f the "trauma o f the visible" and the social and
psychological limits set on the representability o f violence. Y o u n g is,
here, referring to the technologizing o f the image in real-life trials,
and the fissure o f anxiety o p e n e d up by what lies b e y o n d the image.
W r i t i n g o f the killing o f toddler J a m e s Bulger in Britain in 1 9 9 3 by
t w o 10-year-old boys, Y o u n g notes that the videotape o f the boys
abducting young J a m e s from the shopping center is the only visual
r e c o r d o f the c r i m e . T h i s is traumatic because it invites us t o consider
what happened t o J a m e s b e y o n d the frame; this challenges the bound-
aries o f our t o l e r a n c e for imagined disorder.
Excess, L a c k , and Displacement 85
O n e recent film, c o n d e m n e d for its immoral and depraved c o n -

tent and, o f course, its violence, is Crash ( 1 9 9 6 ) . D i r e c t e d by the
Canadian David C r o n e n b e r g , the film w o n the prestigious J u r y Prize
at the 1 9 9 6 C a n n e s Film Festival. T h e film generated controversy
in Britain, a nation recently in the throes o f an ongoing debate about
the link between screen violence and real-life violence (see D e w e -
M a t t h e w s , 1 9 9 6 ; W a l k e r , 1 9 9 6 ) . T h e film addresses the e x t r e m e and
somewhat strange sexual possibilities that exist in an age o f high tech-
nology in which the car is an erotic object and speed itself is a sexual
experience.
T h e film tells o f a couple, described by the director as the "ar che-
typal post-nuclear, post-technology c o u p l e " (Fine Line Features,
1 9 9 6 ) , w h o have constructed an emotionally barren and adulterous
relationship. F o l lo w in g a collision with another car, the male protago-
nist, J a m e s Ballard, experiences a reawakening o f sexuality and vital-
ity. Ballard, in conjunction with the female victim o f the car crash,
D r . H e l e n R e m i n g t o n , begins a series o f odd and often shocking sex-
ual couplings. In this cocktail o f primal urges and conventional plea-
sures, sex and violent death collide. T h e allure o f the flirtation with
danger and death leads the protagonists to restage famous, fatal car
crashes. T h e disabled and scarred bodies o f the protagonists and the
crushed carcasses o f the cars fuel their appetites for risk and danger.
T h e yearning for m o r e intense experiences propels the characters
deeper into this erotic space o f injury and death.
T h e violence in the film is n o t only the literal spectacle o f the car
crashes, but also the social and individual desire (often repressed and
denied) for the vicarious thrill afforded by the sight o f a car crash or
its aftermath. 1
F u r t h e r m o r e , the film embodies a postmodern inter-
pretation o f selfhood and identity. Consequently, the injuries sus-
tained by the characters in the car crashes could represent, both
literally and figuratively, a relinquishing o f o m n i p o t e n c e and a splin-
tering o f identity. Aspects o f self (and body) are lost or abandoned at
the crash site or shortly thereafter, and the sexual encounters that fol-
low may be viewed as an attempt to recuperate the loss. David
C r o n e n b e r g said o f the film, "It does violence to people's understand-
ing o f human relationships, it does violence to people's understanding
o f eroticism. I f people find it disturbing, I think that's where the dis-
turbing element is" (Fine Line Features, 1 9 9 6 ) .
Until the 1 9 6 0 s , films contained sanitized violence; however,
since this time, screen violence has b e c o m e m o r e explicit and unnerv-
ing ( F r e n c h , 1 9 9 6 ) . The Wild Bunch ( 1 9 6 9 ) , a film made by S a m
Peckinpah, has been identified as the turning point for the portrayal o f
violence in cinema. Undoubtedly, this is an early e x a m p l e o f what

M i c h a e l M e d v e d ( 1 9 9 6 ) calls the "blood-soaked imagery o f American
entertainment" (p. 2 7 ) . T h i s film graphically recorded bullets as they
the enter into and exit from flesh in slow m o t i o n ; the c a m e r a lingers
as the bullet travels through the body and bursts out, carrying its cargo
o f b l o o d and viscera (see J a c o b s , 1 9 9 6 ) . M a r t i n Amis ( 1 9 9 6 ) wryly
observes o f this period,
In the cinema, if not elsewhere, violence started getting violent in

1966. . . . And I was delighted to see it, all this violence. I found it
voluptuous, intense, and (even then) disquietingly humorous; it felt
subversive and counter-cultural. Violence had arrived, (p. 12)
C o n t e m p o r a r y c i n e m a has e x t e n d e d the conventions o f violence

established in earlier films. N o w , depictions o f violence may function,
ironically, as c o m m e n t a r i e s on screen violence, and the audience may
require multiple opportunities for catharsis (Self, 1 9 9 6 ) . At the same
time, s o m e films n o w manipulate the audience's point o f view o f the
audience t o such a degree that we are compelled t o abandon our
emotional and psychic detachment and b e c o m e complicit with the
violence on screen.
Will Self ( 1 9 9 6 ) describes h o w the use o f m i x e d media and radical
changes in point o f view achieves this effect in the film Henry: Portrait
of a Serial Killer ( 1 9 8 6 ) . T h e film depicts a family being raped and
murdered, and it then shows the killers watching the video they had
shot o f the crime. T h e film cuts between the filmmaker's point o f
view, the killers' point o f view when videotaping, and their point o f
view when watching their ghastly video. T h e disjunction between
reality and representation has been superseded in the film; the audi-
ence n o longer has access to a stable narrative position. T h e authorial
voice o f the film—its center—keeps shifting, preventing the audience
from forming comfortable identifications or assuming a nonthreaten-
ing viewing position.
A n o t h e r instance in which the authorial voice o f a film de-
stabilizes the viewer is Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days ( 1 9 9 6 ) . In this
film, the viewer is encouraged to identify with a w o m a n ' s terror as she
is sexually assaulted. J o a n Kelly ( 1 9 9 6 ) maintains that such an identi-
fication is both a novel and very alarming experience for the male
viewer, w h o is accustomed t o experiencing a distinct separation
between watching violence and participating in a victim's suffering.
In the n e x t section, I l o o k m o r e closely at the relationship be-
tween the shifts and changes involved in the information revolution
and constructions o f identity. I also consider the process o f seeing, its

link to affect, and the impact o f this process on representations o f dif-
ference. T h i s will assist us in our understanding o f the visualization o f
violence in c o n t e m p o r a r y America.
Images, Emotions, Politics
The spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation

among people, mediated by images.
—Guy Debora
The postmodern is a cinematic age; it knows itself through the re-

flections that flow from the camera's eye.
—Norman Denzin
W e are, according to M a r k Poster ( 1 9 9 5 ) , sliding from one media age

into another. W e are moving from the first media age, with its empha-
sis on the unidirectional broadcast model, in which a small number o f
media outlets disseminate information to a large number o f consum-
ers, to the s e c o n d media age. T h i s second age is characterized by a
multidirectional exchange o f information. M e d i a are decentralized,
and digital technologies enable a new "configuration o f c o m m u n i c a -
tion relations" (Poster, 1 9 9 5 , p. 3 ) , which largely negates the distinc-
tions between producers, distributors, and consumers (see Castells,
1 9 9 6 ) . T h e second media age is o n e o f mass suggestibility, in which
image and reality vacillate in an unpredictable relationship. As M a r t i n
Amis ( 1 9 9 6 ) testifies, " T h i s is n o w perhaps the most vulnerable area
in the c o m m o n mind. T h e r e is a hole in the credulity layer, and it is
getting w i d e r " (p. 1 8 ) .
Poster ( 1 9 9 5 ) claims that the c o m m u n i c a t i o n technologies o f the
second media age, including the democratic and subversive possibili-
ties afforded by the Internet, are changing the ways in which subjectiv-
ity is constituted:
If modern society may be said to foster an individual who is rational,

autonomous, centered, and stable (the "reasonable man" of the law,
the educated citizen . . . ) , then perhaps a postmodern society is
emerging which nurtures forms of identity different from, even
opposite to, those of modernity, (p. 2 4 )
In this construction o f identity, electronic images are viewed as pivotal

(see K r o k e r , 1 9 9 3 ; Virilio, 1 9 9 1 ) . W h y is the image so significant?
T h e privileging o f the visual in the W e s t e r n imagination is the legacy
o f a Cartesian world-view, in which vision is constituted as a conduit
t o knowledge and in which the body as a source o f wisdom is sub-
jugated t o the mind—and the "mind's e y e " (Hatty, 1 9 9 6 ) . As Rosi
Braidotti ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes " t o see is the primary act o f knowledge and the
gaze the basis o f all epistemic awareness" (p. 8 0 ) .
R o n Burnett ( 1 9 9 5 ) argues that w e need t o rethink the simplistic
causal models o f knowledge that conflate vision and understanding.
Instead, w e need t o situate the visual within the c o n t e x t o f gender,
class, and race. W e need t o appreciate that seeing (and listening) are
e m b o d i e d processes that create and recreate the political, cultural and
personal meanings we invoke to m a k e sense o f lived e x p e r i e n c e . Fur-
t h e r m o r e , according t o Burnett, we need to appreciate that vision is
not necessarily a rational process, but is one that involves the eruption
into consciousness o f a plethora o f associations and interpretations.
T h o u g h t and vision are thus interdependent, and feeling and seeing
penetrate each other and disturb our desire t o c o n t r o l what w e see.
D o n n a Haraway ( 1 9 9 1 ) refers t o the relationship between vision and
subjectivity as follows:
The knowing self is partial in all its guises, never finished, whole,
simply there and original; it is always constructed and stitched to-
gether imperfectly, and therefore able to join with another, to see to-
gether without claiming to be another, (p. 193)
Images, thus, do n o t determine what we see; seeing is a c o m p l i c a t e d

process b o r n o f our m e m o r y , our e x p e r i e n c e , our consciousness, and
the politics o f our location in culture. Images may distort, negate, clar-
ify, or enhance our interpretive frameworks. As Burnett states, " T h e
image in and o f itself does n o t name what it depicts. It merely sets in
place a process o f potential identity. T h e visible in an image is there-
fore merely a fragment o f what is signified" (p. 7 1 ) .
Images are, o f course, integral t o processes o f representation.
Representations o f individuals or particular groups in society rely on
cultural categories or stereotypes, and use the conventions or codes
embedded in the dominant cultural forms o f presentation. T h e s e cul-
tural forms lend themselves to a number o f different, and sometimes
competing, readings; for e x a m p l e , specific representations o f w o m e n ,
portraying t h e m as vindictive or malevolent, may not always be read
in that way by the viewer. T h i s is an aspect o f what J o h n Hartley
( 1 9 9 2 ) calls the politics o f pictures.
H o w e v e r , we need t o r e m e m b e r that representations relate to

other representations in a circular l o o p ; any given image is linked
referentially t o other images. Representations also exist in tension
with lived e x p e r i e n c e ; images assist in the defining and categorizing o f
others, and can delimit and inhibit specific individuals or groups. T h i s
is particularly the case for those viewed as different and perhaps
threatening, and hence subject to surveillance (Foucault, 1 9 7 7 ) . W e
could think here o f the extensive and often negative imagery devel-
oped to represent HIV-positive individuals, and the efforts made to
counteract this (see D y e r , 1 9 9 3 ; Gilman, 1 9 8 8 ; W a t n e y , 1 9 9 5 ) . 2
T h e representation o f social groups as different is, o f course, an

expression o f the binary system o f oppositions that characterizes
masculinist societies. As I have already argued, the first sign o f differ-
ence in this system is femaleness. As we have seen, women—and
w o m e n ' s bodies, in particular—have traditionally been marked as
inferior, abnormal, and strange in W e s t e r n society. M o d e r n science
has developed several classification systems to rationalize the exis-
tence o f these bodily differences. O n e o f these systems, the so-called
science o f teratology, is defined as the study o f monsters. Geoffrey
Saint-Hilare devised a t a x o n o m y o f the monstrous in the 1 9 t h cen-
tury. H e described the monstrous in terms o f "excess, lack or displace-
ment o f organs" (Braidotti, 1 9 9 4 , p. 7 8 ) . I explore the significance o f
this description a little later. First, we need to focus m o r e clearly on
this notion o f the monstrous.
W h e n we encounter the monstrous we inevitably e x p e r i e n c e a
potent reaction: a strange mixture of fascination and horror
(Braidotti, 1 9 9 4 ) . H o r r o r is inexorably linked to physical and psycho-
logical violence; the twin feelings o f attraction and repulsion are a cat-
alyst t o a violence o f displacement and annihilation. I e x a m i n e n e x t
h o w this urge t o represent the monstrous—to produce images o f
horror—has been manifest in 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y American cinema. I then
discuss h o w this urge is linked to the representation o f violence.
The Abject Imagination:

The Horror Film
The central thematic tension in horror is the clash between reason,

which is repressive, and unreason, which is repressed and therefore
eruptive.
—Roger Horrocks
H o r r o r takes many forms in c o n t e m p o r a r y film ( C r a n e , 1 9 9 4 ; G r a n t ,

1 9 9 6 a , 1 9 9 6 b ; Skal, 1 9 9 8 ) . It can dwell on the realm o f nature and
human e x p e r i e n c e , as well as on the unknown and perhaps unknow-
able that exists beyond the social and natural worlds that we inhabit.
It is n o t surprising that J o s e p h G r i x t i ( 1 9 8 9 ) refers t o the narrative
o f h o r r o r as essentially a tale about fear and uncertainty.
H o r r o r has an interesting history in 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y cinema. Early
films were preoccupied with the supernatural. Films were populated
by werewolves, vampires, and Egyptian mummies. T h e s e creatures
"from the other side" posed a threat t o human e x i s t e n c e ; sometimes
this threat emanated from within, as characters b e c o m e possessed or
transformed, and sometimes the threat emanated from outside human
society, as people attempted to fend off an attack.
According t o Andrew T u d o r ( 1 9 8 9 ) , h o r r o r film derives from the
t w o traditions o f h o r r o r fiction. T h e first o f these deals with secure
h o r r o r , in which there is an external threat in narrative, a clearly
defined set o f oppositions, and an absence o f anxiety and doubt, and
in which human action is meaningful. T h i s first tradition is generally
represented in the cinema o f the 1 9 3 0 s , 1 9 4 0 s , and 1 9 5 0 s . T h e sec-
ond tradition in h o r r o r fiction deals with paranoid h o r r o r . H e r e , the
narrative is open and tensions are unresolved, anxiety and doubt are
pervasive, the threat is internal and impending, and human action is
futile. T h i s interpretation o f h o r r o r can be found in films made from
the 1 9 7 0 s until today. ( T h e late 1 9 5 0 s and 1 9 6 0 s constitute a transi-
tional period, bridging the t w o h o r r o r traditions.)
Furthermore, T u d o r ( 1 9 8 9 ) identifies two different kinds o f super-
natural threats present in h o r r o r films: those that are a u t o n o m o u s and
unrelated t o human actions, and those that are dependent on human
endeavors. In the latter category, manipulation o f natural forces
through the magical arts is central to the narrative. E x a m p l e s o f this
t h e m e include White Zombie ( 1 9 3 2 ) , Cat People (1942), I Walked
With A Zombie ( 1 9 4 3 ) , and Dead of Night ( 1 9 4 5 ) . M a n y early films
also focused on external threats so profound that "the fabric o f an
everyday world [is] ripped apart by a malevolent and obtrusive p o w e r "
( T u d o r , 1 9 8 9 , p. 1 6 0 ) . In films such as Nosferatu (1921), Dracula
( 1 9 3 1 ) , and The Mummy ( 1 9 3 2 ) , a supernatural domain c o e x i s t e n t
with the natural order sets the scene for the intrusion o f the supernat-
ural into the natural. It is only in later films that the supernatural
realm is portrayed as displacing or obliterating the natural realm.
Although some o f the early films—for e x a m p l e , Nosferatu—prefigure
the theme o f radical invasion o f the natural realm, they do n o t contain
the paranoiac elements o f later films such as The Shining (1980).
T u d o r also identifies two kinds o f science-oriented h o r r o r tradi-

tions that featured prominently in the films o f the 1 9 3 0 s and 1 9 4 0 s .
T h e first o f these was the idea o f science as a route t o knowledge
and power—often detached from ethics or values. E x a m p l e s include
Frankenstein ( 1 9 3 1 ) and The Invisible Man ( 1 9 3 3 ) . T h e second was
the idea o f science as a means t o evil ends; here, science was seen as
trespassing on the sanctity o f natural processes, thereby risking dis-
order and mayhem.
Later, these themes gave way to a m o r e apocalyptic vision involv-
ing a focus on such unarticulated effects o f human engagement with
natural forces as a t o m i c energy. Following the 1 9 5 0 s , these apocalyp-
tic views mutated into an emphasis on disease and bodily breakdown
or decay. S e e , for e x a m p l e , Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956),
J Married a Monster From Outer Space ( 1 9 5 8 ) , The Most Dangerous
Man Alive ( 1 9 6 1 ) , and It's Alive (1975).
Despite these historical variations in the depiction o f h o r r o r
images, Skal ( 1 9 9 3 ) concedes that "very little about the underlying
structure o f h o r r o r images really changes, though our cultural uses for
them are as shape-changing as Dracula himself" (p. 2 3 ) .
W h a t is the meaning and significance o f h o r r o r ? W h a t is its rela-
tionship t o the monstrous? N o e l Carroll ( 1 9 9 0 ) argues that we may
distinguish between art-horror and real-life or natural h o r r o r . T h e
latter refers to disasters and catastrophes that are part o f human e x p e -
rience. Art-horror refers specifically to the various forms o f entertain-
ment produced by culture industries. Central t o art-horror is the
monster, which elicits fear, disgust, or revulsion in the viewer or
reader. T h e s e emotive reactions are based on the recognition that the
monster is both threatening and impure. Impurity or "dirt" is associ-
ated with objects that are ambiguous and c a n n o t easily be categorized,
or that transgress boundaries that mark out the social or natural order
(see Douglas, 1 9 9 2 ) . Such objects are regarded as interstitial—inter-
posed between opposed categories—or as liminal—relegated t o the
edges or the margins, the shadow zones far from the center. C o n s e -
quently, the monster represents risk—of danger and o f pollution.
Carroll ( 1 9 9 0 ) suggests that monsters can be grouped into a
typology and that five processes generate the variety o f monsters we
encounter in the entertainment media. T h e first o f these processes is
fusion, which begets a monster comprised o f stable characteristics
drawn together from categorically distinct elements; a vampire or a
zombie would, for e x a m p l e , be a fusion figure. T h e second process o f
monster generation is fission. H e r e , contradictory elements are dis-
persed across a number o f different but related identities: for example,
Doppelgängers (doubles) or D r . Jekyll and M r . Hyde. T h e third pro-

cess is magnification, in which living entities judged to be dangerous
or impure (certain insects, such as flies) assume giant proportions. T h e
fourth process, massification, groups repellent creatures together into
marauding armies that threaten humans. T h e fifth process is horrific
m e t o n y m y , in which a central protagonist, w h o appears n o r m a l , is
surrounded by objects or beings that induce a p h o b i c reaction.
T h e s e processes o f monster creation c o m b i n e with changing
social circumstances t o produce images o f h o r r o r . Ruptures in cultural
arrangements, upheavals in social institutions, and radical shifts in
social practices beget a new set o f monsters. Such disturbances in
social understandings and expectations often revolve around gender
and sexuality (see Badley, 1 9 9 5 ; Benshoff, 1 9 9 7 ; G r a n t , 1996a;
Pinedo, 1 9 9 7 ) . Speaking o f the manifestation o f the anxiety, dread,
and disgust that accompanies this deviation from the n o r m , M a r i n a
W a r n e r ( 1 9 9 4 ) observes that today "popular culture teems with m o n -
sters, with r o b o t s , cyborgs and aliens, fiends, mutants, vampires and
replicants" (pp. 1 7 - 1 8 ) . W h y should this be so? W a r n e r lists the cur-
rent social (or external) catalysts t o h o r r o r :
Millennial turmoil, the disintegration of so many familiar political

blocks and the appearance of new national borders, ferocious civil
wars, global catastrophes from famine to AIDS, threats to ecological
disasters—of another Chernobyl, of larger holes in the ozone—all
these dangers feed fantasies of the monstrous, (pp. 17-18)
Each time period, o f course, produces its own monstrous imagery.

H o r r o r films in the 1 9 2 0 s were sprinkled with pictorial references t o
castration, especially the films made by the director T o d Browning.
P r o m i n e n t a m o n g these films was Freaks ( 1 9 3 1 ) , which foregrounds
physical difference and mutilation, and which, according t o Skal
( 1 9 9 3 ) , reflected the deeply felt anxiety over reproduction in an age
o f financial and environmental disaster (see also Hawkins, 1 9 9 6 ) . S o ,
in the 1 9 2 0 s , art-horror m i m i c k e d real-life or natural h o r r o r , as is
so often the case.
H o r r o r films o f the 1 9 4 0 s e x p l o r e d the bestial undercurrents o f
masculine existence. "Devolved animal-men" (Skal, 1 9 9 3 , p. 2 1 6 ) ,
often equipped with wolflike traits, strode across the screens o f post-
war America. During the 1 9 5 0 s , the threat o f mass destruction
l o o m e d large, and the cinematic monsters grew in proportion t o this
fear. Films such as It Came From Beneath the Sea ( 1 9 5 5 ) , Them!
( 1 9 5 4 ) , and The Beginning of the End ( 1 9 5 7 ) effectively captured this
m o o d o f angst and foreboding. O f course, the J a p a n e s e represented

their own fears and desires in films such as Godzilla, made in 1 9 5 4 .
T h e 1 9 6 0 s ushered in a new flurry o f fears, and themes o f altered
or aberrant reproduction c a m e t o the fore. In Village of the Damned
( 1 9 6 0 ) , sex was uncoupled from procreation. A subsequent rash o f
films featured strange and malevolent fetuses: for e x a m p l e , Rose-
mary's Baby ( 1 9 6 8 ) . Films such as Eraserhead ( 1 9 7 6 ) and Alien (1979)
included bizarre and distorted interpretations o f birth and reproduc-
tion. T h e s e films bear out SkaPs ( 1 9 9 3 ) assertion that "all monsters
are expressions or symbols o f s o m e kind o f birth p r o c e s s " (p. 2 8 7 ) .
F u r t h e r m o r e , as the body is frequently the site o f c o n t e m p o r a r y
h o r r o r , it is predictable that h o r r o r movies should be so preoccupied
by the shapeshifting nature o f pregnancy and birth.
During the 1 9 7 0 s and 1 9 8 0 s , children themselves c a m e t o be
defined as monstrous. Skal ( 1 9 9 3 ) notes,
Embryonic imagery, by the 1980s and 90s, was as firmly established

as the walking corpse as a method to elicit horror. Generation, it
seemed, was as repulsive as decay. T o the modern, technologically
identified mind, it was no longer death that frightened, but a whole
spectrum of biological phenomena, (p. 3 0 5 )
N o w h e r e is this m o r e evident than in the films o f the Canadian film-

maker David C r o n e n b e r g . His films, according t o H o g a n ( 1 9 8 6 ) ,
describe an "organic h o r r o r " located "within the victim's b o d y "
(p. 2 7 7 ) . T e s t a ( 1 9 9 6 ) refers to the "intimate ' b o d y - h o r r o r ' " associ-
ated with C r o n e n b e r g ' s films and their reliance on "disgusting and
excessive images o f the body and sexuality, especially female sexual-
ity." The Brood ( 1 9 7 9 ) , for e x a m p l e , shows a female character
externalizing her rage through the production o f malformed creatures
that hang in a sac attached to her abdomen. In one scene, this female
character, N o l a , bites open this sac and removes the misshapen c o n -
tents, c o m p l e t e with bloody placenta, and proceeds to lick it. S o dis-
gusting is this performance that N o l a is murdered by her husband:
After reeling back in h o r r o r , he strangles h e r . 3
R o g e r H o r r o c k s ( 1 9 9 5 ) is undoubtedly c o r r e c t in asserting that

h o r r o r is a conservative film genre, based on masculinist fears o f disso-
lution and the collapse o f the boundaries that divide n o t just sexes and
bodies, but life and death. "Under order lies disorder: the disorder ter-
rifies and fascinates us, while the order irritates us," he says (p. 8 4 ) . O f
course, this order o f which H o r r o c k s speaks is both the masculinist
social order from which w o m e n (as disorderly influence) have tradi-
tionally been excluded (see, for e x a m p l e , Pateman, 1 9 8 9 ) , and the

masculinist fantasy o f the "clean and p r o p e r " body possessed by m e n
(see, for e x a m p l e , Hatty & Hatty, 1 9 9 9 ) . T h e h o r r o r film genre
explores, through visualization, the affective experience o f boundary
transgression, in which the impure contaminates the pure and distinc-
tions between inside/outside, self/other, and male/female threaten t o
dissolve.
T h e h o r r o r film also touches on the consequences o f the dis-
integration o f masculine identity by focusing on the exploits o f the
murderous male (see C l o v e r , 1 9 9 3 ; Derry, 1 9 8 7 ) . Often defined
within the narrative as "mad"—that is, psychotic—these m e n are
"monsters brought forth by the sleep o f reason, not by its attraction"
(Tudor, 1 9 8 9 , p. 1 8 5 ) . T h e s e madmen terrorize, rape, assault, and kill
as a c o n s e q u e n c e o f an inner, uncontrollable compulsion. H e r e , nor-
mality and reason are abandoned, and the audience witnesses the
rampages o f the violent, monstrous male. M a n y films have articulated
this t h e m e , ranging from the classic Psycho ( 1 9 6 0 ) t o such films as
Halloween ( 1 9 7 8 ) and Seven (1995). 4
Andrew T u d o r ( 1 9 8 9 ) c o m -
ments that " h o r r o r movie psychosis is deep-rooted human malevo-
lence made manifest" (p. 1 8 3 ) .
S o m e critics fix the origins o f these films in the shrinking sense
o f self available in an overregulated society. H o w e v e r , S h o r ( 1 9 9 5 )
insists that a gendered interpretation o f the social imaginary is the
conceptual foundation o f this subgenre. Consequently, films such
as The Shining ( 1 9 8 0 ) , starring J a c k N i c h o l s o n , delve into the prob-
lematics o f male power in society. In this film, the male protagonist
"slips into madness and regression," which releases "a m o n s t r o u s
schizophrenic masculine other that stalks both his wife and child"
(Shor, 1 9 9 5 ) .
T h e film The Silence of the Lambs ( 1 9 9 1 ) catalogs and explores
the quintessential characteristics o f the psychotic male. Expressive o f
the c o n t e m p o r a r y crisis o f masculine identity (see Halberstam, 1 9 9 1 ) ,
the serial killer Buffalo Bill strips the skin off the bodies o f his female
victims and wears it as clothing. According t o Niesel ( 1 9 9 4 a ) , this is
reminiscent o f the practices o f taxidermy, in which the body o f the
dead animal is evacuated and the skin b e c o m e s a kind o f substitute
identity. T h i s inverts the usual relations portrayed in the h o r r o r film:
" T h e rupture between inside and outside exploited in the act o f taxi-
dermy is a trope often used in h o r r o r films, which consistently try t o
jolt audiences by showing insides c o m i n g o u t " (Niesel, 1 9 9 4 a ) . Niesel
further argues that the taxidermic impulse, displayed so fully in The
Silence of the Lambs, 5
is "the most literal expression o f male vio-
l e n c e , " and "an e x t r e m e response to the lack o f center o f masculine

subjectivity." (See also H o r r o c k s , 1 9 9 5 . )
T h i s masculine violence is clearly associated in the film's narrative
o f the visual. Hannibal Lecter describes serial killers as covetous by
nature, and frames this assertion in terms o f objectification and l o o k -
ing at another. Indeed, the film assembles a great many references to
the visual; for e x a m p l e , the F B I is shown as immersed in the culture
o f photography—what Niesel calls the "aesthetics o f objectification."
T h e correspondence in ideology and m e t h o d between those hunting
the serial killers and the killer himself is deeply ironic. B o t h fetishize
the surface o f the victim's body, displacing the excess o f viscera, b o n e ,
and (reproductive) organs, and substituting in their place, lack.
Instrumental Violence:
Descent into the Criminal Underworld
Young Woman: I love you, Pumpkin.
Young Man: I love you, H o n e y Bunny.
And with that. Pumpkin and Honey Bunny grab their weap-
ons, stand up and rob the restaurant. Pumpkin s robbery per-
sona is that of the in-control professional. Honey Bunny's is
that of the psychopathic, hair-triggered, loose cannon.
Pumpkin (yelling to a l l ) : Everybody be c o o l , this is a robbery!
Honey Bunny: Any o f you fuckin' pricks m o v e and I'll e x e c u t e

every motherfuckin' last one o f you.
—Pulp Fiction (1994)
T h i s is h o w the film Pulp Fiction ( 1 9 9 4 ) begins. T h e film consists o f

three stories that culminate in o n e integrated story. W e begin by see-
ing the disconnected fragments o f the narrative: T w o young bandits
attempt to hold up the customers o f a cheap diner; an aging b o x e r
hopes to engage in a final lucrative, rigged fight; and two hitmen go
about their tawdry work. At the center o f these splintered stories are
Marcellus W a l l a c e and his beautiful but b o r e d wife, M i a . M a r c e l l u s ,
muscular, threatening, and powerful, sounds like "a cross between a
gangster and a king" ( T a r a n t i n o , 1 9 9 4 , p. 3 4 ) . H e c o m m a n d s the
action o f the film, and the narrative revolves around his sinister
influence.
T h e film is a blend o f droll h u m o r , sardonic wit, and brutal, messy

violence. Individuals are reduced t o grease spots, bodies are torn t o
shreds by bullets, and cars are turned into "portable slaughterhouses"
( T a r a n t i n o , 1 9 9 4 , p. 1 5 9 ) . T h e film is littered with the trivia o f popu-
lar culture, with many visual and linguistic allusions t o television
shows, films, and fast food restaurants. It draws its inspiration from
its namesake, the genre o f pulp fiction, which Palmer ( 1 9 9 4 ) has
described as follows:
Like the dime novels that preceded them, pulp magazines offered
the sensational, the lurid, the exciting. They also promoted, quite
consciously, a wish fulfillment that was energized by the breaking of
laws and taboos, by the admission of the licit and uncanny into the
everyday, by the discovery of exciting transgression in an otherwise
dull existence, (p. 3 4 )
In this urban tale o f vice, temptation, and redemption, T a r a n t i n o

weaves a narrative that questions the masculinist culture o f violence
even as it exploits it. T h i s is, however, a movie in which morality does
matter: T h e r e are references t o g o o d and evil (in Biblical terms)
throughout the film, and one o f the central figures, Jules, a hitman,
has a spiritual revelation. He talks of "divine intervention"
( T a r a n t i n o , 1 9 9 4 , p. 1 3 9 ) , and declares that he wishes t o turn his b a c k
on "the tyranny o f evil m e n " (p. 1 8 7 ) .
Pulp Fiction also explores the sexual and violent overtones o f nee-
dle culture. V i n c e n t , J u l e s ' s partner, has a penchant for high-grade
heroin, and is shown injecting it in the film. T h i s incident is linked
with a brief conversation about body piercing, in which the dealer's
wife informs V i n c e n t that her body is pierced in sixteen places. S h e
is emphatic that all these piercings have been done with a needle.
V i n c e n t seems intrigued by this personal revelation, and his fascina-
tion in this scene c o m p l e m e n t s the underside o f his own sexual fantasy
life, revealed when he admits t o M i a that thoughts about d o m i n a n c e
and submission have crossed his mind.
Indeed, the sexual aspect o f penetration/violation is an idea taken
up with a vengeance in the film. At one stage, B u t c h , the fading b o x e r ,
and M a r c e l l u s , are tethered in a dungeon b e l o w a pawnshop, held
captive by t w o hillbilly sodomites. At another point, Butch is given his
father's watch, which was hidden in the rectums o f t w o men during
wartime—an act that had preserved the "boy's birthright" ( T a r a n t i n o ,
1 9 9 4 , p. 8 6 ) . N o t surprisingly, the watch turns out t o be o f great sig-
nificance to Butch and o f great importance to the plot. T h i s particu-

lar scene depends for much o f its h u m o r and effect on the masculine
code o f loyalty and h o n o r constructed around and maintained by
violence—a c o d e e x p l o r e d and exploited throughout the film.
In this cinematic extension o f pulp fiction conventions, T a r a n t i n o
t o u c h e d a nerve in c o n t e m p o r a r y culture. T h e film permits the audi-
ence to flirt with the lurid and sensational aspects o f life in a place far
from the fatigue and ennui o f everyday routines; the film focuses on
crime from the perspective o f those w h o c o m m i t it, and the audience
enjoys an empathy with some o f the characters at least s o m e o f the
time. Pulp Fiction, like pulp fiction itself, foregrounds "the conflict
between individual desire and the l a w " (Palmer, 1 9 9 4 , p. 3 5 ) .
T a r a n t i n o ' s earlier film, Reservoir Dogs ( 1 9 9 2 ) , was also situated
in the underworld. Like its successor, the film unfolds in a sequence o f
amusing, anxiety-provoking, and brutal scenes, and invokes the lan-
guage and mannerisms o f an imagined criminal milieu. Characters are
revealed to the audience in a nonlinear and fragmented fashion, and
the central tale (about a jewelry robbery gone wrong) provides a
showcase for the violent unraveling o f the relationships between the
offenders. T i e d together by anonymity, and infiltrated by an under-
cover c o p , the robbers taunt and tear at each other in a desperate
search for the "dog" they fear will betray them.
V i o l e n c e is endemic t o the narrative o f the film, invading both
dialogue and action. V i o l e n c e and psychosis, however, are explicitly
disassociated in the film; the o n e character w h o uses violence indis-
criminately is sanctioned severely by the other characters, and is
labeled "unstable" and a "sick fuckin' m a n i a c . "
H o w e v e r , there is n o real distinction drawn between the values or
practices o f the criminals and the police. T h e r e is n o clear moral
divide portrayed here. T h e criminal men are shown as interesting and
even likeable characters. T h e y are, in the end, scared, terrified, brave,
and tender. O n e o f the criminals, a M r . W h i t e , exclaims,
Without medical attention, this man won't live through the night.
That bullet in his belly is my fault. Now while that might not mean
jack shit to you, it means a helluva lot to me. And I'm not gonna just
sit around and watch him die. (Tarantino, 1990)
T h e s e men identify themselves as professionals. T h i s implies adher-

ence to a c o d e o f conduct and a hierarchy o f values. M r . W h i t e
instructs his colleagues,
What you're supposed to do is act like a fuckin' professional. A psy-

chopath is not a professional. You can't work with a psychopath,
'cause ya don't know what those sick arseholes are gonna do next.
(Tarantino, 1990)
T h e language o f the film transgresses the linguistic n o r m s o f main-

stream society. (Even the scriptwriter's directions are c o u c h e d in the
same hard-boiled language used by the protagonists.) Profanity is the
thick c o r d binding the characters together; the racist and sexist termi-
nology, the crude discussion o f sexuality (spliced, at times, with astute
sociological observations) is the stuff o f masculinist interaction. It
establishes the parameters o f their social world and lubricates the
c o m m u n i c a t i o n between the characters. It is the shared discourse o f
exclusion.
T h e film is stark, intense, and disturbing; it presents episodes o f
e x t r e m e violence without moral condemnation o f criminal behavior,
and the tensions within the narrative are not easily resolved with a
happy conclusion. W e are simply left to ponder the bad luck o f the
robbers, even if the cruelty and the violence sicken us. T h e film is,
finally, both tragic and c o m i c .
T a r a n t i n o ' s m o r e recent film, Jackie Brown ( 1 9 9 7 ) , adapts E l m o r e
L e o n a r d ' s novel Rum Punch ( 1 9 9 8 ) , shifting the geographic location
and character register o f the novel: Instead o f M i a m i , the film is set
in L o s Angeles, and instead o f a blond heroine, it features an African
American lead. T h e film is grounded in a complicated plot involv-
ing gunrunning, m o n e y laundering, and double-dealing. It is full o f
raunchy language and dry humor. T h e lead is played by Pam G r i e r , a
screen icon from the 1 9 7 0 s w h o acted in a range o f popular films
characterized by both effrontery and charm. Unlike many other
female stars in the blaxploitation films o f the era (see J a m e s , 1 9 9 5 ;
M a r t i n e z , M a r t i n e z , & Chavez, 1 9 9 8 ) , Grier was known for her viva-
cious and indomitable characters. In the film Jackie Brown, Grier plays
J a c k i e B r o w n , a flight attendant w h o is trapped between the Federal
Police and an unscrupulous hustler. T h i s is a m o r e subtle and less
violent film than T a r a n t i n o ' s earlier efforts; it showcases G r i e r ' s
acting skills and revives interest in the courageous and gutsy female
characters typical o f her earlier performances.
Although many o f T a r a n t i n o ' s movies have been well received,
not all pop culture films dealing with violence have met with such
a reception. Oliver S t o n e ' s polemical piece, Natural Born Killers
( 1 9 9 4 ) , has generated fierce argument: M a n y claim that the violence
is gratuitous and excessive; others claim that the moral message o f the
film is simplistic or that the filmmaking techniques employed are

seductive (Niesel, 1 9 9 4 b ) . S h o t in the style o f an ext ended music
video clip, the film traces the murderous journey o f its t w o young
protagonists—Mickey and M a l l o r y — a s they lurch from o n e violent
encounter to the next. Constructed as a satire, the film catalogs many
deaths, including the killing o f M a l l o r y ' s parents.
In portraying the carnage caused by two young serial-killers-in-
love, director Oliver S t o n e implicates family relationships and media
sensationalism in multiple murder. T h e film is intended as a critique
o f American family life and the increasingly punitive responses t o
crime that typify American politics. S t o n e therefore included a seg-
ment in the film that seeks to explain M a l l o r y ' s murderous rage.
Staged as a cheap sitcom, this segment reveals M a l l o r y ' s father t o be a
leering and repulsive character w h o grabs at her body while abusing
and berating his family.
S t o n e also suggests that the media, especially television, are
largely responsible for our c o n t e m p o r a r y attitudes toward violence
and even the proliferation o f violence itself. In a series o f surreal
scenes, the killers are transformed from anonymous offenders to
highly visible public figures. S t o n e draws on a number o f television
genres to articulate his claim that both the entertainment and the
news media glorify detected violence and encourage and incite the
commission o f further violence.
Venturing into the arena o f tabloid news, S t o n e depicts M i c k e y
and M a l l o r y as killer-celebrities appearing on a show called, tellingly,
American Maniacs. W a y n e G a l e , the windy host, does a profile o f the
murderous duo based on interviews, reenactments, and lively dramati-
zations. S t o n e here seems to be pointing to the slippage between the
real and the hyperreal in tabloid television: the manufacture and dis-
semination o f entertaining images for their own sake, divorced t o a
large degree from the circumstances o f everyday life. 6
S t o n e also
appears to be pointing to the hypocritical and absurd attitudes toward
violence, and to the commodification o f violence implied in the place-
ment o f M i c k e y and M a l l o r y on the covers o f Esquire and Newsweek.
At the same time, the heroization and sexualization o f the killer-
celebrities is evident in the placards held by teenagers outside the
court in which M i c k e y and M a l l o r y appear. O n e young w o m a n holds
a placard that reads, " M u r d e r M e M a l l o r y . " T h i s young w o m a n seems
to want to participate (albeit in a perverse fashion) in the escalating
cycle o f infamy and violence.
C o m m e n t i n g on the film in an online interview, Oliver S t o n e
( 1 9 9 4 ) said,
I think Americans have a schizophrenic relationship to violence.

One the one hand, they condemn it and [are] appalled by it and on
the other they are attracted to it and watch a lot of it. The local news
shows are the worst offenders in this area. They offer up real life
violence on a 24-hour basis. . . .
My point was to show the American landscape in the 1990s as
reflected in the media . . . [and] make my audience think about the
consequences of this social and cultural violence.
Referring specifically to the media, S t o n e went on t o say that the press

"can create mass hysteria. C a n create war. C a n demonize any individ-
ual it seeks t o demonize. And obviously distort the truth."
Oliver S t o n e ' s flawed but provocative film is clearly a powerful
indictment o f the role o f the media in postmodern America, especially
o f its capacity t o construct a reality that is misleading, confused, and
perhaps dangerous.
Reality TV:
Perverse Appetites for Violence
Mass-mediated visual culture occupies the "objective" space of

dreamwork and imagination [W]hat constitutes popular or mass
culture has become technologically mediated so that television is not
merely a manipulator of popular culture, but it is also the decisive
element in the construction of imaginary life and is appropriated as
popular culture.
—Greg Barak
In providing formats for thinking, speaking, organizing, and con-

trolling, mass media technologies do not stand apart from social re-
ality and social relations but are integral to them. Mass media tech-
nologies not only make dramatic cultural representations of reality,
they participate in the construction of reality and of particular con-
figurations for social relations.
—Richard Ericson
It is n o w widely accepted that a large proportion o f the American pop-

ulation receives information about crime and the criminal justice sys-
tem from the media. T h i s is n o t a new p h e n o m e n o n ; Surette ( 1 9 9 2 )
has shown that our c o n t e m p o r a r y ideas, impressions, and beliefs
about crime and social disorder were first established during the late
1 9 t h century. Indeed, crime and justice themes were popular in the

entertainment media at that time.
T o d a y , the population continues t o derive its so-called knowledge
about c r i m e , offenders, law, and criminal justice from mass-mediated
entertainment (see Spring, 1 9 9 2 ; Surette, 1 9 9 2 ) . Television shows
c o m m o n l y feature violent resolutions t o lawbreaking, and frequently
represent offenders in a negative fashion ( M c N e e l y , 1 9 9 5 ) . Further-
m o r e , the entertainment media is n o w preoccupied with the figure o f
the predator criminal—the individual driven by irrational, malevolent
desires, and replete with a m o r e vengeful and animal-like character
(Barak, 1 9 9 6 ) . Consistent with the role o f the mass media t o articulate
and perpetuate aspects o f order—which Ericson ( 1 9 9 1 ) defines as
"morality, procedure, and hierarchy" (p. 2 4 2 ) — t h e s e portraits o f
predatory criminals validate individualistic explanations o f deviant
behavior. T h e y also suggest that the vast majority o f the population
(especially males) do not resemble these violent " m o n s t e r s . "
H o w e v e r , in the programming c o m m o n l y called reality television
w e often find the most titillating and perturbing depictions o f violent
crime and punishment. Described by Erik N e l s o n , one o f the creators
o f reality T V shows, as the "idiot stepchildren" o f television, such
shows have occupied a vital niche in American television program-
ming for over ten years. T h e s e programs capture the underbelly o f
public and private life, and expose the e x t r e m e experiences o f law
enforcement officials and offenders. T h e y include weekly shows such
as Busted on the Job, RedHanded, and World's Wildest Police Videos,
and such special shows as When Good Pets Go Bad.
T o achieve its effects, reality television relies on media looping,
which is the practice o f rebroadcasting images in n e w c o n t e x t s . T h e s e
new c o n t e x t s might involve the recycling o f images from other tele-
vision genres: transferring images from a newscast t o a game or talk
show, for e x a m p l e . Peter M a n n i n g ( 1 9 9 8 ) claims that such "media
representation and looping laminate realities or layer t h e m and inter-
weave types o f e x p e r i e n c e in a single visual e x p e r i e n c e " (p. 2 8 ) . H e
also notes that the specific production techniques employed t o simu-
late reality in such shows as Rescue 911, True Stories of the Highway
Patrol, and Cops use "close-up pictures o f police w o r k taken by a
handheld c a m e r a , and 'live' footage t o convey verisimilitude" (p. 2 9 ) .
T h e viewer, o f course, is n o t a passive recipient o f mediated
images, but is required t o engage in cognitive w o r k t o transform these
images into an acceptable rendition o f reality. According t o M a n n i n g ,
six rules govern this cognitive effort: the veridicality rule, or the
assumption that television accurately mirrors social e x p e r i e n c e ; the
sampling rule, or the assumption that a selection o f displayed images

is both n o n r a n d o m and purposeful; the ordering and sequencing rule,
or the assumption that images, o n c e broadcast, will be repeated in a
rational and meaningful way, and will form part o f a continuing pat-
tern o f association; the framing rule, or the assumption that images
faithfully replicate what they are m e a n t t o represent; the coherence
rule, or the assumption that images will be contextualized in a narra-
tive in an understandable fashion; and the salience rule, or the
assumption that important or key aspects o f images will maintain that
status over time (p. 3 0 ) .
Despite often being artificial and staged, reality television fre-
quently gains its public credibility through its association with the
news or documentary format ( M c N e e l y , 1 9 9 5 ) . Grindstaff ( 1 9 9 5 )
describes programs that exploit such false credibility as "Trash T V . "
T h e genre includes police dramas and crime shows, such as America's
Most Wanted and Cops, syndicated tabloid newscasts, daytime talk
shows, and shows such as A Current Affair, Hard Copy, and J Witness
Video.
W h y is this form o f entertainment so popular? Gitlin argues that
reality T V restores a sense o f potency t o a powerless citizenry (cited in
W a t e r s , 1 9 8 8 ) . B e c o m i n g involved in current events, even if via a tele-
p h o n e call t o the television station, helps to o v e r c o m e the sense o f
hopeless passivity that often assaults the viewer e x p o s e d to a visual
catalog o f disaster, war, and violent crime during prime time news.
N e a l G a b l e r ( 1 9 9 3 ) , on the other hand, suggests that trash T V actually
confirms Americans' view that they live in "a w o r l d gone mad, a w o r l d
b e y o n d shock, a world swirling in a moral v o i d " (p. 3 ) . Bill N i c h o l s
( 1 9 9 4 ) believes reality T V is a response to the (white) middle class cry
o f anxiety. N i c h o l s explains,
Beset by dreams of rising and nightmares of falling, plagued by the

terror of pillage, plunder and rape, the "target" audience for reality
T V (white, middle-class consumers with "disposable" income)
attends to a precarious world of random violence and moment-to-
moment contingency, (p. 58)
All this occurs in a "timeless, spaceless telescape o f mediated reality"

(Nichols, 1 9 9 4 , p. 5 9 ) , in which the master narratives o f masculinist
culture are in disarray. M o r e o v e r , reality T V "continuously peeks
behind the screen, flirting with the t a b o o and forbidden. . . . T h i s
meta-story, the ideological reduction, makes the strange banal"
(p. 4 6 ) .
T h e perversion o f reality T V originates in the opportunities for

spectatorship that it provides—the chance t o witness the intimate c o n -
fessions, failings, and transgressions o f others—and in the o c c a s i o n s
for vicarious participation in the social rituals o f judgement and pun-
ishment. It should n o t surprise us that G a b l e r ( 1 9 9 3 ) refers t o the
"democratization o f perversion" in reality T V (p. 3 ) , or that N i c h o l s
( 1 9 9 4 ) should describe it as "a perversely exhibitionistic version o f the
m e l o d r a m a t i c imagination" (p. 5 3 ) .
In this postmodern landscape o f tele-visual simulation, we watch,
see, and participate in a protracted drama in which a stream o f absorb-
ing and urgent images assails our senses. T h e traditional distinction
between fact and fiction (or fact and fantasy) is blurred. As N i c h o l s
( 1 9 9 4 ) notes,
Reality T V . . . plays a complex game. It keeps reality at bay. It suc-

ceeds in activating a sense of the historical referent beyond its
bounds but also works, constantly, to absorb this referent within the
tele-scape of its own devising. Reference to the real no longer has
the ring of sobriety that separates it from fiction. . . . [T]he gap is
sealed, the referent assimilated. We enter the twilight border zone,
(p. 5 4 )
In this zone, monsters are everywhere; they invade our living r o o m s

and stare out at us from our television screens. T h e m o n s t e r "as
hypermasculine beast" ( K i m m e l , 1 9 9 6 , p. 3 2 5 ) is reconstructed in the
ceaseless and amazing spectacle o f reality T V . His deeds serve as a les-
son about the thin veneer o f sociality, the ease with which the individ-
ual male might slip the bonds o f culture and aspire t o a wild,
predatory, and irrational existence stalking, cannibalizing, and eradi-
cating O t h e r s . T h e victims are often w o m e n or m e m b e r s o f other dis-
enfranchised groups; by providing s o m e men with a vehicle for
identification, this portrayal o f America as a killing field may mitigate
their feelings o f loss and emptiness. H o w e v e r , when fear threatens t o
overwhelm, the predatory male may be rendered different, and h e n c e
horrifying. And we may all feel safer as a c o n s e q u e n c e .
Notes
1. Film director and writer, John Waters ( 1 9 9 6 ) reports that he was fascinated by
car crashes as a boy. He played out his childhood fantasies of vehicular mayhem by
destroying all of the toy cars he was given. His frantic mother even took him to a car
junkyard to see real car wrecks. Waters reports that he was elated and exhilarated by
the visit.
2. Simon Watney (1995) acknowledges that "a complex politics of representation

has played prominently in the history of HIV/AIDS, as rival sets of images mobilized
rival explanations of the crisis" (p. 6 4 ) .
3. Cronenberg^ later films rely on a what he calls a "new flesh" rhetoric,
in which the body is seen as manufactured, as molded by technology. A World Wide
Web page (http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/zappa/cronen.html) dedicated to David
Cronenberg contains a "new flesh" directory.
4. Nicci Gerrard ( 1 9 9 6 ) claims she felt repulsed by the film Seven. She says,
I minded the obese marbled body slumped into a puddle of spaghetti, the
bucket of vomit, the scabby living corpse putrefying, the female body
genitally mutilated. For days after the film, I felt the slight sourness of panic
in my stomach, (p. 88)
5. Of course, Norman Bates in Psycho ( 1 9 6 0 ) is a classic example of the figure of

the taxidermist/killer. See Niesel (1994a) for a brilliant analysis of this film and others.
6. Michael Weinberger ( 1 9 9 5 ) asserts,
Oliver Stone meticulously documents the way in which television obscures

the real meaning of violence. Consider the scene in which Wayne Gale, the
American Maniacs anchor, travels to prison to . . . interview Mickey. This
scene mirrors the classic manner in which television breaks down the wall
between the acceptable social element (the audience) and the unacceptable
social element (the mass murderer). It has been played out many times
before: one-on-one interviews which transport Charles Manson, Son-of-
Sam, or John Wayne Gacy right into our living rooms.
Weinberger points out, however, that such interviews are staged in such secure settings
that there is little or no risk to the celebrity interviewer; furthermore, the guards and
guns can be edited out so that the viewer is unaware of their presence. This allows the
viewer to submit to the illusion of some form of intimacy with the most excessive
"psycho-killers" of our times.
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4
Gender Theatrics
Marking the Difference
A blank sheet of paper. On it a man draws the outline of a male fig-

ure. He fills in the outline. He has created a positive form. The space
that surrounds this positive form, this male's male, is negative space.
This is the space inhabited by women. This is the female defined.
This man takes another sheet of paper, draws the outline of a female
figure, and fills it in. This space that surrounds this positive form,
this male's female, is also negative space. This space is also inhabited
by women. This space is the female undefined. A woman takes a
blank sheet of paper and unsuccessfully attempts to draw the outline
of a female figure. . . .
The next logical step would seem to be the female's re-figuring of
this new negative space, with appropriate variations, into a positive
form that is a "female's female." Why is this such an incredibly ardu-
ous task?
—Leah Johnson
What is this theater of men making men spanning at least three con-
tinents that is not only a representation of dazzling myths and first
times but their actualization, and not so much their actualization
but, first and foremost, a magnificent excuse for another theater, the
theater of concealment and revelation playing with the fourth wall,
the only wall that counts, the gender line fatefully implicating holi-
ness and violence?
—Michael Taussig
TA w o adult brothers recently collaborated on a b o o k about their

early years. T h e b o o k is written from the perspective o f each brother
and acknowledges the uncertainty and selectivity o f m e m o r y . T i t l e d
109
Desirelines: An Unusual Family Memoir (Wherrett & Wherrett,

1 9 9 7 ) , the b o o k is an exercise in e x t r e m e risk-taking; the contents o f
the b o o k effectively tear the veil o f respectability from the family's
reputation. T h i s is not without its effects. B o t h brothers occupy
important positions in Australian public life: O n e is a celebrated the-
ater director and entrepreneur; the other is a successful media figure.
T h e brothers write openly and candidly about the often brutal and
painful experiences in their family. T h e y tell o f their conformist and
conventional m o t h e r , w h o tended the family's pharmacy business and
weathered the outbursts o f rage visited on the family by their father.
T h e y tell h o w she t o o k solace in chain-smoking and barbiturates, and
h o w she tried to protect her boys as best she could from their father's
private and irrational behavior. T h e y tell o f discovering their father's
epilepsy and drunkenness, and o f concluding that family life, for him,
was confusing, anxiety laden, and unfulfilling. T h e y also tell o f discov-
ering that their father led a life o f sporadic violence, punctuated by
transvestism; that their father's nocturnal episodes o f cross-dressing
had alternated with the violence; that wearing w o m e n ' s clothes had
s o m e h o w relieved the rising tension and militated against the use o f
alcohol or violence. T h e i r m o t h e r ' s closet thus contained t w o ward-
robes, and the brothers speculated that their m o t h e r had accepted
their father's cross-dressing as a somewhat bizarre, if necessary, activ-
ity that gave her a respite from the violent, drunken rages.
T h e b o o k tells h o w the elder son, Peter, began to b o r r o w his
m o t h e r ' s underwear as a small, frightened boy. H e would don the
silky garments during his father's outbursts as a way o f warding off
mortal fear. Later, he engaged in furtive, adolescent cross-dressing,
which increased his anxiety about an identification with his violent
father. T h e younger son, R i c h a r d , t o o k on the role o f p r o t e c t o r o n c e
his elder brother left h o m e . T h i s role fell t o him at a time when he was
struggling with his sexuality.
C o m p r e s s e d in this narrative is a tale o f illness, drug abuse, and
the fragile and tangential character o f the public face o f masculinity.
T h i s highly personal narrative also illustrates the symbiotic c o n n e c -
tion between masculinity and violence; it shows h o w the raw and
unfinished business o f " b e c o m i n g a m a n " sometimes c o m e s at great
cost, and h o w the demanding and insistent business o f serving the ide-
als o f masculinity can severely t a x the resources o f many individuals.
T h i s chapter explores the definitions and meanings attached to
concepts such as s e x and gender. I review the significance o f our c o n -
temporary W e s t e r n constructions, especially the antithetical c a t e g o -
ries that structure the dominant dualist epistemologies and h o w the
Gender Theatrics 111
distinctions are maintained. I consider both traditional and revised

accounts o f gender, examining the role o f e m b o d i m e n t in such
accounts. I l o o k at the link between masculinity and corporeality in
W e s t e r n society, exploring men's relation to and experience o f their
bodies, which leads to a critique o f the ways in which physicality con-
tributes to cultural constructions o f masculinity. I contrast c o n t e m p o -
rary understandings o f masculinity with their historical counterparts,
including evolving ideas about American m a n h o o d . I also c o m p a r e
our W e s t e r n constructions o f masculinity with those embraced by tra-
ditional, pre-state societies, which allow us to contextualize current
constructions in a broader historical and sociocultural frame. L e t us
begin by briefly examining our W e s t e r n definitions o f sex and gender.
Of Nature and Nurture
T h e existence o f a conceptual distinction between sex and gender

is n o w a c o m m o n p l a c e assumption. T h e emergence o f this distinction,
however, has an interesting and somewhat difficult history. Before we
explore this history, let us establish what is generally meant by these
terms.
Sex usually refers to the biological determinants o f maleness and
femaleness. T h i s includes the physiological and anatomical attributes
that are derived from genetic endowments; hence it includes c h r o m o -
somal patterns and the presence o f h o r m o n e s , such as androgens or
estrogens. Labeling an individual female is usually premised on the
possession o f X X c h r o m o s o m e s and female reproductive and sexual
organs. An individual will typically be labeled male if in possession o f
an X Y c h r o m o s o m e pattern and appropriate genitalia. T h e term sex
refers, then, to biological characteristics—chromosomes, h o r m o n e s ,
anatomy, and physiology—and contains t w o categories: male and
female.
Gender, in contrast, typically refers to the ascription o f social
characteristics to each sex. It encapsulates the dominant ideas about
feminine and masculine traits and behaviors prevalent in any society
at o n e time. G e n d e r is thus achieved through the processes o f social-
ization, and is comprised o f psychological, social, and cultural c o m p o -
nents (Ferree, L o r b e r , & Hess, 1 9 9 9 ) .
Gender identity is used to describe an individual's identification
with the feminine or masculine gender. It involves an individual's sub-
jective sense o f self: the c o r e belief that the individual is a m e m b e r o f a
specific gender category. Early sex/gender researchers, M o n e y and
Ehrhardt ( 1 9 7 2 ) , described gender identity as "the sameness, unity

and persistence o f o n e ' s individuality as male or female (or ambiva-
lent) in greater or lesser degrees, especially as it is e x p e r i e n c e d in self-
awareness and b e h a v i o r " (p. 2 8 4 ) . G e n d e r identity is traditionally
thought to be relatively fixed by about t w o or three years o f a g e . 1
Gender roles are c o m p o s e d o f beliefs, behaviors, n o r m s , values,

and cultural expectations appropriate t o either the masculine or femi-
nine gender. G e n d e r roles are generally considered integral t o gender
identity. As M o n e y and Ehrhardt ( 1 9 7 2 ) state, " G e n d e r identity is the
private ex p er i e n c e o f gender role and gender role is the public expres-
sion o f gender identity" (p. 2 8 4 ) .
Sex roles encompass gender roles, and refer t o the c o m b i n a t i o n o f
gender roles appropriate for m e m b e r s o f a particular sex category (see
Franklin, 1 9 8 8 ; Nadeau, 1 9 9 6 ; Ussher, 1 9 9 7 ) . F o r e x a m p l e , Pieck
and Pieck ( 1 9 7 6 ) observed that the male sex role incorporates both
masculine and feminine beliefs and behaviors. Pieck ( 1 9 8 1 ) ext ended
2
his argument to formulate the c o n c e p t o f sex role strain; he proposed

that individuals regularly violate s e x roles and that the consequences
o f such transgression are harsher for males than females. Further-
m o r e , according to Pieck ( 1 9 8 1 ) , men are socialized to exhibit dys-
functional personality traits, such as aggression and constriction o f
affect.
Conventions of Sex and Gender
Traditional readings o f sex and gender are grounded in n o t i o n s o f

difference. (For both explanation and critique o f traditional readings,
see B u r k e , 1 9 9 6 ; Davis, 1 9 9 5 ; Kimball, 1 9 9 5 ; Schwartz & Rutter,
1 9 9 8 ; W a l s h , 1 9 9 7 . ) T h e social construct o f gender, like its biological
counterpart, s e x , articulates the multiple differences between the cate-
gories o f feminine and masculine. As gender is typically about differ-
ence, it is also about boundaries. G e n d e r , as a cultural construct, exists
then to perpetuate and e x t e n d the differences implied by socially
defined biological characteristics.
Cultural constructions o f difference, located in biology and
behavior, are reflected in the policies and determinations o f social
institutions ( R a d o , 1 9 9 7 ) . A recent decision by the C o u r t o f J u s t i c e o f
the European C o m m u n i t i e s in the case o f Ρ v. S ( 1 9 9 6 ) upheld the
right o f a transsexual t o complain o f s e x discrimination i f she o r he
receives biased treatment. H o w e v e r , the English courts are still re-
quired t o distinguish between the social category o f gender and the

biological category o f s e x , because the transsexual's legal s e x is incon-
gruent with her/his acquired gender ( L o u x , 1 9 9 7 ) . Consequently, in
the case o f transsexualism, or gender identity dysphoria as it is s o m e -
times k n o w n , difference is understood t o be inscribed on the body at
birth and is therefore i r r e v o c a b l e . T h i s immutable difference c a n n o t
3
be erased, according t o prevailing English law, by the reissuing o f a

birth certificate ascribing the " o p p o s i t e " s e x t o the applicant. T h i s
rigidity surrounding the relation between gender, s e x , and embodi-
ment is a peculiarly W e s t e r n preoccupation. M a n y other cultures tol-
erate m o r e elastic arrangements (see L o r b e r , 1 9 9 4 ) .
Feminist theorists o f difference, w h o often derive their inspira-
tion from Freud and various post-Freudian scholars, have provided
rich accounts o f the origins and meanings o f this difference (see
C h o d o r o w , 1 9 7 8 ; Eichenbaum & Orbach, 1 9 8 3 ) . T h e s e theorists focus
on the development o f emotional and cognitive disparities between
men and w o m e n (see Gilligan, 1 9 8 2 ) . According to H a r e - M u s t i n and
M a r e c e k ( 1 9 8 8 ) , there are t w o perspectives on the construction o f
gender as difference: O n e is c o n c e r n e d with the exaggeration o f dif-
ferences; the other is c o n c e r n e d with the minimization o f differ-
ences. T h e former perspective is described in terms o f alpha bias.
Views o f gender differences as d i c h o t o m o u s , enduring, and inevitable
typify this perspective. T h i s view is reflected in W e s t e r n philosophical
thought, from Descartes and B a c o n through t o L o c k e and Rousseau.
H a r e - M u s t i n and M a r e c e k claim that Freudian and feminist psycho-
dynamic approaches also reflect this alpha bias. Beta bias, on the other
hand, is the tendency to de-emphasize differences, a perspective re-
flected in theories and social policies that focus on egalitarianism and
equality o f opportunity.
F o r many feminist scholars, however, the debates surrounding
gender hinge n o t on m e r e differences, but on hierarchies o f domi-
nance and submission. Catherine M a c K i n n o n ( 1 9 8 7 ) speaks o f the
power and violence o f difference in her n o w famous observation that
constructing gender as difference, termed simply the gender differ-

ence, obscures and legitimizes the way gender is imposed by force. It
hides that force behind a static description of gender as a biological
or social or mythic or semantic partition, engraved or inscribed or
inculcated by god, nature, society (agents unspecified), the uncon-
scious, or the cosmos. The idea of gender difference helps keep the
reality of male dominance in place, (p. 3)
Discovering the Sex/Gender System
Despite its controversial aspects, the c o n c e p t o f gender as dif-

ference or as boundary has remained popular, and the c o n c e p t o f a
sex/gender system continues t o have currency in many fields o f
scholarship.
T h e sex/gender system is the product o f research and theorizing
on transsexualism (see R o b e r t Stoller, 1 9 6 8 ) . H o w e v e r , it was taken
up by feminist sociologist Ann O a k l e y in her b o o k Sex, Gender and
Society ( 1 9 7 2 ) . T h r e e years later, social anthropologist Gayle Rubin
( 1 9 7 5 ) argued that both sex and gender are socially constructed:
Sex is sex, but what counts as sex is equally culturally determined

and obtained. Every society also has a sex/gender system—a set of
arrangements by which the biological raw material of human sex
and procreation is shaped by human social intervention and satisfied
in a conventional manner, no matter how bizarre some of the con-
ventions might be. (p. 165)
At the most general level, the social organization of sex rests upon
gender, obligatory heterosexuality, and the constraint of female sex-
uality. Gender is a socially imposed division of the sexes. It is a
product of the social relations of sexuality, (p. 179)
T h e positing o f this sex/gender distinction permitted discussion o f the

social determination o f gender, and avoided the pitfalls o f biological
reductionism. Subjectivity, then, could be interpreted within the frame-
w o r k o f gender; socialization into masculine or feminine identities
was seen as central t o the production o f the gendered subject.
According to this view, social inequities or harms directed at o n e
gender by the other could be remedied through resocialization. Such
solutions have been proffered in many areas; for e x a m p l e , it has often
been suggested that the way to alter problematic behavior exhibited
by men (e.g., violence, lack o f nurturance, or other expressive behav-
iors) is t o change socialization practices. T h e r e have been calls, there-
fore, t o involve m e n in childrearing, or t o raise boys in a way that does
not instill e x t r e m e masculine values or reward exaggerated masculine
behaviors.
According t o G a t e n s ( 1 9 8 3 ) , these approaches are premised o n
the idea o f the neutral body, o f the arbitrary coupling o f gender and
sex:
What I wish to take to task in implicit or explicit investigations of

gender theory is the unreasoned, unargued assumption that both the
body and the psyche are post-natally passive "tabula rasa." That is,
for theorists of gender, the mind of either sex, is a neutral, passive
entity, a blank slate, on which is inscribed various social "lessons."
The body, on their account, is the passive mediator of these in-
scriptions, (p. 144)
T h e proponents o f resocializing (or de-gendering), according t o

Gatens, base their argument on a rationalist view o f consciousness and
a belief that it is possible to alter individual e x p e r i e n c e through substi-
tuting one set o f cultural practices for another. F o r these proponents,
the sex/gender distinction mirrors the body/mind distinction; social-
ization theorists are thus positioned within the parameters o f the
dualistic notions o f the body.
In contradistinction to this is the call t o focus on the s e x e d sub-
ject, not just the "physical body, the anatomical body, the neutral,
dead body, but the body as lived, the animate body—the situated
b o d y " (Gatens, 1 9 8 3 , p. 1 5 0 ) . I investigate this assertion m o r e fully in
this chapter. First, however, I briefly explore the implications o f dif-
ferent theoretical approaches t o gender.
Gender: Traditional and Revisionist Accounts
C o n v e n t i o n a l accounts o f gender and its development draw on

the c o n c e p t o f c o r e gender identity—the assumption that subjectivity
is shaped by gender (see Beall & Sternberg, 1 9 9 3 ; Stoller, 1 9 6 8 ) .
W h a t does this mean for masculinity? Psychoanalytic theory argues
that masculinity is a specific organization o f psychic structures, c o n -
sisting o f multiple, ambiguous desires, e m o t i o n s , and fantasies, which
arise out o f the dynamics o f particular family relationships. Suffice it
to say at this stage that Freudian psychoanalysis represents one o f the
first attempts to theorize the acquisition o f masculine identity. Freud's
discursive statements on the Oedipus C o m p l e x and his Three Essays
on the Theory of Sexuality ( 1 9 5 3 ) set the groundwork for an architec-
tural approach t o gender. Socialization theory argues that masculinity
is c o m p o s e d o f a cluster o f socially accepted behaviors learned
through observation and imitation o f significant role models such as
parents. R o l e theory proposes that masculinity can be regarded as a set
o f social scripts, the substance o f which is acquired in early childhood.
Revisionist accounts o f gender reject the idea that masculinity is

embedded in a fixed and stable gender identity. Consistent with
postmodern readings o f subjectivity in which the self is viewed as fluid
and changeable, masculinity, in revisionist interpretations, is n o lon-
ger understood as the expression o f an inner essence. As M i c h a e l
Kimmel ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes, " I view masculinity as a constantly changing
collection o f meanings that we construct through our relationships
with ourselves, with each other, and with our w o r l d " (p. 1 2 0 ) . H o m i
B h a b h a ( 1 9 9 5 ) maintains that "masculinity, then, is the 'taking u p ' o f
an enunciative position, the making up o f a psychic c o m p l e x , the
assumption o f a social gender, the supplementation o f a historic sexu-
ality, the apparatus o f a cultural difference" (p. 5 8 ) . Asserting the
ambivalent and uncertain nature o f masculinity, psychotherapist
R o g e r H o r r o c k s ( 1 9 9 4 ) states, "It makes sense t o see masculinity as
heterogeneous, contextually sensitive, interrelational" (p. 5 ) . T h i s
stance is in contrast t o traditional perspectives, which view masculin-
ity as a deep-seated, resilient, and persistent aspect o f individual char-
acter or personality.
Prominent among the revisionist theorists is the work of
B o b C o n n e l l . In a radical departure from the traditional perspectives
on gender, C o n n e l l proposes ( 1 9 8 7 ) that w e conceptualize gender as
"practice organized in terms of, or in relation t o , the reproductive
division o f people into male and female" (p. 1 4 0 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , gen-
der practice can be organized in terms o f numerous social categories;
hence gender, according t o C o n n e l l ( 1 9 8 7 ) , is "a linking c o n c e p t , "
connecting divergent fields o f social practice to "the nodal practices o f
engendering, childbirth and parenting" (p. 1 4 0 ) . G e n d e r is, then, a
process and n o t a condition o f the individual (see L o r b e r , 1 9 9 4 ) .
R a t h e r than reify gender, C o n n e l l ( 1 9 8 7 ) invites us t o think o f gender
as a verb—a dynamic process situated within sociality.
Following Jill Julius M a t t h e w s ( 1 9 8 4 ) , C o n n e l l also proposes the
existence o f a gender order, a pattern o f gendered power relations that
emerges out o f the exigencies o f history. A gender regime is the mani-
festation o f this structured gender order within a particular institu-
tion. T h e gender order and the gender regime rest on the division o f
labor, the hierarchies o f power, and the social constitution o f desire
and sexuality (cathexis). C o n n e l l recognizes the significance o f force
and violence in all these domains.
In o n e o f the most influential statements in c o n t e m p o r a r y social
theory, C o n n e l l posits the existence o f masculinity and femininity as
multivalent concepts. R a t h e r than rely on the unitary and h o m o g e -
neous constructions o f gender incorporated in much previous theory,

C o n n e l l explores the idea o f multiple masculinities c o e x i s t e n t within
the gender order. C o n n e l l ( 1 9 8 7 ) declares,
There is an ordering of versions of femininity and masculinity at the

level of the whole society. . . .
This structural fact provides the main basis for relationships
among men that define a hegemonic form of masculinity in the soci-
ety as a whole. "Hegemonic masculinity" is always constructed in
relation to various subordinated masculinities as well as in relation
to women.
There is no femininity that is hegemonic in the sense that the
dominant form of masculinity is hegemonic among men. (p. 183)
H o w e v e r , according t o C o n n e l l ( 1 9 8 7 ) , there is a version o f feminin-

ity that is given p r o m i n e n c e , that is emphasized.
H e g e m o n i c masculinity is the publicly avowed, preferred model
o f manliness. It depends on the circulation o f mass media ideologies
and images for its survival and prosperity. M a n y o f the images o f
h e g e m o n i c masculinity are aspirational, depicting fantasy or fictional
characters w h o s e attainments represent the e x t r e m e s o f socially
approved masculine achievements. Such public forms o f masculinity
and their private counterparts sediment differential power relations
between men and w o m e n . H e g e m o n i c masculinity is, then, the cul-
tural manifestation o f m e n ' s ascendancy over w o m e n . Although forms
o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity are established and maintained via mass
media and institutional doctrines and practices, they are n o t inconsis-
tent with the use o f force or violence. H o w e v e r , as C o n n e l l ( 1 9 8 7 )
points out, w o m e n may also feel oppressed by n o n h e g e m o n i c forms o f
masculinity; subordinated masculinities, such as those e m b r a c e d by
gay men for e x a m p l e , may n o t e m p o w e r w o m e n , and indeed may c o n -
tain tendencies toward gender hostility or even misogyny.
C o n n e l P s revisionist w o r k on gender has found its way into many
spheres o f social science scholarship. Messerschmidt's Masculinities
and Crime ( 1 9 9 3 ) adopts C o n n e l l ' s notion o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity,
and argues that crimes c o m m i t t e d by men can be understood as
attempts to accomplish masculinity when other means o f demonstrat-
ing manliness are curtailed or unavailable. Messerschmidt claims that
marginalized and excluded groups o f males, such as African American
or Hispanic American youths, may display an oppositional masculin-
ity born o f resistance. Middle-class, white males, by contrast, may
embrace an a c c o m m o d a t i n g masculinity, embodying h e g e m o n i c c o n -
cerns with career and social achievement. M e s s e r s c h m i d t ' s thesis,

therefore, emphasizes the relational and hierarchical character o f mas-
culinities (see also D o n a l d s o n , 1 9 9 3 ) .
Another revisionist gender theorist is Judith Butler. In her b o o k
Gender Trouble ( 1 9 9 0 ) , Butler outlines a performative n o t i o n o f gen-
der. In this interpretation, gender is an array o f social practices that
adhere t o individuals as they internalize social structures. In her later
w o r k , Butler ( 1 9 9 5 ) maintains that gender "is produced as a ritualized
repetition o f conventions, and that this ritual is socially c o m p e l l e d in
part by the force o f a compulsory heterosexuality" (p. 3 1 ) . T h e psy-
chic illusion o f a c o r e gender identity is a catalyst t o the continual per-
formance o f gender. F u r t h e r m o r e , femininity, according t o Butler
( 1 9 9 5 ) , is cast as the spectacular gender; it can be regarded as an ideal
that is only ever imitated and never fully inhabited. 4
Symbolic social structures, such as law, reinforce the idealized

gender categories and cast out identities that disturb the socially
proper gender divisions. T h e s e ejected identities b e c o m e "zones o f
uninhabitability" (Butler, 1 9 9 3 , p. 2 4 3 ) . Butler notes, however, that
"repetitions o f h e g e m o n i c forms o f p o w e r " can also be opportunities
to expose or disrupt the naturalizing functions o f gender discourse.
Butler thus recognizes the resistant and disruptive potential o f ostensi-
bly conventional practices, such as those installed within juridical dis-
course, for example.
As we shall see, this interpretation o f gender has been very influ-
ential. B e l o w , I return to the c o n c e p t o f the s e x e d body and its rela-
tion t o masculinity.
Masculinity and Corporeality
W i t h i n the epistemological heritage o f W e s t e r n society, the body

has traditionally been conceptualized as the material container for
either the soul or the intellect. As we saw in Chapter 1, Descartes's
writings were premised on the notion that the body could be equated
with a m a c h i n e ; according to Descartes, the body was simply res
extensa, matter animated by mechanical forces. Descartes attempted
t o distance bodily experiences, such as disease and pain, from the sub-
ject by substituting a third-person for a first-person perspective. M o r e -
over, he severed the attributes associated with subjectivity from the
body. Identified primarily with physical sensation and divorced from
higher cognition, the body occupied the position o f O t h e r . T h e bifur-
cation between the body and mind or soul relegated the body t o the
status o f a degraded entity. Descartes wrote, " I am a thinking body. I
possess a body with which I am intimately c o n j o i n e d " ; however, he
continued, "this ' m e , ' . . . the soul by which I am, is entirely distinct
from the b o d y " (quoted in Leder, 1 9 9 0 , p. 1 2 6 ) . T h e body, according
to Descartes, was a deceptive and limiting presence, with distinct
boundaries, that enclosed the self. Cartesian ontology rested on the
distinction between res extensa and res cognitans, privileging o f the
latter over the former. Cartesian m e t h o d provided the key t o tran-
scending the b o d y ; scientific knowledge was gained through the pro-
cess o f denying and controlling the body. Leder ( 1 9 9 0 ) notes that "a
certain telos toward disembodiment is an abiding strain o f W e s t e r n
intellectual history" (p. 3 ) .
J a n e G a l l o p ( 1 9 8 8 ) asserts that the mind/body split integral t o the
Cartesian model is an image o f extraordinary violence. F u r t h e r m o r e ,
she believes that the Western philosophical tradition has failed misera-
bly t o "think through the body": " R a t h e r than treat the body as a site
o f knowledge, a medium for thought, the m o r e classic philosophical
project has tried t o render it transparent and get b e y o n d it, t o domi-
nate it by reducing it to the mind's idealizing categories," she writes
(pp. 3 - 4 ) .
In contradistinction t o this tradition, we n o w acknowledge that
subjectivity and corporeality are intimately entwined, and that the
body mediates the experience o f the external world. Consequently,
the senses interpret and construct; a corporeal self responds to stimuli
that impinge from beyond the borders o f existence. Relationships are
grounded in a reciprocity o f sensory exchanges; touch, sight, a r o m a ,
and speech all rely on the vicissitudes o f embodiment. T h e body con-
tributes t o the formation o f subjectivity; indeed, the involvement o f
the body is central to the experience o f self. (See Armstrong, 1 9 9 6 ;
5
Csordas, 1 9 9 4 ; Foster, 1 9 9 6 ; Halberstam & Livingston, 1 9 9 5 ; Kay &

Rubin, 1 9 9 4 ; Lingis, 1 9 9 4 ; Y o u n g , 1 9 9 7 ) .
W h a t o f m e n ' s bodies? B e l o w I e x a m i n e h o w masculinity and
physicality are intertwined. First, I consider m e n ' s relationship with
their bodies, and then review the ways in which men conceptualize
embodiment.
Male Bodies: Hide and Show
M e n often view their bodies as instruments: flesh in the service o f

an objective or a desire (Seidler, 1 9 9 7 ) . M e n are frequently depicted
in the public arena as "talking heads" divorced from their physicality.

In these representations, corporeality is de-emphasized in the pursuit
o f political o r social credibility. It is almost as if the public a c k n o w l -
edgment o f e m b o d i m e n t is, for men, a liability.
Ironically, the male body is n o t only an instrument, but also a
weapon (Messner, 1 9 9 7 ) . Sociologist B o b C o n n e l l ( 1 9 8 3 ) remarked,
" W h a t it means to be masculine is, quite literally, t o e m b o d y f o r c e "
(p. 2 7 ) . M a r g a r e t A t w o o d ( 1 9 9 6 ) reiterates this idea: " M e n ' s bodies
are the most dangerous things on earth" (p. 3 ) , she writes, referring t o
the fact that men kill other men in both war and peacetime, and also
that m e n sexually assault and kill w o m e n and children. " W h y do men
want to kill the bodies o f other m e n ? " she asks, while observing that,
today, men are "most afraid o f . . . the body o f another m a n " (p. 3 ) .
V i o l e n c e , as w e shall see again later in this chapter, is integral t o
masculinity.
Consistent with the centrality o f force t o masculinity, men are
taught t o occupy space in ways that c o n n o t e strength, potency, and
assertiveness. A corollary o f these body-reflexive practices ( C o n n e l l ,
1 9 9 5 ) is the translation o f the male body into a physical project, sub-
ject t o the will and motivation o f its " o w n e r " (see Armstrong, 1 9 9 6 ) .
T h i s view o f the body leads t o an achievement-oriented approach t o
masculinity—one reflected in sport and pornography. As Susan B o r d o
( 1 9 9 6 ) notes, " T h e ideal is t o have a b o d y that is hard as a r o c k , with-
out looseness or flaccidity a n y w h e r e . . . . [M]uscles today are the m a r k
o f mind over m a t t e r " (p. 2 9 0 ) . T h i s achievement-oriented masculinity
produces a solid, impervious, and self-sufficient body. It is a body
both desirable and threatening. Y e t , as we shall see below, it is ulti-
mately a fragile creation, defined by its own failures (Connell, 1 9 9 5 ) .
T h e perfectible body, the emblem o f masculinist cultures from classi-
cal G r e e c e onward, may prove elusive (Dutton, 1 9 9 5 ) . Discourses o f
the self-built and carefully engineered body may clash head-on with
the lived experiences o f unreliable and somewhat strange physicality.
Living in the Male Body
M e n ' s experience o f the body is often epitomized by feelings o f

alienation and absence. Indeed, men will frequently speak o f the for-
eign character o f their own bodies, as if they are referring to a physical
entity that is not integral to their identity as male subjects. G a l l o p
( 1 9 8 8 ) notes that "men have their masculine identity to gain by being
estranged from their b o d i e s " (p. 7 ) .
T h i s e x p e r i e n c e o f alienation from the body may surface, para-

doxically, in the arena o f sexuality. Referring t o St. Augustine's la-
ment that " s o m e t i m e s the impulse [of desire] is an unwanted intruder,
sometimes it abandons the eager l o v e r " ( 1 9 7 2 , p. 5 7 7 ) , Leder ( 1 9 9 0 )
claims that sexuality "exhibits a visceral a u t o n o m y " (p. 1 3 7 ) . Further-
m o r e , he declares that "just as the body is r e m e m b e r e d w h e n pain or
sickness interferes with our intentions, so t o o when powerful passions
rebel. At such times the body dys-appears, surfacing as an alien or
threatening thing" (p. 1 3 7 ) . O n the basis o f this, Leder claims that the
Cartesian paradigm has a foundation in e x p e r i e n c e . In contrast t o the
assumption that the dualist view o f the w o r l d reflects a denial o f lived
e x p e r i e n c e and the valorization o f incorporeal reason, Leder asserts
that the e x p e r i e n c e o f the body supports and validates Cartesian dual-
ism. T h i s peculiarly masculine view o f the body—in which the b o d y is
alternatively viewed as absent or alien—reverberates through much
recent writing and scholarship on masculinity. J o h n Updike ( 1 9 9 6 ) ,
for e x a m p l e , describes the m o m e n t o f sexual e x c i t e m e n t as follows:
Men's bodies, at this juncture, feel only partly theirs; a demon of

sorts has been attached to their lower torsos, whose performance is
erratic and whose errands seem, at times, ridiculous. It is like having
a (much) smaller brother toward whom you feel both fond and
impatient; if he is you, it is you in curiously simplified and ignoble
form. . . .
To inhabit a male body, then, is to feel somewhat detached
from it. It is not an enemy, but not entirely a friend, (p. 10)
M a r g a r e t A t w o o d ( 1 9 9 6 ) playfully c o m m e n t s ,
The thing is: men's bodies aren't dependable. Now it does, now it
doesn't, and so much for the triumph of the will. A man is the pup-
pet of his body, or vice versa. He and it make tomfools of each
other: it lets him down. Or up, at the wrong moment, (p. 4 )
T h i s detachment and alienation from (aspects) o f the male body

can, however, have o t h e r c o n s e q u e n c e s . M e n often view their bodies
as low maintenance propositions (see Updike, 1 9 9 6 ) , and so neglect
their health until the advent o f a physical crisis. T h i s crisis can both
reflect and magnify these feelings o f detachment and disconnection.
Speaking o f his increasing alienation from his physicality, and even-
tual decline into illness, the academic David J a c k s o n ( 1 9 9 0 ) says,
A widening split grew between my mind and my body. I felt increas-

ingly out of sync with my body, using it to carry around my brain
but being estranged from its specific needs and rhythms. . . .
[E]ventually I collapsed physically in February 1 9 8 6 [and] it was
with a sense that my body had decided to claim its revenge on an
indifferent, arrogant intellect, (p. 5 9 )
Under the heading "Falling apart," J a c k s o n describes the rebellion o f

his body:
I was reconnected to the life and history of my body at the moment

when I collapsed in a total heart-block while teaching. It was the
point at which my body dug its heels in and refused to go on obeying
the imperious demands of my head. . . .
It was the first time in my life that my body, which I had been
holding so firm and tight for so long, had completely let me down,
(p. 5 9 )
In hospital, the absent body began t o manifest itself:
I became intensely aware of my body's moods, its daily movements,

its sudden swings, my distinctive heartbeat like a personal thumb-
print, its aches and pains in a way that previously living through
rational intellect had distanced me from. (p. 6 1 )
T h i s relation t o the body, characterized by denial and rejection,

contains within its outlines a n o t h e r process: the negotiation o f bound-
aries. T h e failure t o detect the presence o f the body and the attempt t o
exile the experiences o f the body reflect a c o n c e r n with demarcating
the self from others. Leder ( 1 9 9 0 ) discusses the necessity o f preserving
boundaries:
My body is . . . that whereby I am localized and bounded, marked

off as separate from other parts of the world. T o perceive, I must
inhabit a particular perspective and maintain some separation from
the thing perceived. T o live I must preserve a boundary across which
I metabolically take in or give out. (p. 2 0 1 )
And h o w might o n e be " m a r k e d off as separate from other parts

o f t h e w o r l d " a n d "the thing perceived"? O u r collapsed writer, D a v i d
J a c k s o n , provides us with an answer:
On one level, heterosexual relations have historically shaped me to

embody superiority over women in my bodily relations. Practically,
this means holding my body in a firmly decisive way that marks me
off from an imaginary woman. Often this means that thrusting, driv-
ing and pushing . . . have been naturalized in my heterosexual body,
(p. 5 7 )
T h e imperative t o delineate a boundary that excludes the "imaginary

w o m a n " through the "thrusting, driving and pushing" o f heterosexual
activity betrays the existence o f powerful e m o t i o n s . T h a t survival
depends on preserving the boundary may indicate the pervasive terror
o f being absorbed or devoured. T h i s terror may arise w h e n e v e r the
intellect (reason) succumbs t o the body (desire). J a c k s o n speaks o f the
fear o f annihilation underscoring his collapse ( J a c k s o n , 1 9 9 0 , p. 5 9 ) :
I suddenly became dizzy and light-headed. I felt as if I was being

sucked into the darkening, spinning centre of a whirlpool. Before,
when I had experienced dizzy spells, I had felt as if I had lurched
towards the centre of the whirlpool and then veered back to the
calmer fringes of the slack, outer circle. But now I couldn't stop
myself being swallowed, deeper and deeper. There was just a terrify-
ing, revolving swirl encircling me, dragging me in. I could feel my
knees buckling. I sensed that I was caving in and falling.
And yet this terror at the disappearance o f identity, the eradica-

tion o f the self, is m a t c h e d by the wish t o transcend the boundaries.
M e r g e n c e may b e c o m e a compelling fantasy. T h u s , J a c k s o n informs us,
I dream of a lost body. I dream of a body I desire. I envy bodies that

can drift and swirl like uncoiling strands of water-weed. I dream, in
slow motion, of having a seal's body. I sense the way a seal can
become a part of its liquid element, slipping drowsily through green
fathoms. I can imagine the lightness of a seal's swaying rolls. I'm full
of frustrated desire for the way it delights in the casual play of its
own sleek movement, (p. 4 7 )
Similarly, talking o f the development o f subjectivity, Leder ( 1 9 9 0 )

says that
the lived body, as we have seen, is far more than a perceiver/

perceived. Beneath the sensorimotor surface lies the anonymous
strata of the visceral, a prenatal history, the body asleep. . . .
In the depths of my past (as an embryo) I encounter the same
viscerability that resides in the depths of my inner body and the
depths of sleep. The conscious, active " I " is in every direction out-
run, (pp. 60-61)
F o r David J a c k s o n , the frustrated desire o f which he writes is but a

tantalizing dream, a psychic impossibility. T o dissolve the boundaries
and b e c o m e o n e with the "imaginary w o m a n " or the "liquid e l e m e n t "
w o u l d instill terror and threaten survival. In masculine e x p e r i e n c e , the
body literally marks off o n e individual from another, establishing
physical boundaries that have their parallel in the demarcation o f psy-
chic territory.
Gendered Embodiment
W h i l e men may be alienated from the lived body, w o m e n may be

estranged from it through a process o f splitting, which ensures that
the body as e x p e r i e n c e d is severed from the social meaning attributed
t o that body. T h i s splitting is achieved through the objectifying gaze o f
the O t h e r ; the rupture between the lived body and the body as object
occurs at the point o f incorporation by the O t h e r ' s gaze. T h e internal-
ization o f the body as object renders w o m e n ' s perception o f the b o d y
p r o b l e m a t i c ; the body is transformed into a foreign entity, one inside
social relations but outside the self.
Consistent with the alienating project o f the O t h e r , w o m e n ' s b o d -
ies are often viewed as assembled bits that are inherently flawed;
h e n c e discourses o f the female body frequently portray women's
reproductive capacities in terms o f biological otherness (see D i p r o s e ,
1 9 9 4 ) . T h e "difference as pathology" perspective permeates public
discourse in several fields, especially medicine and law. W i t h i n this
perspective, w o m e n ' s reproductive functions transform the body into
an a b n o r m a l organism; femaleness, as diseased state, is defined and
delimited by maleness, as healthy norm. T h e construction o f the fe-
male b o d y as a morass o f dislocated and malfunctioning parts, in
which the bodily depths are in c h a o t i c flux, is m a t c h e d by a focus on
the importance o f the surface o f the female body. T h i s cultural c o n -
struction o f the female body translates into the vocabulary o f defi-
ciency and desire: an acknowledgment o f lack, followed by attempts
at corrective action.
Discourses about the need t o c o n t r o l the unwieldy female b o d y
through regimes o f diet and exercise e c h o through the weight reduc-
tion, beautification, and health industries. T h i s push t o r e m a k e the
6
female form reinforces the dominant definition o f the female body as

diseased; the voluptuous boundaries o f w o m e n ' s bodies are pro-
n o u n c e d a b n o r m a l and unsightly. B o d y reduction (and the attendant
shrinking o f female sexuality) b e c o m e a normalized practice (see Davis,
1 9 9 5 ; Shaffer, 1 9 9 7 ) . T h e m o r e c o m p a c t the female body, the m o r e

taut its surface, the m o r e efficient it is as a c o n t a i n e r o f female desire.
Within this aesthetic, female sexuality is viewed as less likely to encroach
on other (male) bodies or t o overwhelm the body in which it resides.
Social order, with its corollary o f female restraint, is thus maintained.
The objectifying and alienating gaze o f the O t h e r structures
w o m e n ' s perceptions o f the body and produces behavior supportive
o f this project. B o r d o ( 1 9 9 3 ) demonstrates h o w a n o r e x i c w o m e n have
i n c o r p o r a t e d the dualist notion o f the body as a site o f confinement,
limitation, and danger; subduing and controlling the b o d y b e c o m e the
behavioral objectives within this construction. According to B o r d o ,
this process culminates in the extinction o f the e x p e r i e n c e o f desire,
which for a n o r e x i c w o m e n is represented as the cessation o f hunger.
T h e bodily depths are viewed as outside the self; for e x a m p l e , B o r d o
( 1 9 9 3 ) cites a w o m a n w h o says she ate because "my stomach w a n t e d
it" (p. 6 3 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , hunger, like disease, is conceptualized as an
alien force, rather than the expression o f self-regulating and healthy
mechanisms. T h i s attempt t o subdue and c o n t r o l the errant body is
intimately c o n n e c t e d to female sexuality. B e c o m i n g "fat" (that is,
m o r e abundant) is tantamount to succumbing t o the tide o f lascivious
desire. T h i s may also be associated with ideas o f internal decay. B o r d o
( 1 9 9 3 ) cites another w o m a n w h o claimed that after eating sugar she
felt "polluted" and rotten inside.
H o w e v e r , as we see, these images o f defilement are n o t limited t o
the present time or W e s t e r n society. T h e c o n c e p t o f w o m e n ' s bodies
as repositories o f lust (and contagious disease) is widespread. T h e re-
sponse o f the female a n o r e x i c (or the female bodybuilder) t o these
images—and the consequent attempt to eradicate or harden the fleshy
female morass—is predictable (see B o r d o , 1 9 9 6 ) .
Muscular Masculinity:
Men and Sport
Sport has, for a long time, occupied an important niche in Ameri-

can society ( M e s s n e r , 1 9 9 2 ; T u d o r , 1 9 9 7 ) . According t o G o r n a n d
Goldstein ( 1 9 9 3 ) , the origin o f American sporting culture can be
found in pre-industrial England. In colonial America, sport t o o k vari-
ous forms in different regions: In urban centers like N e w Y o r k , b l o o d
sports were particularly popular; in the southern c o l o n i e s , it was
horse racing. N o matter what form sport t o o k , it provided a s y m b o l i c
c o n t e x t for the conflict and competition o f m o d e r n capitalism ( G o r n
& Goldstein, 1 9 9 3 ) , and debates about identity (Bale & Philo, 1 9 9 8 ) .

H o w e v e r , sport also provided the ideal setting for the articulation o f
aspects o f m o d e r n masculinity.
The e m e r g e n c e o f organized sports served t o deflect fears o f
feminization a m o n g middle-class men, and generated n e w arenas for
asserting male superiority (Messner, 1 9 9 0 ) . Indeed, as C o n n e l l ( 1 9 9 5 )
argues, "In historically recent times, sport has c o m e t o be the leading
definer o f masculinity in mass culture. Sport provides a continuous
display o f m e n ' s bodies in m o t i o n " (p. 5 4 ) ; h e n c e the e m b o d i m e n t o f
masculinity in organized sports is critically important. As C o n n e l l
writes, " T r u e masculinity is almost always thought t o p r o c e e d from
m e n ' s b o d i e s — t o b e inherent in a male body or t o express something
about a male b o d y " (p. 4 5 ) .
In the individualistic and narcissistic subculture o f bodybuilding
w e find the clear translation o f masculinity into b o t h behavior a n d
appearance ( H e y w o o d , 1 9 9 8 ; M o o r e , 1 9 9 7 ; Simpson, 1 9 9 4 ) . Klein
( 1 9 9 3 ) refers t o the h o m o p h o b i a , fascism, and hypermasculine ten-
dencies in this subculture, with its " c o m i c - b o o k " masculinity. Fussell
( 1 9 9 6 ) describes our era's "bodybuilder americanus" as a "caricatural
distortion" (p. 4 3 ) , an exaggerated interpretation o f masculinity in
which a muscular body is a vital prop in the c o n t e m p o r a r y masquer-
ade o f manliness. "It does l o o k as i f everyone has swallowed an air
h o s e , " observes a bemused Fussell (p. 4 3 ) .
Organized sports generally involve spectacular contests, in which
fit and muscular bodies are pitted against each other. Such c o n t a c t
between bodies is inherently physical; however, it is also often violent.
M i c h a e l M e s s n e r ( 1 9 9 7 ) speaks o f the body as w e a p o n : the hardening
o f the b o d y into a potential instrument o f harm. V i o l e n c e may o c c u r
between the players on the field, or between spectators, as is the case
in British football hooliganism, which has a longstanding, if notori-
ous, tradition. W a r metaphors sometimes invade football talk, as i f
organized sport and organized violence are interrelated. As M c B r i d e
( 1 9 9 5 ) exclaims, " F o o t b a l l is not just a war but rather a game o f sex-
ual encoding that employs both castration and phallic rape imagery t o
describe the domination o f the e n e m y " (p. 9 2 ) . N o t surprisingly,
attendance at professional football games has been linked t o violent
assaults on w o m e n ( W h i t e , Katz, & S c a r b o r o u g h , 1 9 9 2 ) .
Sport is, then, embedded in the modern gender order (see Parker,
1 9 9 6 ) . Sport has been integral t o the social processes o f making
m e n — o f instilling the avowed qualities o f manliness in young men
and o f instructing all men, regardless o f age, in the radical opposition
between men and w o m e n in society. T h e o p p o n e n t (or enemy) b e -
c o m e s gendered—that is, feminized—within the contours o f m o d e r n

sporting discourse. T h i s process o f inculcating masculinity through
sport began in earnest, in Britain and elsewhere, during the last cen-
tury. Associated with ideologies o f empire and nationalism, and with
the creation o f militaristic styles o f masculinity ( M a n g a n , 1996),
sports brought forth an emphasis on the quest for m o r a l manliness
(Chandler & Nauright, 1 9 9 6 ) .
T o d a y , organized sport remains preoccupied by gender-related
concerns (Hall, 1 9 9 6 ; M c K a y & M e s s n e r , 1 9 9 7 ) . Issues o f power,
violence, and sexuality are at the c o r e o f debates about sporting en-
deavors (Messner, 1 9 9 4 ) . Laurel Davis ( 1 9 9 7 ) , for e x a m p l e , describes
h o w the publication o f the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue repro-
duces h e g e m o n i c masculinity and marginalizes the perspectives o f
w o m e n , gay men, and people o f c o l o r . Arguably, such divisive and
biased publications are reminiscent o f the propaganda o f c o m b a t .
Perhaps we could regard the swimsuit issue, with its scantily clad,
idealized female bodies, as a war manual that prepares the wary t o
recognize the enemy—and, o f course, also depicts the enemy in a
nonthreatening form fit for visual consumption. T h e juxtaposition
between the masculinity o f the moving body o f the sportsman and the
femininity o f the fixed body o f the sports model reaches its zenith
here. F u r t h e r m o r e , the body o f the sportsman gains in p o w e r by being
l o o k e d at, while the body o f the sports model, as sexualized, p h o t o -
graphic image, is stripped o f power.
Military Violence:
Men Behaving Badly
T h e historiography o f war has increasingly c o n c e r n e d itself with

the issue o f masculinity. It is n o w proposed that warfare and the mili-
taristic masculinity integral to c o m b a t are an important means by
which young men are socialized into the essential ingredients o f c o n -
temporary manliness. T h i s gendered education is instilled in a number
o f ways. First, mythologies o f war and past battles fought circulate
throughout society sanctifying the killing and destruction o f warfare.
Examples o f such mythmaking abound, but o n e instance will suffice
here. R e c e n t l y , an Australian travel agency issued a call to join the
1 9 9 8 Battlefield Tour of Gallipoli and the Western Front. In jingoistic
language, the potential war history tourist was invited t o walk the
famous W o r l d W a r I battlefields o f T u r k e y and F r a n c e and be in-
structed by the tour guides on the maneuvers and effects o f war.
A n o t h e r strategy employed t o engender the military lessons o f

m a n h o o d involves the religious consecration o f war by mainstream
churches. T h i s m o v e helps t o convince the population that war is both
purposeful and meaningful, and also effectively sacralizes war. A third
strategy involves the deployment o f military rituals involving uni-
forms, flags, and music. Such visual manifestations o f militarism are
displayed and p r o m o t e d as a means t o glorify war (see E h r e n r e i c h ,
1997).
Despite this gendered education, w e n o w k n o w that the psycho-
logical costs o f the formal induction into an organized culture o f vio-
lence are extremely high (Grossman, 1 9 9 6 ) . W e also k n o w that m a n y
men are repulsed by killing, and are unable or unwilling to engage
in lethal c o m b a t (Ehrenreich, 1 9 9 7 ) . Reviewing the meaning and
significance o f the shell s h o c k suffered by soldiers in W o r l d W a r I,
Elaine Showalter ( 1 9 8 7 ) concluded that this affliction could be re-
garded as a type o f male hysteria. She argued that ordinary soldiers
attempted t o formulate masculine identities that reconciled the c o n -
tradictions between the hypermasculine battle rhetoric o f govern-
ments and the humbling and enervating effects o f c o m b a t . T h i s
attempt t o r e c o n c i l e the inconsistencies was based on a recognition o f
the yawning divide between the ideologies o f masculinity propagated
by the state and the lived experiences o f individual men. C o n s e -
quently, the efflorescence o f hysterical symptoms manifested by indi-
vidual men during wartime can be read, according t o S h o w a l t e r , as a
temporary exit from the public demands o f the masculinist social
order (see Pugliese, 1 9 9 5 ) .
O f c o u r s e , the trials and tribulations o f war do n o t begin and end
with c o m b a t . T h e soldier's return t o the e m p l o y m e n t and familial
responsibilities o f civilian life may provide m e n with opportunities t o
c o m p o s e n e w masculine identities and t o shed the frailties and failures
brought on by war. T h i s process, however, is n o t always successful.
Men are often left feeling e x p o s e d and vulnerable (see D a w s o n ,
1 9 9 4 ) . Indeed, the repatriation e x p e r i e n c e is often steeped in the ten-
sions between m e m o r y and anticipation ( G a r t o n , 1 9 9 5 ) .
Needless t o say, the business o f war still prospers during peace-
time. T h e practices and behaviors integral t o military training acade-
mies indicate that the relentless march o f gendered socialization so
central t o warfare continues unabated in the absence o f military threat
or engagement (see Stiehm, 1 9 9 6 ) . R e c e n t revelations o f military mis-
conduct indicate that this is so. T o m a k e sense o f these o c c u r r e n c e s ,
we need t o place t h e m in the larger c o n t e x t o f the role and function o f
military institutions.
M o d e r n military institutions are strongly b o u n d e d in a multiplic-

ity o f ways, as is represented in their spatial organization and in their
codes o f secrecy. T h e psychological estrangement from everyday life,
inculcated through the disciplined training o f military personnel, fur-
thers this process o f demarcation. T h e boundedness o f military insti-
tutions is c o n c o r d a n t with the articulation o f masculine identities and
the intense development o f masculinist behaviors in these settings.
T h e archaic figure o f the warrior, with its deep c o n n e c t i o n t o mascu-
linities, reappears here in the guise o f the m o d e r n military man.
T h e traditional link between masculinity and the legitimized vio-
lence o f warfare has been undermined t o s o m e e x t e n t by the introduc-
tion o f greater numbers o f w o m e n into military service. T h i s process
o f gender integration, however, has produced high levels o f a n x i e t y ;
it appears t o threaten the boundedness o f the military institution and
the separation o f men and w o m e n , which is viewed as critically impor-
tant. According t o this fearful perspective, the presence o f w o m e n
dilutes the masculine character o f the institution, erodes the solidarity
o f the body o f fighting men, and introduces confusion and conflict t o
the system o f loyalties. T h e r e are also fears that the admission o f
w o m e n t o the military machine will destabilize o r even pollute it.
M o r g a n ( 1 9 9 4 ) convincingly argues that at every turn there is anxiety
that the symbolic order will implode if full gender integration occurs.
T h i s apprehension is sparked by "the apparent loosening o f bound-
aries between w o m e n and men, and the weakening o f the links
between nation, the military, and gendered identities" (p. 1 7 1 ) .
N o w h e r e is this perspective m o r e evident than in the recent spate
o f sexual scandals that have r o c k e d American military institutions
(see F r a n c k e , 1 9 9 7 ; Harrell & M i l l e r , 1 9 9 7 ; H e r b e r t , 1 9 9 8 ) . T h e
T a i l h o o k incident o f 1 9 9 1 stands as a defining m o m e n t in the sexual-
ized warfare that continues to plague these institutions. In this inci-
dent, a large n u m b e r o f female naval aviators w e r e harassed and sex-
ually assaulted by colleagues during a c o n v e n t i o n in Las Vegas (see
Z i m m e r m a n , 1 9 9 5 ) . M o r e recently, the s e x scandal at the Aberdeen
Proving G r o u n d in M a r y l a n d erupted after a complaint o f rape by
a female recruit against Staff Sergeant D e l m a r S i m p s o n . Simpson
was accused o f sexual misconduct by a further 2 6 female soldiers.
S i m p s o n ' s superior officer, Captain D e r r i c k R o b e r t s o n , was charged
with sexual assault offences for his part in what b e c a m e k n o w n as the
Aberdeen rape ring. Simpson was sentenced t o 2 5 years in prison for
the rape o f six female recruits. O t h e r s were court-martialed or faced
disciplinary action. In an even m o r e bizarre series o f accusations and
disclosures, the Sergeant M a j o r o f the U . S . Army, G e n e M c K i n n e y ,
was charged with a series o f sexual assaults. M c K i n n e y was convicted

in 1 9 9 8 o f obstructing justice, but was cleared o f the 1 8 sexual assault
charges brought by six w o m e n . H e was d e m o t e d one rank and given a
formal reprimand. M o r e recently, M a j o r G e n e r a l David H a l e was for-
mally accused o f conducting improper relationships with the wives o f
four o f his subordinates. H e was permitted t o retire while under
investigation.
O f course, s o m e c o m m e n t a t o r s perceive the current situation in
different terms, asserting that efforts at gender integration are essen-
tially attempts t o demasculinize the military. W e might speculate,
however, o n the reverse impact o f this process—that gender integra-
tion might be part o f a project t o raise the status o f w o m e n by
masculinizing some o f their number. W e are perhaps reminded, here,
o f the 1 9 9 7 film G. /. Jane. In this film, a female recruit in the army's
elite c o m m a n d o squad screams at her o p p o n e n t , during a violent
brawl, " S u c k my dick!" T h i s denunciatory invitation and the female
recruit's obvious physical prowess m a r k a turning point in the movie.
T h e recruit, played by D e m i M o o r e , starts to b e c o m e " o n e o f the
b o y s " after this event.
Access by w o m e n to the hallowed role o f warrior arguably
increases w o m e n ' s status; at the same time, it disturbs and unset-
tles m e n ' s confidence in their superior status. T h e disappearance o f
difference, implied by gender integration strategies, may p r o v o k e a
defensive and hostile attack. Institutionalized violence might then be
regarded as a masculinist tactic invoked t o shore up a failing sense o f
manliness.
Historicizing Masculinity
T h e critical examination o f masculinity in the c o n t e m p o r a r y c o n -

text is an ongoing and exhaustive project. T h e theoretical and experi-
ential interrogations o f gender and sexuality in today's society have
led t o a sustained interest in prior constructions and definitions o f
masculinity (see, for e x a m p l e , Carnes & Griffen, 1 9 9 0 ; M a n g a n &
Walvin, 1 9 8 7 ; R o p e r & T o s h , 1 9 9 1 ; R o t u n d o , 1 9 9 3 ) . T h i s interest
derives from a recognition o f the malleable nature o f the cultural
imagery that captures ideas about bodies, sexuality and gender.
T h e project o f historicizing masculinity—of acknowledging the
myriad ways in which the social parameters o f maleness are c o n -
structed—involves an analysis o f what Clare Lees ( 1 9 9 4 a ) calls the
four big Ps: power, potency, patriarchy, and politics (see also Lees,
1 9 9 4 b ) . Definitions o f masculinity, situated in these domains, shift
over time; these definitions respond to changing relations between
men and w o m e n , as well as t o alterations in social and scientific
knowledge about the human body, sexuality, and reproduction. M a s -
culinity is also multivocal or plural in any society at any given
m o m e n t . Lived expressions o f maleness assume a variety o f forms;
constructions o f masculinity are neither m o n o l i t h i c nor all-encom-
passing. T h e r e is also a range o f means or processes whereby mascu-
linity is established or achieved. Masculinity is, then, c o m p o s e d o f a
series o f possibilities, each awaiting exploration. T h e act o f explora-
tion and enactment reflects the unstable, changeable nature o f mascu-
linity, which has been described as " a culturally specific process o f
becoming" (Cohen, 1 9 9 7 ) .
B e l o w , I briefly e x p l o r e the implications during selected cultural
m o m e n t s o f the fragility o f gendered identity and the interdependence
o f masculinity and femininity. Historicizing masculine identity helps
to make sense o f the conundrums and paradoxes that surround cur-
rent debates about gender in society. I should note here that the analy-
sis o f the historical formation o f masculinity owes a profound debt t o
feminist scholarship.
Medieval Masculinities
Masculinities, in the c o n t e x t o f the M i d d l e Ages, appear t o take a

diversity o f forms, which are described, directly and indirectly, in the
texts that have c o m e down t o us from the 1 2 t h t o the 1 4 t h centuries.
O u r knowledge o f medieval constructs o f gender is, thus, limited by
the body o f written materials available t o us. Nevertheless, these texts
provide us with a detailed, if fragmented, perspective on medieval
notions o f sex and gender.
T h e poetic and didactic texts o f the M i d d l e Ages tell us that for-
mations o f masculinity were distributed along a continuum. At o n e
end o f the spectrum lay h e r o i c masculinity, an exaggerated and ideal-
ized construction that served as a b e n c h m a r k in medieval society.
H e r o i c masculinity centered on dominance and defeat; the attributes
o f heroism were codified within prescriptions about action and m o v e -
ment. M o r e o v e r , h e r o i c masculinity was essentially spectacular and
performative, and was largely antithetical t o the institution o f mar-
riage or the sphere o f domesticity. At the other end o f the spectrum
were the sanctifying practices o f religious devotion. In this interpreta-
tion o f masculinity, subordination t o spiritual authority and ecclesias-

tical rules went hand in hand with bodily regulation and denial. Dis-
avowal o f female c o m p a n y was also relevant here, although it carried
c o n n o t a t i o n s o f spiritual purity rather than allusions t o mobility and
conquest.
Despite these differences, all forms o f medieval masculinity w e r e
embedded in a matrix o f social, political, and anatomical relations.
N o t h i n g was fixed or static. As Will Sayers (quoted in C o h e n et al.,
1 9 9 5 ) notes,
Effective masculinity was constantly on trial and . . . the individual

efforts of the would-be hero were continuously accompanied by
glances temporally and spatially forward and back, above and
below, right and left.
T h e fluid and mutable character o f masculinity in the M i d d l e Ages

was evident in the preponderance o f myths o f masculine parthenogen-
esis, o f the ability o f the male to conceive and give birth (see Z a p p e d ,
1 9 9 1 ) . According t o Jeffrey C o h e n ( 1 9 9 4 ) , this parthenogenesis was
tantamount t o the uncoupling o f gender from corporeality, and indi-
cated that notions o f sexual dimorphism were overlaid with richly
e m b r o i d e r e d fantasies about procreativity.
Indeed, it w o u l d appear that medieval society subscribed t o c o n -
cepts o f sex and gender that were remarkably r e m o t e from our
own (see, for e x a m p l e , Fradenburg & F r e c c e r o , 1 9 9 5 ; L o m p e r i s &
Stanbury, 1 9 9 3 ) . C a r o l Clover ( 1 9 9 3 ) recently claimed that Old
N o r s e texts assumed the existence o f only o n e gender, and this was
the gender o f power and domination. Drawing on Laqueur's ( 1 9 9 0 )
theory o f a o n e - s e x model in pre-Renaissance E u r o p e , Clover ( 1 9 9 3 )
7
attempts to show that concepts o f gender were e m b e d d e d within ideas

o f "winnable and losable attributes" (p. 3 7 9 ) . T h u s , although males
enjoyed a preexisting social advantage, according to C l o v e r , w o m e n
w h o exhibited the valorized characteristics associated with p o w e r and
authority (for e x a m p l e , settling feuds, controlling land, and defending
themselves) were often considered masculine. By contrast, men w h o
refused the opportunities afforded by masculine exploits w e r e not
considered masculine. Clover ( 1 9 9 3 ) asserts that the gendered cul-
tural system outlined in O l d N o r s e texts described a society "in which
being born male precisely did not confer automatic superiority"
(p. 3 8 0 ) . T h e benefits and prestige attached t o masculinity had, then,
to be earned by men and w o m e n through appropriate public displays,
and these public activities had t o involve other m e n (see also D o c k r a y -

Miller, 1 9 9 8 ) .
S o m e scholars have challenged the basic theories on which C l o v e r
builds, pointing t o the way Laqueur's w o r k neglects alternative, but
influential, constructions o f sexuality and gender that prevailed in the
medieval era. T h e s e authors maintain that Laqueur focused on partic-
ular aspects o f the G a l e n i c model, but neglected the contribution o f
the humors in constructions o f gender identity (see Paster, 1 9 9 3 ) .
H e a t , for e x a m p l e , was thought t o be a marker o f physiological male-
ness; it was essential for semen production and ejaculation. C a r o l
Everest ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes that "the manliest o f men [had] abundant innate
h e a t " (p. 9 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , the c o n c e n t r a t i o n on the genital differenti-
ation implied in the n a r r o w interpretation o f the G a l e n i c model by
authors such as Laqueur ( 1 9 9 0 ) marginalized the significance o f the
female body in the high M i d d l e Ages (see Bynum, 1 9 8 4 , 1 9 9 1 ) . Such
approaches also obscure the significance o f femaleness and feminine
imagery t o monastic devotional discourse in the 1 2 t h and 13 th centu-
ries (Holsinger, 1 9 9 4 ) .
Consequently, it is perhaps useful t o regard the sex/gender system
o f the M i d d l e Ages as a "cluster o f gender-related notions, sometimes
competing, sometimes mutually reinforcing, sometimes constrain-
ing, sometimes consistent, sometimes ad h o c " (Cadden, 1 9 9 3 , p. 9 ) .
Rather than giving p r o m i n e n c e t o sexual differences (or genital varia-
tions), medieval thinkers, drawing on the H i p p o c r a t i c , the Aristote-
lian, the G a l e n i c , and the S o r a n i c paradigms, often emphasized other
distinctions. Cadden ( 1 9 9 3 ) quotes o n e authority, for e x a m p l e , w h o
proclaims that "the male differs from the female in three [ways],
namely, c o m p l e x i o n , disposition, and shape. And a m o n g these the
c o m p l e x i o n is the most fundamental" (p. 1 7 0 ) . Recognizing the dif-
ferent ways in which medieval writers conceived o f gender does not
deny the significance o f the relational character o f gender construc-
tions; it does, however, highlight the dangers o f adopting a presentist
approach, which suggests that our modern preoccupation with biolog-
ical (and especially genital) differences was as important in the medi-
eval era as it is in our own.
Enlightenment Masculinities
H e r o i s m , imbricated deeply within medieval constructions o f

masculinity, was carried forward into modern understandings. T h e
political theorist T h o m a s H o b b e s , whose life spanned the late 1 6 t h
and the early 1 7 t h centuries, articulated the basic c o n t o u r s o f m o d e r n

h e r o i c masculinity. H o b b e s ' s account o f human e x p e r i e n c e , embed-
ded in nature, and his theory o f the conditions needed t o p r o d u c e sta-
ble and legitimate civil authority are well k n o w n . W h a t is less visible is
H o b b e s ' s c o n c e p t i o n o f the masculine subject, although H o b b e s ' s de-
scription o f the human condition contains many gendered statements
that provide us with an insight into h o w he c o n c e i v e d o f masculine
and feminine.
H o b b e s was preoccupied with the dangers posed by "the pas-
s i o n s " and the n e e d t o direct and guide their expression in society. As
Christine D i Stefano ( 1 9 9 1 ) states, " M a n is portrayed by H o b b e s as a
kind o f desiring m a c h i n e " (p. 7 8 ) . Desire, however, was configured as
a private and individual e x p e r i e n c e , requiring the constraint o f rules
or n o r m s in civil society t o generate social equilibrium. H o b b e s ' s c o n -
ception o f a civil society was based on a definition o f human subjectiv-
ity in which individual identity is strictly differentiated and functions
according t o exclusionary principles. H o b b e s ' s c o n c e p t i o n o f a civil
society was based on this c o n c e p t i o n o f human subjectivity, and
H o b b e s ' s civil order, "with its contractually designated and minimally
conceived obligations designed t o counter the dangerous social per-
plexities o f proximity and ambivalence, assumed distinctly m o d e r n
masculine characteristics" (Di Stefano, 1 9 9 1 , p. 8 9 ) .
E x t r i c a t i n g himself from the state o f nature, emergent m o d e r n
man was instructed by H o b b e s to embrace a radical atomism, an indi-
vidualism o f h e r o i c proportions. T h e full h o r r o r o f the state o f nature
was o n display so that the orderliness and predictability o f civil society
could b e c o m e both a refuge and a salvation from the dark natural
forces o f decay and destruction. T h e medieval, premodern brand o f
heroism, b e n t o n the slaying o f enemies a n d triumphant encounters
with perilous and malevolent powers, was banished in this a c c o u n t .
In its place was a peaceful, nonviolent civil order, buttressed by obedi-
ence t o a political c r e d o o f rights shared amongst m e n and instituted
by a powerful sovereign.
In the political p r o n o u n c e m e n t s o f J o h n Stuart M i l l w e begin
t o see the introduction o f internal, rather than external, controls on
the individual. M i l l divided society into active and passive types,
with the intellect being the distinguishing criteria. T h e active c h a r a c -
ter type shaped and furthered the human condition, struggling against
the d o w n w a r d pull o f nature. As Di Stefano ( 1 9 9 1 ) s o eloquently e x -
presses it, for M i l l , life was " a constant struggle against the quicksand
o f regression as the insistent forces o f decay b e c k o n from the sinister
periphery o f civilization" (p. 1 5 2 ) . F o r M i l l , nature was a hostile and
threatening presence that must be controlled and tamed. In an extra-

ordinarily transparent statement, M i l l declared,
Nature impales men, breaks them as if on the wheel, casts them to be

devoured by wild beasts, . . . poisons them by the quick or slow
venom of her exhalations, and has hundreds of other hideous deaths
in reserve, (quoted in Di Stefano, 1 9 9 1 , p. 153)
It is against this b a c k g r o u n d o f odious violence and destruction

that M i l l offered his a c c o u n t o f human civilization. A c c o r d i n g to M i l l ,
each individual must confront the destabilizing and dangerous aspects
o f nature that reside in the human character. Self-control and self-
discipline w e r e the w e a p o n s vital t o this struggle; only they could pre-
serve the individual from the threatened e n c r o a c h m e n t o f vindictive,
feminized nature. R e a s o n — a n d M i l l ' s distinctive m e t h o d o l o g i c a l indi-
vidualism (Di Stefano, 1 9 9 1 , p. 1 6 3 ) — w a s critical to m a n ' s perpetual
endeavors to establish and maintain culture. T h i s ascendancy o f civili-
zation over nature also depended on sovereignty over self, o f m i n d
over body. Di Stefano ( 1 9 9 1 ) is undoubtedly c o r r e c t in stating that
M i l l propounded a highly masculine view o f the subject—a subject e x -
posed to "horrific vulnerability" (p. 1 6 7 ) , separated radically from the
natural world, and dependent for survival on strict differentiation
from others. Di Stefano ( 1 9 9 1 ) labels this the "rule-legislating, self-
disciplined, and civilized self" (p. 1 7 ) . T h i s self heralds the introduc-
tion o f a m o d e r n disciplinary masculinity.
New World Masculinities
T h e conquest and settlement o f America in the 1 6 t h century was

infused with c o m p l e x and exaggerated constructions o f masculinity.
T h e s e constructions buttressed the actions o f those w h o arrived, pro-
viding both a rationale for current behavior and a template for future
behavior. As in other c o n q u e r e d lands, the settlers quickly laid claim
to natural and social assets, and developed a strong and sustained
resistance to the forfeiture o f these benefits and advantages (see
M a d s e n , 1 9 9 4 ) . T h e s e actions translated into an ideology o f trium-
phant masculinity and a politics o f extermination and exclusion.
F r e e d to a large extent from British and European conventions, Amer-
ican men ventured forth to create n e w styles o f masculinity. B e l o w ,
I e x a m i n e a few o f the cultural watersheds that marked the shifts in
this stylistic landscape.
Prior to the Civil W a r , the arrival o f immigrants sparked demon-
strations and riots, as American-born men feared work-related dis-
placement. Working-class white men designated African American

slaves the despised O t h e r ; racial differences, expressed in the form o f
virulent racism, provided a means for working-class white men t o
o v e r c o m e anxieties about immigration and employment. H o w e v e r , in
the 1 8 3 0 s , the working-class male was delivered a political savior in
the figure o f Andrew J a c k s o n . J a c k s o n , a military h e r o , assumed a
hypermasculine stance during his presidential campaign; he champi-
o n e d the cause o f the working man, whether rural or urban, and raged
against the influence o f the financial institutions and the Indians. T h e
former were viewed as vestigial reminders o f the overly refined and
effete character o f European society. T h e bank was described as a
devouring feminine force that would produce dependency among
decent working men. As such, it was reviled ( K i m m e l , 1 9 9 6 ) . T h e
Indians were viewed as brutal savages requiring colonization. T h e lan-
guage o f paternalism and protectiveness provided a m o r a l license for
the dark history o f terror perpetrated against the Indian nations.
T h e 1 9 t h century also saw the cultural production o f the c o w b o y .
Late in the century, the previously rough and dirty herder was trans-
formed into the brave and courageous "man o f the frontier," willing
t o enter u n k n o w n and dangerous territory and prepare it for habi-
tation. As he pushed forward into alien and hostile spaces, the c o w -
boy rejected the comforts o f r o m a n t i c or sexual relationships. H e cir-
culated, according t o the cultural documents, in an ever-onward
m o v e m e n t and in a w o r l d o f males. H e was self-reliant, emotionally
contained, and supportive o f other men. H e was celebrated in the
open-air theater o f the r o d e o , a convention established at the end o f
the 1 9 t h century, and in the literary genre o f the W e s t e r n , initiated by
the publication o f W i s t e r ' s novel The Virginian in 1 9 0 2 ( K i m m e l ,
1 9 9 6 ) . As we shall see in the n e x t chapter, the figure o f the c o w b o y
and the mythic places he inhabits still thrives in America today.
T h e twin pressures o f racism and x e n o p h o b i a continued t o c o l o r
social e x p e r i e n c e in the early part o f the 2 0 t h century. B e d e r m a n
( 1 9 9 5 ) traces h o w the cultural ideals o f Victorian m a n h o o d w e r e re-
formulated into an aggressive and sexualized masculinity that cele-
brated b o t h the virility o f so-called "primitive" men and the refined
character o f "civilized" men. H e shows h o w race, nationalism, and
notions o f evolution were threaded together t o form the platform that
supported a reinvigorated masculinity.
In the early decades o f the 2 0 t h century, W o r l d W a r I provided
many men with a socially approved masculine role (see B o u r k e ,
1 9 9 6 ) . Although considerable numbers o f men suffered from the trau-
mas o f war, there was general optimism about the prospects for the
e c o n o m y . T h e G r e a t Depression o f the late 1 9 2 0 s and early 1 9 3 0 s

ushered in a phase o f personal and collective desperation, as a quarter
o f all American men found themselves unemployed. During the 1 9 2 0 s ,
fraternal orders began to attract m o r e members and m o r e social criti-
cism. M o r e insidiously, the Ku Klux Klan flourished with an upsurge
in racially motivated violence.
At the same time, the popularization o f psychology for mass c o n -
sumption led t o the publication o f many b o o k s dealing with family life
and child rearing. T h i s gave men a new arena in which t o enact mascu-
line behaviors and recuperate some positive feelings o f self-worth.
H o w e v e r , there was elevated anxiety about gender differences and,
particularly, male homosexuality. K i m m e l ( 1 9 9 6 ) notes that "tabloid
newspapers terrified and titillated their readers with stories o f degen-
erate child molesters w h o c o m m i t t e d acts o f unspeakable depravity"
(p. 2 0 5 ) . As w e have seen, this is n o t an unfamiliar theme in American
society.
N o t surprisingly, the scientific discipline o f psychology m o v e d
into the hiatus created by the creeping doubts about gender-based dis-
tinctions. In 1 9 3 6 , the psychologists T e r m a n and M i l e s developed a
psychometric scale measuring masculine and feminine attributes.
W i t h the advent o f this test, gender differences could be inscribed on
the general population, and variance from the n o r m could be ascer-
tained for both individuals and groups. Socially constructed gender
differences were thus scientized and legitimized.
Emerging from this popular c o n c e r n about "gender blending"
were t w o remarkable heroes: the appropriately named aficionado o f
body building, Charles Atlas, and the masculine fantasy h e r o , Super-
man, w h o s e metropolitan alter ego, C l a r k K e n t , seemed t o represent
the condition o f everyman. T h e metropolis also threw up American-
ized versions o f another h e r o i c tradition: T h e hard-boiled detective
strode out o f the pages o f stories and b o o k s by the likes o f H a m m e t t ,
Chandler, and Spillane. Like the c o w b o y , the detective occupied a
universe largely devoid o f sweethearts or wives, but replete with
temptresses and femmes fatales. T h i s stylistic interpretation o f Ameri-
can m a n h o o d was literalized in Ernest H e m i n g w a y ' s short story col-
lection Men Without Women ( 1 9 2 7 ) . H e r e , H e m i n g w a y "searche[d]
a m o n g the shards o f European culture for a lost American m a n h o o d "
(Kimmel, 1 9 9 6 , p. 2 1 4 ) . Masculine scenarios, it would seem, were dif-
ficult t o fix in place. Slippage and even disappearance were distinct
possibilities. O n l y the continual cultural renewal o f opportunities t o
demonstrate masculinity would forestall a serious crisis at the individ-
ual and social level.
W o r l d W a r II provided another generation o f American men with

the opportunity t o engage in militaristic styles o f masculinity. H o w -
ever, as with W o r l d W a r I, cracks and fissures soon o p e n e d up, and
the public b e c a m e aware o f the existence o f the psychologically dam-
aged returning soldier. W o m e n were encouraged t o indulge and nur-
ture these men, and t o yield t o m e n ' s domestic and familial authority.
F o l l o w i n g W o r l d W a r II, the arena o f the family c a m e increas-
ingly to symbolize a relational space in which m e n could assume n e w
forms o f masculinity. T h e significance o f fatherhood t o c o n c e p t s o f
manliness rose sharply, and fathers were viewed as essential t o their
sons' development. F u r t h e r m o r e , the involvement o f fathers in
their sons' upbringing was seen as a strong deterrent to juvenile de-
linquency. G o o d fathers were seen as central t o the perpetuation o f
the social order, and father absence was believed t o have negative
c o n s e q u e n c e s for b o t h young m e n and society in general. In fact, g o o d
fathers were viewed as the antidote t o the manipulative influence
o f s o m e m o t h e r s , whose overinvolvement with sons was understood
to be a causative factor in s o m e social ills and many psychological
disorders.
During the 1 9 5 0 s , doubts about the cogency o f m e n ' s authority
at w o r k were e x a c e r b a t e d ; the allegorical drama The Incredible
Shrinking Man ( 1 9 5 3 ) appeared the year after The Invisible Man
( 1 9 5 2 ) . M c C a r t h y i s m generated a tide o f fear and accusation about
political beliefs and sexual preferences (Kovel, 1 9 9 7 ) . T h e r e were
stirrings in the African American c o m m u n i t y ; the refuge o f racist
beliefs was disappearing. In the face o f these apparent dead ends, the
entertainment industry buoyed American men with the positive por-
trayal o f fathers o n television, and the strengthening o f masculine
frontier fantasies. T h e actor J o h n W a y n e and the hypermasculine
characters that he played assumed an important role in the project o f
rescuing fragile American m a n h o o d (see Davis, 1 9 9 8 ; Wills, 1 9 9 7 ) .
A n o t h e r source o f consolation for s o m e men was the production
o f the magazine Playboy. Appearing on newsstands in 1 9 5 3 , this pub-
lication t o o k up the debate about the feminization o f American men.
Alongside the confrontational writings o f N o r m a n M a i l e r , Playboy
provided a m e t a p h o r i c place o f escape for apparently besieged men.
As w o m e n entered m o r e and m o r e previously masculine preserves,
M a i l e r ' s didactic writing and the texts and images o f Playboy were a
solace and a comfort.
T h e 1 9 6 0 s and 1 9 7 0 s stripped away many o f m e n ' s asylums. T h e
civil rights m o v e m e n t and, later, the w o m e n ' s m o v e m e n t undermined
the ideology o f the self-made white man w h o wielded authority and
accrued advantages. T h e entitlements o f the dominant male groups

were n o w seriously in question. As K i m m e l ( 1 9 9 6 ) states, " T h e c o n -
stant search for s o m e masculine terra firma upon which t o ground a
stable identity had never provided a firm footing. . . . [B]y the 1 9 6 0 s
gradual erosion and uneasy footing had b e c o m e a landslide" (p. 2 6 2 ) .
W o r k was no longer a satisfying ground for proving masculinity. And
arguably the most unsettling event for m e n ' s definitions o f self was the
Vietnam War.
T h e war in V i e t n a m produced a deeply felt cultural vulnerability
(see M a r t i n , 1 9 9 3 ) . Gerster ( 1 9 9 5 ) declares, " V i e t n a m remains the
crucial destination in the cultural itinerary o f an entire generation.
H a n o i , D a N a n g , H u e , Nui Dat, Saigon—these are the talismanic
place names o f the 1 9 6 0 s , carved on the collective m e m o r y " (p. 2 2 3 ) ,
and yet the V i e t n a m W a r was a military encounter that went horribly
wrong. T h e cultural models o f masculinity available t o men during
and after W o r l d W a r II—soldier, breadwinner, and family m a n — w e r e
twisted b e y o n d recognition for the young men w h o fought in V i e t n a m
(Karner, 1 9 9 6 ) . W a r f a r e in V i e t n a m was fraught with contradictions,
as the exoticism o f Asia and V i e t n a m itself (see Said, 1 9 9 1 ) was r e c o n -
figured as an illicit space o f pain and death. Masculinist fantasies o f
the sexually alluring O r i e n t awaiting colonization coalesced with fan-
tasies o f evisceration, o f emptying out the putrid contents o f this place
o f death. N o t surprisingly, a great deal o f the cultural imagery that
emerged from the V i e t n a m W a r emphasized the implied and actual
threat o f castration. Such threats were thought to emanate as much
from the assorted prostitutes and bar girls w h o entertained the t r o o p s
as from the bullets and b o m b s o f the enemy. F o r e x a m p l e , Gerster
reports on the belief that Vietnamese w o m e n deliberately c o n t r a c t e d
venereal diseases in order to infect foreign troops, or even inserted
razor blades into their vaginas t o harm the U.S. and Australian soldiers
(p. 2 3 1 ; see also T h e w e l e i t , 1 9 8 7 , for an analysis o f the gendering o f
violence in w a r ) .
T h w a r t e d by their desire t o emulate their fathers, many returning
soldiers e x p e r i e n c e d a profound loss o f self. V i e t n a m survivor narra-
tives often turn on a desperate search for the prior, unified self; h o w -
ever, many narratives also refer t o the deep inner divisions and rifts
that refuse to be healed (Loeb, 1 9 9 6 ) . I review, in the n e x t chapter,
h o w s o m e o f these Vietnam-related anxieties and experiences have
been captured on film (see Katzman, 1 9 9 3 ; Selig, 1 9 9 3 ) .
T h i s cultural crisis o f confidence in masculinity translated into
open questioning o f the social definitions o f manliness. M e n ' s libera-
tion, which began as a m o v e m e n t in the m i d - 1 9 7 0 s , threw the spot-
light directly on such issues as the male sex role and such problems as
sex-typing. Androgyny b e c a m e popular, both as a t o p i c o f discussion
and as a practice, even as there was also a b o o m , from the 1 9 6 0 s
onwards, in p o r n o g r a p h i c magazines and other materials directed at a
male audience.
A p r o n o u n c e d emphasis on exaggerated masculine values and
behaviors materialized in the 1 9 8 0 s . A fresh aggressivity informed
American politics under R o n a l d Reagan. R e a g a n and his successor,
G e o r g e Bush, lived out the c o w b o y character with a vigorous c o m b a t -
iveness n o t witnessed for s o m e time. American foreign policy b e c a m e
inflected with masculinist rhetoric, as A m e r i c a s t o o d up t o the "evil
e m p i r e " and fought the "war on drugs." O f course, the 1 9 8 0 s also wit-
nessed the appearance o f the " w i m p " : the w a r m , supportive, and
compassionate player in the gender game. A variant, the S N A G (the
sensitive, n e w age guy), was alternately e m b r a c e d and reviled. Ameri-
can men seemed as confused as ever, caught between polarized styles
o f masculinity, all o f which w e r e subject t o caricature. H o w e v e r , the
p h e n o m e n o n o f the "angry white m a l e , " beleaguered and c o r n e r e d
by affirmative action programs and the discourse o f rights and en-
titlements, seemed real enough. Equally real was the burgeoning o f
n e w male fraternities—the political groups that advocated for men in
society. I e x a m i n e the politics o f masculinity in the n e x t chapter;
b e l o w , I consider the definitions and constructions o f masculinity in
cross-cultural c o n t e x t s .
Masculinities in Traditional Societies
C o n c e p t s o f gender in traditional, p r e c o n t a c t societies revolve

around the relationships between spiritual creation and human repro-
duction, the constructions o f anatomy and character, and the mainte-
nance o f religious well-being and social equilibrium. B e l o w , I briefly
e x p l o r e s o m e o f these dimensions o f gender, concentrating, in the
main, on societies in the western Pacific region, principally Papua
N e w G u i n e a and the islands that constitute M e l a n e s i a . As w e are
interested in traditional constructs, and not those introduced by W e s t -
ern missionaries and other cultural groups, I focus on early anthro-
pological studies. In recognition o f the significant social change n o w
visited on the societies under review, I use the past tense t o describe
these societies; this is n o t intended t o imply the extinguishment o f all
the ideas and practices described, but is intended t o alert the reader t o
the volatility o f the "ethnographic present" (Ernst, 1 9 9 1 ) .
Let m e begin by providing s o m e background t o the issues at hand.

In the Highlands o f Papua N e w Guinea, there has traditionally been a
strict opposition between the lifestyle and implicit value o f each gen-
der, with male antagonism and hostility being directed specifically at
w o m e n . F o r e x a m p l e , the M o u n t Hageners o f the W e s t e r n Highlands
o f Papua N e w G u i n e a exhibited very rigid and categorical thinking in
c o n n e c t i o n with gender ascription (Strathern, 1 9 7 8 ) . T h e strict o p p o -
sition o f all things male and female (although actual words for such
categories did n o t exist) was accomplished through the establishment
o f a d i c h o t o m y between male and female spheres o f labor, social influ-
ence, and religious importance. Such a polarization, Marilyn Strathern
( 1 9 7 8 ) believes, was a masculine creation, although the w o m e n for-
mally acknowledged its existence. T h e demarcation between the sexes
was consistently fierce, encompassing behavior, interests, appearance,
and access t o religious worship. W o m e n were perceived as being less
capable and associated with failure and all things insignificant and
unimportant. W o m e n could achieve a spurious social prestige by
behaving m o r e like m e n , but they were unable to acquire legitimate
masculine power. Similarly, a man o f little achievement may b e c o m e
"like a w o m a n . "
Fecund Males: Masculine Parthenogenesis

and Its Variants
Unlike our own society, in which males' participation in procre-

ation b e y o n d insemination is not generally acknowledged, ideologies
about human reproduction in other societies markedly shift the bal-
ance between males and females. S o m e t i m e s this involves heightened
participation by males in procreation, and sometimes it involves the
denial o f the female contribution t o the processes o f reproduction as
we understand them.
A m o n g the Iqwaye o f Papua N e w G u i n e a , the original, m y t h o -
poeic creation o f the first man was thought to be a self-creation
(autogenesis). T h e first man created other men by forming lumps o f
clay, which he then inseminated. T h e first w o m a n was created,
through metamorphosis, out o f o n e o f the first men. O m a l y c e , the
c o s m i c male initiator, was conceptualized as containing the seeds o f
femaleness within his body. T h e primordial act o f creation, however,
was an essentially male affair; there was n o acknowledged female s e x .
T h e s e cosmological beliefs translated into specific configurations o f
the sexed body in Iqwaye society; as M i m i c a ( 1 9 9 2 ) states,
Maleness and Femaleness, i.e., man's and woman's bodies [were]

two species of embodiment of this single bodily genus—the phallus.
. . . Man's body [was] bisexual, but in terms of the Iqwaye cultural
notions it really [meant] that it [was] bi-phallic, for phallus . . . [was]
generic sex. Woman's body [was] mono-phallic, i.e., monosexual.
Consequently, in w o m e n , the vagina was the analogue o f the penis

and the mouth, with the two being the inverse o f each other. But the
vagina was thought t o lack a penile c o m p o n e n t ; instead, the entire
female body was conceived o f as phallic and as devoid o f the capacity
for self-closure.
In Chagga society, there was an accepted symbolic opposition
between " o p e n " w o m e n , with vaginas that could menstruate and give
birth, and " c l o s e d " men, with orifices that retained feces and b l o o d .
T h e opposition between open w o m e n and closed men was premised
on important conceptual parallels between female procreative func-
tioning and male digestive functioning. F o r e x a m p l e , in Chagga cos-
mology, the original anal plug, the ngoso, representative o f primordial
masculinity, was thought t o be obtained by theft from the w o m e n .
F u r t h e r m o r e , in everyday life, pregnancy was conceptualized as the
female ngoso, with the w o m a n being closed at the height o f fertility.
Despite a familiarity with the relationship between ovulation, sex-
ual intercourse, and pregnancy, the men in Chagga society persisted in
the belief that they, t o o , could b e c o m e pregnant with fecal children
during their procreative years. M e n , at the conclusion o f this procre-
ative period, acknowledged the "resumption" o f defecation. M e n also
believed they contributed significantly t o the creation o f the fetus.
Semen was equated with the nourishing m o t h e r ' s milk; semen was the
milk a man fed the vaginal mouth t o make a child. Consequently, male
semen created the child, and female milk nourished it after birth.
T h e Onabasulu o f Papua N e w G u i n e a emphasized the male c o n -
tribution t o the ongoing development o f young men. T h e "insemina-
t i o n " o f young males during initiation rites was viewed as critical t o
their growth. T h i s insemination derived from the cosmological beliefs
o f the Onabasulu, and was achieved by the application o f adult semen
to the skin o f the young men. T h e cultural imperative o f inseminat-
ing young males was a staple feature o f many societies in the G r e a t
Papuan Plateau and the adjoining Strickland River. T h e Kaluli, for
e x a m p l e , employed anal intercourse, and the E t o r o used fellatio
(Ernst, 1 9 9 1 ) .
Procreative functions were the focus o f attention in other societ-
ies. T h e H u a o f the Highlands o f Papua N e w G u i n e a attempted t o
imitate menstruation, although men publicly espoused the view that

female menstruation was a disgusting process (Meigs, 1 9 7 6 ) . In addi-
tion, the males claimed that they, t o o , could b e c o m e pregnant. In-
deed, for the H u a such a belief was so compelling that some
informants maintained that they had witnessed the removal o f the
fetus from the male body; interestingly, such a "birth" was said t o be
accomplished by inserting a b a m b o o tube into the man's a b d o m e n and
withdrawing the fetus in the subsequent b l o o d flow.
Male pregnancies were simply termed Kupa or "stomach."
Impregnation o c c u r r e d through oral i n c o r p o r a t i o n — t h a t is, the inges-
tion o f food—and was n o t a rare condition. T h e r e was also s o m e sug-
gestion that anal intercourse would lead t o pregnancy (Meigs, 1 9 7 6 ) .
B o t h sexes, therefore, possessed the potential t o b e c o m e pregnant, as
c o n c e p t i o n could occur in the w o m b , in abdominal tissue, or in the
intestine; the only significant difference between the genders was that
w o m e n possessed a birth canal, and so could deliver the fetus through
the vagina.
In the absence o f the opportunity to observe birth in any animal
other than the domestic pig, the H u a males formulated an idiosyn-
cratic model o f internal anatomical structure. In animals such as the
dog, pig, mouse, or human, birth was assumed to take place via an or-
gan c o m p o s e d o f b o t h the urethra and the vagina; the intestine led
either into the rectum or the w o m b . Y o u n g girls were thought t o pos-
sess a closed birth passage, as were menopausal w o m e n , although
s o m e informants believed the latter possessed n o such organ (Meigs,
1976).
M e i g s ( 1 9 7 6 ) c o m m e n t e d on the H u a construction o f male preg-
nancies as follows:
It should be emphasized that Kupa is a feared and abhorred condi-

tion. Yet one cannot resist suggesting that it is also desired. All the
physiological facts deny the premise that males can become preg-
nant. However, I would submit that the reason males believe they
can become pregnant, and believe in the fake fetuses provided by the
medicine men, is that they are highly motivated by psychological
reasons to do so. They appear to possess a will to believe that they
are fertile, (p. 3 9 7 )
As we have already noted, the males o f H u a society also explicitly imi-

tated menstruation. T h i s t o o k two forms: first, the letting o f b l o o d in
order to release fluid and prevent clotting, especially in men suffering
from Kupa; and, second, the ingestion o f plants that possess a red
juice, as these plants apparently possess the p o w e r t o disperse clots o f

b l o o d and purge them from the intestine.
In addition, the H u a males engaged in other forms o f female-
imitative behavior. T h e y attempted t o i n c o r p o r a t e female qualities by
ingesting foods that supposedly possess these qualities: rapid growth,
a soft, moist interior, and fecundity (Meigs, 1 9 7 6 ) . M e n , in secret,
also ate possum, a " f e m a l e " food capable o f causing a male pregnancy,
and b l o o d , which they conceptualized as female.
O t h e r N e w G u i n e a societies in which males traditionally claimed
the need t o menstruate included the G a h u k a - G a m a and the Guru-
rumba. T h e former possessed an initiation c e r e m o n y in which the
young neophytes w e r e forcibly bled from the nose and instructed in
the art o f voluntary vomiting. T h e s e activities w e r e practiced during
their period o f induction into the m e n ' s group, and repeated at later
intervals. T h e nose bleeding was explicitly labeled male menstruation;
o f female menstruation, they possessed a great fear ( R e a d , 1 9 5 2 ) .
In m o s t M e l a n e s i a n societies with initiation c e r e m o n i e s , the rites
reflected "male anxiety c o n c e r n i n g , and most probably envy of, men-
struation and childbirth. . . . M a l e ritual and female physiology,
though o p p o s e d t o o n e a n o t h e r as mystical forces which must be kept
apart, [were] nevertheless sometimes equated" (Allen, 1 9 6 7 , p. 1 7 ) .
Indeed, the men o f W o g e o referred to their penile incision b l o o d as
their menstruation (see H o g b i n , 1 9 7 0 ) , as did the Arapesh ( M e a d ,
1 9 3 5 ) . T h e C h i m b u practiced nose bleeding instead o f penile sub-
incision; nevertheless, the equation between initiation and menstrua-
tion was still explicit (Nilles, 1 9 4 3 ) . T h e sacred flutes used in initia-
tion c e r e m o n i e s w e r e called koa, a w o r d used when a b o y had been
initiated and a girl had e x p e r i e n c e d her first menses. Koa was also
used t o refer t o both menstrual b l o o d and female sexual organs.
T h e G a h u k a - G a m a o f the N e w G u i n e a Highlands practiced strict
initiation rites from which females w e r e excluded; these rites epito-
mized the denial o f the female contribution toward procreation. T h e
males o f M o u n t H a g e n in N e w G u i n e a practiced a m o r e general deni-
gration. Marilyn Strathern ( 1 9 7 2 ) n o t e d that the "men say that
women o f e x c e p t i o n a l ability obviously started o f f life in their
m o t h e r ' s w o m b as m a l e , only happening t o be born f e m a l e " (p. 1 6 1 ) .
T h e M o u n t H ä g e n men possessed n o initiation rites by the 1 9 7 0 s , but
employed t w o vehicles—one c o n c e r n e d with ideology and o n e c o n -
c e r n e d with religion—to express their attitudes t o w a r d w o m e n . First,
in order t o deal with the physiological p a r a d o x o f w o m e n ' s apparent
power in childbirth, m e n admitted o f w o m e n ' s prestige "only in rela-
tive and n o t absolute t e r m s " (Strathern, 1 9 7 8 , p. 1 8 5 ) . M e n believed
that they continued t o contribute to the development o f the fetus

after c o n c e p t i o n ; it was the male responsibility t o mould the growing
child with constant donations o f sperm until at least the fifth or sixth
m o n t h , or the child would be classified as i n c o m p l e t e . Such c o n c e p -
tions, o f course, indirectly acknowledged the reproductive p o w e r o f
w o m e n ; however, this source o f influence was diminished by the gen-
eral denigration o f all things female, and by the appropriation o f
female power in the religious cult k n o w n as the Amb Kor.
In the c o n t e x t o f the M o u n t Hägen F e m a l e Spirit cult, or the
Amb Kor, mortal w o m e n were assigned an essentially negative value.
T h e F e m a l e Spirit, associated with white, the c o l o r representing male
fertility, was portrayed in myth as distinctly asexual (Strathern, 1 9 7 9 ) .
H e r vagina was closed, and the menstrual fluid o f mortal w o m e n was
supposedly as dangerous t o her as it was t o the men. T h e F e m a l e Spirit
appeared, then, t o represent a variety o f pseudomaleness, cleansed o f
the carnal sexuality o f w o m e n , yet possessing w o m e n ' s reproductive
power. T h e ritual involved in this cult served quite explicitly t o invoke
female fertility. T h e men collected and buried the w o m b s and stom-
achs o f female pigs in holes or earthen ovens; they built three secret
cult houses, the last, the "inner s a n c t u m " (Strathern, 1 9 7 2 , p. 4 2 ) was
secluded behind a high fence; and after performing several sacred acts,
the ritual culminated in the dance o f the men. O n o n e level, the men
represented the Spirit herself: Andrew Strathern ( 1 9 7 9 ) maintained
that the dancers b e c a m e " o f female gender in 'helping' the spirit t o
s h o w herself at their d a n c e " (p. 4 8 ) . O n another level, however, the
ritual demonstrated both the symbolic confinement o f the F e m a l e
Spirit and the c o n t r o l o f the men over the cult. Interestingly, men c o n -
ceived o f this male-identified goddess as a beautiful young w o m a n , a
spiritual bride, adorned in the decorative attire o f olden times. T h i s
nostalgic vision o f the goddess, a view possessed exclusively by the
m e n , was represented by primordial stones that had apparently
emerged from the earth at the dawn o f time. C o m m e n t i n g on the sig-
nificance o f this cult, Marilyn Strathern ( 1 9 7 8 ) noted, " M e n do seem
to contrive always to m a k e it seem that power is on their side. I f
w o m e n bear children, men in their cults c o n t r o l the essential source o f
fertility" (p. 1 7 5 ) .
A c c o m p a n y i n g such a negative categorization o f the female gen-
der was the existence o f a w o m e n ' s pollution cult. W o m e n and men
lived separately, an arrangement that tended t o emphasize the demar-
cation between the sexes. F u r t h e r m o r e , female sexual and reproduc-
tive processes w e r e thought t o be especially dangerous t o m e n , and
sexual intercourse could only o c c u r under certain conditions. Indeed,
Sillitoe ( 1 9 9 8 ) claims that N e w G u i n e a Highlanders suffered from

horror mulieris, a fear that w o m e n could pollute and kill men as a
result o f the power vested in their reproductive organs. In the pollu-
tion cult, the female was thought to transfer her pollutant qualities t o
her male lovers and her offspring. At menopause, the female was eligi-
ble t o join the category o f untainted males, c o m p o s e d o f b o t h virginal
and sexually e x p e r i e n c e d men. M e m b e r s o f the pure category were
considered to be "like m e n , " while m e m b e r s o f the polluted category
were said to be "like w o m e n , " regardless o f their gender. Such fluidity
o f gender classification permitted the male a significant degree o f par-
ticipation in the social life o f w o m e n , an analog, perhaps, to their spir-
itual participation in the reproductive life o f w o m e n .
T h e H u a o f the N e w G u i n e a Highlands also possessed highly
developed ideas about pollution. T h r e a t s o f pollution emanated from
bodily emissions, carriers or containers o f these emissions, and certain
symbols (Meigs, 1 9 7 8 , 1 9 8 4 ) . H o w e v e r , pollution did n o t eventuate
from objects or substances that produced disordered, anomalous,
ambiguous, or marginal p h e n o m e n a (see Douglas, 1 9 6 6 ) . R a t h e r , pol-
lution attached t o acts o f body i n v a s i o n — o f the entry o f the object or
substance in question into the body. T h i s undesired breakdown in
bodily boundaries could take place through a number o f pathways:
the breaching o f the m e m b r a n e o f the skin, for e x a m p l e , or the invol-
untary tasting or touching o f a potentially polluting object o r sub-
stance. F o r the H u a , unwanted impositions on the body could o c c u r
via all five senses; for e x a m p l e , if a man or a boy inadvertently caught
the smell o f a menstruating w o m a n , his strength could be severely cur-
tailed (Meigs, 1 9 7 8 ) . T h e perception was that these unsolicited entries
into the body or the body's sphere o f awareness were associated with
decomposition or decay, and could increase the quantum o f pollu-
t i o n . As in c o n t e m p o r a r y American society, feelings o f disgust w e r e
8
integral t o H u a conceptions o f pollution. T h e individual, affected by

the e n c r o a c h m e n t o f polluting objects or substances, reacted with pro-
n o u n c e d feelings o f revulsion (see M i l l e r , 1 9 9 8 ) .
T h e s e ideas about pollution parallel the specific constructions o f
the sexed body in modern W e s t e r n society. W o m e n ' s bodies, in the
W e s t , are often viewed as porous and subject to leakage, and are h e n c e
inherently impure. T h e s e notions resonate with W e s t e r n ideologies
about the closed, controlled, and well-mannered body o f the modern
private citizen (see Elias, 1 9 9 4 ) , the so-called "positive b o d y " (Barker,
1 9 8 4 ) or "classical b o d y " (Bakhtin, 1 9 8 4 ) that emerged during the
17th century. T h i s privatized and contained body, m o d e l e d on a mas-
culine ideal, can be contrasted against the "grotesque b o d y " (Bakhtin,
1 9 8 4 ) , which is characterized by its openness and its orifices, which

lack closure. W o m e n ' s bodies, with their cyclical nature and repro-
ductive potential, are often culturally c o d e d as grotesque (Russo,
1 9 9 5 ) . W o m e n ' s bodies threaten to "'spill o v e r ' into social space,
breaching its order—in particular, the basic distinction between inside
and outside, person and w o r l d " ( C o m a r o f f & C o m a r o f f , 1 9 9 2 , p. 7 4 ) .
T h e unbounded character o f w o m e n ' s bodies—as sexed objects in con-
temporary W e s t e r n society—incites fear in the masculine imagination.
J a n e t W o l f f ( 1 9 9 0 ) claims this fear is associated with the cultural trope
o f the "monstrous-feminine," in which the terror o f reincorporation
into the maternal body features prominently (see also C r e e d , 1 9 9 3 ) .
O f T h r e a t and Danger
T h e r e are at least two remarkable aspects t o the construction and

articulation o f gender in particular cross-cultural c o n t e x t s . T h e first is
that femaleness was often understood t o be self-sufficient and male-
ness t o be c o n t i n g e n t . T h i s differential and asymmetrical relationship
9
between femaleness and maleness was manifest in all spheres o f

sociality (see Strathern, 1 9 9 6 ) . W r i t i n g o f the F o i o f Papua New
G u i n e a , W e i n e r ( 1 9 8 7 ) asserted,
Men lack the power of menstruation and hence of childbirth. The

continual regeneration of female procreative substance and of birth
itself is an aspect of the innate flow of vital energies that comprises
the Foi realm of "nature." In order to control and channel this
innate female power, men control wealth items in the form of
bridewealth, which transforms female birth into the artifice of male
patrilineal continuity and social cohesion, (p. 2 6 3 )
T h e s e c o n d remarkable aspect o f gender construction in cross-

cultural c o n t e x t s is the frequent constitution o f w o m e n as the danger-
ous sex (see Hatty, 1 9 9 1 ; Hays, 1 9 6 6 ) . 1 0
In modern industrialized
societies, however, it is generally men w h o are designated as danger-
ous (i.e., w h o possess the greatest capacity t o cause harm t o others).
Sherry O r t n e r ( 1 9 7 8 ) was puzzled by this apparent reconfiguration o f
intersexual threat in c o n t e m p o r a r y W e s t e r n societies. O r t n e r n o t e d
that it presented a reversal o f the often found relationship between
gender and danger; feminized threat was frequently visible in ritual
practices and religious ideologies in traditional societies, but was
largely expunged (or obscured) in the W e s t . But Barbara Smuts ( 1 9 9 2 )
views these discourses about gendered danger as continuous rather
than opposed, maintaining that pre-state ideologies about gender

are perpetuated in today's society. S h e alleges that ideologies about
"safe" (i.e., untainted) and "dangerous" (i.e., polluted and polluting)
w o m e n are n o w split along class lines. Smuts ( 1 9 9 2 ) claims that the
" p u r e " label is reserved for middle and upper-class w o m e n , and the
"dirty" label is allocated t o p o o r , working-class w o m e n . " B y depicting
[working-class] w o m e n as w h o r e s , " states Smuts, "high-status men
can attribute their sexual exploits t o the w o m e n ' s voracious sexuality,
drawing attention away from the coercive tactics they employ t o gain
access t o these w o m e n " (p. 2 6 ) .
T h i s ideology o f gendered threat relies heavily on the utilization
o f violence by men—in intimate relationships, in public places, a n d on
a national and international scale. V i o l e n c e , as the prerogative o f the
dominant gender, is invoked t o sustain this position o f social superior-
ity. W e have already e x a m i n e d h o w this masculinist imperative shapes
individual and group behaviors. V i o l e n c e is also invoked in transac-
tions between men. Displays o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity involving vio-
lence assert the primacy o f this version o f manliness and marginalize
alternative versions. H o w e v e r , C o n n e l l ( 1 9 9 5 ) asserts that "violence is
a part o f a system o f domination, but is at the same time a measure o f
its imperfection. . . . [ F u r t h e r m o r e ] the scale o f c o n t e m p o r a r y vio-
lence points t o crisis tendencies . . . in the m o d e r n gender o r d e r " (p.
8 4 ) . It is t o these crises and their explanations that I turn in the n e x t
chapter, w h e r e I consider the ways in which masculinity is represented
in the visual apparatus o f c o n t e m p o r a r y W e s t e r n society, especially in
cinema.
Notes
1. The processes whereby gender is constructed are revealed in instances in which

an individual's biological sex is ambiguous, as in so-called intersexed infants. Kessler
( 1 9 9 0 ) has shown that biological factors are paramount in determining an infant's gen-
der. Consequently, the possession of appropriate genitalia is fundamental to the alloca-
tion of an individual to one gender or the other. However, the male gender operates as
the standard, and the female gender occupies the status of a default gender. When an
infant is born with inadequate genitalia (in terms of size or form)—such as with a small
or misshapen penis—corrective surgery is often recommended. Furthermore, the par-
ents are often advised by medical authorities to rear their child as a female (albeit the
barren variety). Thereby, ambiguously sexed infants are normalized, and society's two-
gender system is affirmed (see Fausto-Sterling, 1 9 9 5 ) .
2. Of course, as we shall see, discourses relating to gender and sexuality shift over
time, and so the Piecks' observations are relevant for a specific time period.
3. For a discussion of this issue, see the following texts: Beemyn and Eliason
( 1 9 9 6 ) , Bullough, Bullough, and Elias ( 1 9 9 7 ) , Califia ( 1 9 9 7 ) , Devor ( 1 9 9 7 ) , Ekins
( 1 9 9 7 ) , and Halberstam ( 1 9 9 8 ) .
4. Perhaps this is what entertainer Barry Humphries (also known as Dame Edna
Everage) meant when he said, "Australian women are the best female impersonators in
the world."
5. One of the most influential scholars of the body has been Foucault. He has
demonstrated that the body cannot be regarded as a given, but is the product of cultural
processes that discipline, train, mark, and shape the body. The body is produced
through the intervention of historically specific institutional processes and practices.
Self-regulation, supervision, and discipline are the vehicles whereby the effects of
power are deposited. The body is also susceptible to the actions of the Other; it may be
scrutinized, categorized, judged, and perhaps tortured. The body is thus constituted in
a sociopolitical field. Yet resistances occur to the imposition of these disciplinary
regimes; the body can never be transformed into a docile entity. In its capacity for resis-
tance, the body displays a subversive power to redefine and codify itself anew.
Another scholar who has made a major contribution to writings about the body is
Elizabeth Grosz (in particular, see Grosz, 1 9 9 4 ; Grosz & Probyn, 1 9 9 5 ) . She contends
that the modern body presupposes a hidden or private depth, obscured beneath the sur-
face. Thus, the modern body is read according to external signs or symptoms and in
terms of its concealed regions. However, bodies are also inscribed. The surface of the
body may be elaborated voluntarily or involuntarily, with or without violence. Social
institutions may inscribe the body by force—confining, constraining, watching, and
categorizing, in the prison, psychiatric facility, or hospital—and reorganize the body
into a "text" that resonates with sociocultural narratives. The body may be incorpo-
rated into the Other's project; only the corporeal surface may remain to be inscribed,
inspected and supervised.
Grosz ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes that bodies
cannot be adequately understood as ahistorical, precultural, or natural

objects in any simple way; they are not only inscribed, marked, engraved, by
social pressures external to them but are the products, the direct effects, of
the very social constitution of nature itself, (p. x )
6. Best ( 1 9 9 1 ) demonstrates how the undergarment company Berlei generated

complementary images of women's bodies in advertisements during the 1920s. One
image suggested that women's bodies were composed of excess flesh, and hence were
blighted. Another image suggested that such flaws in the contours of the body could be
rectified by the wearing of a corset. Like dieting, this was a strategy of containment and
control. Interestingly, it coincided with a rising tide of concern about femininity in
women.
7. This model viewed the male body as the basis for all anatomical theory. The
one-sex model, based on this male standard, reflected the fact that males were consid-
ered "the measure of all things" (Laqueur, 1 9 9 0 , p. 6 2 ) . Femaleness did not exist "as an
ontologically distinct category" (Laqueur, 1 9 9 0 , p. 6 2 ) . The model held that male and
female bodies were simply mirror images of each other. Even with blood, semen, milk,
and other bodily fluids, precise parallels were drawn as to their functions in male and
female bodies. The propensity to view the female body as simply a variation of the male
body extended into the realms of medical vocabulary. Laqueur pointed out that, in fact,
there was no precise medical nomenclature for female genitals or the reproductive sys-
tem generally until after the Renaissance. However, the one-sex model did envisage
that both men and women could gain pleasure from sexual relations, and postulated
that there was a causal association between orgasm and conception.
8. The exception to this conceptual schema is the category of substances known
as poisons. Although certainly dangerous to health and well-being, they do not neces-
sarily produce decay (except insofar as they lead to death). In contrast, several classes of
disease are viewed as "polluting" in contemporary society, even though they are not
contagious (see Hatty & Hatty, 1 9 9 9 ) .
150 MASCULINITIES, VIOLENCE,AND CULTURE
9. This is not to suggest that gender duality, based on a two-sexed (male/female)

model is evident in all cross-cultural contexts. Fitz John Porter Poole ( 1 9 9 6 ) has con-
ducted fieldwork with the Bimin-Kuskusmin of the West Sepik area of Papua New
Guinea. He notes the existence of prominent cultural imagery about androgyny among
these people.
10. Conceptions of women gleaned from ethnographic sources frequently con-
tained similar core values: for example, that the women originally enjoyed a powerful
position in society (Hiatt, 1 9 7 8 ) . In a fascinating article, Chris Knight ( 1 9 8 8 ) argues
that the source of this original female power lay in menstrual synchrony. When this
broke down, according to Knight, the mythic symbolism and significance of the syn-
chrony was assumed by the men; hence the initiation ceremonies, many of which pur-
ported to imitate menstruation, were derivative of prior female experience.
Another staple theme was that women possessed an insatiable sexuality that was
extremely dangerous (in both a ritual and a physical sense) for the men. Berndt
recorded the following myth from the Mara of southeast Arnhem Land the following
myth, which illustrates the above themes:
A long time ago an old woman called Mumuna lived alone with her two
daughters. By making a smoky fire, she attracted men to her camp, then wel-
comed them with food and invited them to spend the night with the daugh-
ters. Later, while they slept deeply from sexual exhaustion, she dropped
boulders on them. The next morning she cooked and ate them, then regurgi-
tated them onto an ant-bed. Their bones can be seen today in the form of
stones.
The attitude of the daughters was equivocal. On the one hand they rel-
ished the sexual role that their mother encouraged them to play. On the
other, they deplored the old woman's cannibalism and feared its conse-
quences. In particular, they were disturbed by her habit of hanging up the
genital organs of the dead men on a tree and proposing to the girls that they
eat them—an invitation they steadfastly refused.
Mumuna's grisly practices were finally put to an end by a man called
Eaglehawk, a light sleeper who woke up in time to kill her before she killed
him. The daughters ran away. As the old woman died, she called o u t . . . and
her blood splashed onto every tree, (quoted in Hiatt, 1 9 7 8 , p. 2 5 7 )
The negative conception of woman as devourer, a notion containing the seeds of

mortal fear, was also manifest in the legend of the Murinbata people of Australia's
Northern Territory (see Knight, 1 9 8 8 ) . This legend concerned the origins of the cult of
the Old Woman, the most significant of all the Murinbata rituals.
The people said to the Old Woman: "We shall leave the children with you
while we find honey; you look after them." She agreed, and the people went
off to hunt. After the children had bathed, they settled down to sleep near
her.
Bringing one close on the pretext of looking for lice, she swallowed it.
The she swallowed the others, ten altogether, and left.
A man and his wife returned to the camp for water and realised what
must have happened. They gave the alarm, and the others came back. Ten
men set off in pursuit and eventually overtook Mutjingga [the Old Woman]
crawling along a river bed. A left-handed man speared her through the legs
and a right-handed man broke her neck with a club. They then cut her belly
open and found the children, still alive, in her womb.
They had not gone where the excrement is. The men cleaned and
adorned the children and took them back to the camp. Their mothers cried
with joy on seeing them and hit themselves until the blood flowed, (quoted
in Hiatt, 1 9 7 8 , p. 2 5 8 )
Perhaps the most interesting myth, in terms of its connection with the develop-
ment of initiation rites, was told by the Walbiri of Central Australia:
A long time ago there were two Mulga-tree brothers, each with a wife and
several sons. Because the area they inhabited was suffering from drought, the
two men decided to take their families and explore other regions for food.
Before departing, they secretly circumcised their sons and inducted them
into the clan totemic cult. Their wives heard about the ceremonies and
became angry at their exclusion; and when the men refused to allow them to
accompany them on their travels, saying they must stay behind and look after
the boys, their anger increased. The husbands responded to their demands by
soundly thrashing them with boomerangs. They then jumped into the air and
began their journey.
After various adventures, they returned home. As they alighted from
the sky, they called out happily to their wives, but there was no answer. Puz-
zled and apprehensive, they searched the vicinity of the camp site and to
their alarm discovered evidence of a violent struggle. Leading away from the
spot were two sets footprints, which they identified as their wives'. They
then guessed what must have happened: the two women, furious at being
excluded and left behind, had killed and eaten their sons.
The two men followed the tracks to a cave, around the mouth of which
flies were swarming. Quickly fashioning torches they entered a large cham-
ber where, among the boulders on the floor, they saw the putrescent remains
of their sons. The flies, however, were streaming past the corpses and going
further into the cave. The men raised their torches and cautiously advanced.
At the end of the cave, they saw the two women, crouching like hideous dem-
ons, with flies swarming into their gaping, blood-stained mouths. The men
realised that they had vomited up the lads and were ready to swallow them
again. So terrifying was the scene of carnage that the men ran in terror from
the stinking cavern. Outside, their courage returned. They rushed back in
with armfuls of dry grass, threw it over the women and set fire to it. The
women were completely destroyed.
Badly shaken by these events the two brothers returned to their original
camp where they mourned the passing of their sons. They then pondered the
question of how to replace the lads now that they were without wives and
without prospects of acquiring more. That night the older brother dreamt of
a magical formula that enabled the two men not only to resurrect their sons
but to produce an unlimited supply of children without the aid of women,
(quoted in Hiatt, 1 9 7 8 , p. 2 5 8 )
The expression of such fear functioned, on one level, to afford the males the opportu-
nity of disputing the existence of responsibility, of the right of women to be responsible
for the children's welfare. These reactions, being derived from fear, allowed the men to
displace the women by claiming, in ritual, that they could give birth to boys and safely
tend them.
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5
Boys on Film
Masculinities and the Cinema
Masculinity is an effect of culture—a construction, a performance, a

masquerade—rather than a universal and unchanging essence.
—Steve Cohan and Rae Harke
Emotions. There ought to be a law against them.

—Judge Dredd
Inspired
Dredd
by a b o y s ' c o m i c and situated in the future, t h e film Judge
( 1 9 9 5 ) e x p l o r es several t h e m e s : the rule o f law, c o n f o r m i t y and
o b e d i e n c e , the kinship between flesh and m a c h i n e , and the n e w r e p r o -
ductive t e c h n o l o g i e s . T h e film also presents s o m e clear and unequivo-
cal images o f masculinity. T h r e a d e d t h r o u g h o u t the film are startling
depictions o f m e n — m e n as extraordinarily violent, m e n as d o m i n e e r -
ing and brutal, and m e n as devoid o f the taint o f affect, t o n a m e a few.
T h e film describes an o r t h o d o x moral struggle between g o o d and
evil, manifest particularly in the bitter fight between t w o b r o t h e r s .
O n e , D r e d d , represents law and justice. D r e d d , played by Sylvester
Stallone, first appears on screen encased in exaggerated body a r m o r
that provides h a r d coverage o f genitals and shoulders. D e s i g n e d by t h e
late G i a n n i V e r s a c e , this haute couture outfit draws attention t o the
traditional signs o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity. Along with the platform
shoes, it also lends a playful and c o m i c edge t o the narrative. But
D r e d d ' s accessories leave us in n o doubt that we are about t o witness a
serious drama in w h i c h gender plays a critical role. D r e d d carries a
w e a p o n that he programs with verbal c o m m a n d s ; the w e a p o n repeats
159
D r e d d ' s instructions in a deep, resonant male voice, suggesting a neat

symbiosis between man and gun. M o s t importantly, however, D r e d d
is a judge.
The judges are an elite clan o f highly trained specialists w h o
prosecute, judge, and punish on the streets o f a megacity ( N e w Y o r k )
in the third millennium. T h e judges have replaced the formal, state-
controlled justice system, which has collapsed. T h e film tells o f a rene-
gade judge, R i c o , w h o breaks out o f the Aspen Penal C o l o n y and pro-
ceeds cold-heartedly t o murder his fellow judges. R i c o is a test-tube
product, the result o f an experiment in genetic engineering, just like
his brother, Dredd.
T h r o u g h D N A evidence, D r e d d is accused o f his b r o t h e r ' s crimes.
Dredd escapes his punishment, and attempts t o halt R i c o ' s killing spree.
R i c o , meanwhile, is intent on cloning a new batch o f judges t o replace
the diminishing number o f original judges. R i c o substitutes the exist-
ing D N A stock with his own sample, fires up the accelerated growth
incubators, and prepares t o spawn a myriad o f adult clones within
eight hours. " I ' m about t o be a daddy," he exclaims. R i c o is foiled by
the interventions o f Dredd, w h o manages t o b l o w up the partially
hatched clones. D r e d d emerges triumphant and in c o n t r o l at the close
o f the film. H e is offered the position o f C h i e f Justice. " I am the L a w , "
declares D r e d d .
Judge Dredd sketches the outlines o f a dystopian future, a scenario
in which the urban frontier is lawless, c h a o t i c , violent, peppered by
" b l o c k w a r s " and citizen riots. T h i s urban zone is shut off from the
"cursed earth"—the landscape b e y o n d the megacities. B o t h zones are
populated by artificial (i.e., non-natural) creatures: a giant r o b o t
brought t o life by R i c o , for e x a m p l e , and an outlaw w h o has metal
woven into his flesh. T h e narrative c o m b i n e s the elements o f the clas-
sic W e s t e r n with those o f the c o m b a t film. R i c o , the male antihero
w h o attempts t o father himself many times over, is the antithesis o f
Dredd, the hypermasculine h e r o c l o t h e d in a ritualized and s o m e w h a t
fetishistic costume. R i c o is positioned in the narrative as the perfect
criminal; an oppositional and disruptive figure pitted against his
h e r o i c and just brother.
T h e apocalyptic tensions in the narrative are w o r k e d out in the
space o f the future cityscape, and are shaped and ameliorated by the
ascendancy and supremacy o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity enshrined in the
figure o f J u d g e Dredd, a genetically engineered, "ideal" individual
w h o restores order t o this barbarous and anarchic public place. H e r e ,
we are witnesses t o an extended cinematic portrayal o f American
masculinity.
Boys on Film 161
In this chapter, I e x a m i n e , in s o m e detail, the representations o f

masculinity in American c i n e m a . I l o o k , in particular, at film genres in
which masculinity is foregrounded: the W e s t e r n , war films, and film
noir. First, I consider the historical and structural c o n d i t i o n s that
shape c o n t e m p o r a r y representational practices and forms, particularly
as these c o n c e r n m e n and masculinity.
Public Masculinities
We are no longer private. We are not private. For better and for
worse, we, men, are public, and increasingly so.
—Jeff Hearn
M e n are n o w a highly visible and powerful presence in the public

domain. W e can speak o f the mass collectivity o f m e n and the univer-
salizing o f e x p e r i e n c e that has a c c o m p a n i e d the social changes o f the
late 2 0 t h century. M e n in public n o w exercise a wide range o f p o w e r s :
over w o m e n , w h e t h e r located in the public o r private d o m a i n ; over
s o m e m e n in the public d o m a i n ; and over all o t h e r m e n in the private
domain. F u r t h e r m o r e , there is a silence surrounding the relationship
between m e n ' s activity and e x p e r i e n c e in the public and private
domains. M e n are powerful and visible, yet fractured and discon-
n e c t e d ; m e n ' s lives are split into c o m p a r t m e n t s .
T h i s expansion in m e n ' s p o w e r in the public domain has increased
significantly since the latter part o f the 1 9 t h century. Since that t i m e ,
the private domain has r e c e d e d and been d o m i n a t e d by the public
domain. Private or family patriarchal formations have been displaced
by public o r social patriarchies (Hearn, 1 9 9 2 ) . It is in the public
domain that n e w forms o f masculinity have been culturally produced,
enacted, and reflexively e x p e r i e n c e d .
T h e p r e e m i n e n c e o f a public domain, in which men e x e r t c o n t r o l
over e c o n o m i c production, labor, sexuality, and reproduction, is the
result o f a struggle t o order the relations between the public and the
private t o ensure that the former is dominant. M o r e o v e r , this public
domain is increasingly the sphere o f display: Interactions with others
are often m o r e frequent and m o r e visible; public selves are c o n -
structed for presentation in such interactions; and opportunities for
interpersonal c o n t a c t may be heightened by the expansive character o f
time and space in the public domain.
T h e discourses o f consumption that supported the growth o f

industrialization in the late 1 9 t h century focused on the visual. T h e
production and dissemination o f the visual image propelled the devel-
o p m e n t o f m o d e r n retailing and marketing industries. T h e invention
and propagation o f visual artifacts, such as the photograph and, later,
film, profoundly affected the character o f popular culture. T h e p h o t o -
graph introduced fresh possibilities for the display and recording o f
masculine behavior and demeanors. J e f f H e a r n ( 1 9 9 2 ) describes this
visual assertiveness on the part o f men as the translation o f the p h o t o -
graph into the "new public patriarch," a distillation o f the rising power
o f public men (p. 1 8 8 ) . H o w e v e r , film perhaps provided the greatest
possibilities for the proliferation o f varied images o f masculinity.
Referring t o the present day, H e a r n notes that " w e , as masculinities,
are partly, though n o less profoundly, produced in/on film—the most
material o f m e d i a " (p. 2 2 2 ) .
Public masculinities, represented in various configurations o f imag-
ery and t e x t , have embraced new formations over time. T h i s period-
ization o f masculinity is reflected in the emergence o f the " n e w m a n "
in Britain in the late 1 9 8 0 s to early 1 9 9 0 s , and the subsequent celebra-
tion o f "lad culture," with its emphasis on boozing and scoring. Sean 1
N i x o n ( 1 9 9 6 ) traces the rise o f new man imagery in Britain across four

key cultural sites: television advertising, press advertising, menswear
retailing, and popular magazines for men. T h e latter have included
Esquire, Attitude, Arena Homme Plus, and, o f course, Loaded.
According to N i x o n , this new man imagery was quintessentially
metropolitan, calling up the distinct languages o f the city, with its
kaleidoscope o f sights, sounds, and events. Specific technologies o f
self-presentation and specific techniques o f looking, derived from par-
ticular sites o f leisure and consumption, shaped this imagery. M a l e - t o -
male spectatorship and its attendant sexual ambiguity w e r e c o d e d into
these representations o f the n e w man. An explicit appeal to h e t e r o s e x -
ual men was also embedded in this imagery. T h e intense focus on the
face and the body o f the new man was achieved via the cropping and
framing o f images so that the o n l o o k e r ' s eye was drawn across the sur-
face o f the body and clothes on display. In this sense, the c h o i c e o f
models was o f paramount significance. N i x o n notes that the male
models were frequently black or Italian in appearance, as if t o signify
both assertiveness and a heavy dash o f sensuality.
T h e proliferation in the early 1 9 9 0 s o f popular magazines aimed
at a style-conscious male market added another dimension t o the visu-
alization o f the new man. Sexualized references t o w o m e n appeared in
magazines such as GQ and Arena, and so the new man gave way to the
Boys on Film 163
new lad. N i x o n describes the latter masculine formation as youthful

heterosexuality c o m b i n e d with a reworking o f the s t o c k masculine
interests o f girls, sport, cars, and a l c o h o l . Nevertheless, the lad culture
lauded in various m e n ' s magazines simply perpetuated the old scripts
about mateship, collective forms o f masculine entertainment, and sex-
ual exploitation. As w e shall see, the discourses that underpinned
masculinist lad culture continue t o thrive in various arenas o f popular
culture.
S o h o w does film capture and disseminate images o f men and
masculinity? W h a t kinds o f images are produced, and what is their
significance?
Imagining Masculinities
No picture is pure image; all of them, still and moving, graphic and
photographic, are "talking pictures," either literally, or in associa-
tion with contextual speech, writing or discourse.
—John Hartley
Steve N e a l e observed in 1 9 8 3 that screen representations o f masculin-

ity have rarely been studied (see Mulvey, 1 9 7 5 ; N e a l e , 1 9 9 3 ) . H o w -
ever, in the last decade or so, there has been an explosion o f interest in
the depiction o f masculinity in the mass media (see, for example,
C o h a n , 1 9 9 7 ; C o h a n & Hark, 1 9 9 3 ; Kirkham & T h u m i n , 1 9 9 5 ) . T h i s
interest has been sparked by feminist theory, queer theory, and, m o r e
recently, cultural and media studies.
R o b e r t H a n k e ( 1 9 9 2 ) suggests that we adopt C o n n e l l ' s c o n c e p t u -
alization o f masculinities as h e g e m o n i c , conservative, and subordi-
nated, and apply this to an analysis o f representations o f men on the
screen. H a n k e argues that hegemonic masculinity, premised on the sub-
ordination o f w o m e n within the gender order, is frequently articu-
lated in mass media portrayals o f men (see H a n k e , 1 9 9 0 ; T o r r e s ,
1 9 8 9 ) . H a n k e nominates action-adventure films, the W e s t e r n , and
sports telecasts as vehicles that most clearly convey images o f hege-
m o n i c masculinity. Television programs and films in these genres
often present "a hypermasculine ideal o f toughness and d o m i n a n c e "
(Connell, 1 9 8 7 , p. 8 0 ; see also T a s k e r , 1 9 9 3 ) .
Images o f subordinated masculinities ( C o n n e l l , 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 9 5 ) are
also widely distributed in c o n t e m p o r a r y society. H e r e , w e should turn
t o the e x a m p l e o f African American m e n and the production and
dissemination o f depictions o f black masculinity (see H a r p e r , 1 9 9 4 ) .

T h e history o f representations o f black men in American society is
thick with portrayals o f them as "criminal, lascivious, irresponsible,
and n o t particularly smart" (Delgado & Stefancic, 1 9 9 5 , p. 2 1 0 ) . T h i s
history is initially populated by figures o f derision: S a m b o and J i m
C r o w were childlike, slow-witted, often lazy, and sometimes enter-
taining; Uncle T o m and Uncle R e m u s w e r e long suffering, pious, and
wise (see Allen, 1 9 9 4 ) . Following R e c o n s t r u c t i o n , the liberty o f the
freed slave led to the production o f a host o f n e w images, in which
male sexuality played a prominent role. African American males w e r e
often depicted as bestial and brutish, as reflected in films such as The
Birth of a Nation ( 1 9 1 5 ) , in which a white w o m a n was pursued to her
death by an animalistic black male (see Kaplan, 1 9 9 6 ) . Popular images
thus began to play on a fear o f the sexual violation o f white w o m e n
and the resultant racial pollution from such "unnatural" couplings
(see Bogle, 1 9 9 4 ; Cripps, 1 9 9 3 ; Richards, 1 9 9 8 ; Sampson, 1 9 9 8 ) . 2
Filmic images o f black masculinity have often e m b r a c e d the nega-

tive social constructions that circulate throughout society. H o w e v e r ,
the c i n e m a also presented a sterilized portrait o f black masculinity, a
sterility reflected in the asexual leading roles offered such actors as
Sidney Poitier. T h i s resulted, according t o E d G u e r r e r o ( 1 9 9 5 ) , in a
binary construction o f black m a n h o o d from which the intellectual,
political, and cultural richness and diversity o f black exper i ence had
been evacuated, leaving a "vast empty space in representation"
( G u e r r e r o , 1 9 9 5 , p. 3 9 7 ) . T h e fact that the H o l l y w o o d machine has
systematically excluded African Americans from key creative roles in
the film industry has n o t helped to fill this representational void
(Miller, 1 9 9 6 ; see also Berry & M a n n i n g - M i l l e r , 1 9 9 6 ; Diawara,
1 9 9 3 ; G u e r r e r o , 1 9 9 3 ; M a r t i n , 1 9 9 5 ; Smith, 1 9 9 7 ) .
C o n t e m p o r a r y cultural images o f black men are n o w m o r e c o n -
cerned with violence and crime. T h e s e are images that essentially sig-
nal profound levels o f social anxiety and fear about the presence (and
indeed circulation) o f black m e n in civil society (Williams, 1 9 9 5 ;
Y o u n g , 1 9 9 6 ) . T h e black male body is n o w an icon o f danger ( J o h n -
son, 1 9 9 5 ) , threatening to inflict e x t r e m e levels o f personal harm on
others or even to overturn the stability o f the social order. H e r m a n
G r a y ( 1 9 9 5 ) refers to "the figure o f the menacing black male criminal
b o d y " (p. 4 0 3 ) , which is "the logical and legitimate object o f surveil-
lance and policing, c o n t a i n m e n t and punishment" (p. 4 0 2 ) .
Delgado and Stefancic ( 1 9 9 5 ) assert that racist depictions o f black
men give society permission to perpetuate discrimination and bias.
M o r e o v e r , such images c a n n o t easily be dispelled by protest, e x h o r t a -
tion, or c o u n t e r e x a m p l e s (see R e a d , 1 9 9 6 ) . bell h o o k s ( 1 9 9 5 ) claims
B o y s on F i l m 165
that such representations o f black males are also vital t o the mainte-
nance o f the gender order; they ensure that h e g e m o n i c white mascu-
linity remains dominant and that subordinated black masculinity
revolves, t o s o m e e x t e n t , around striving t o emulate aspects o f hege-
m o n i c white masculinity. H e n c e h o o k s talks about the generation o f a
politics o f envy and the circular l o o p o f black male identity as lack.
F u r t h e r m o r e , says h o o k s , this politics o f envy is shared with white,
heterosexual w o m e n (p. 1 0 5 ) , w h o are also socialized t o struggle for
approval and acceptance within a white, heterosexist social order,
h o o k s describes a 1 9 9 4 issue o f Vogue magazine that featured an
advertisement showing a young, black male b o x e r taking a punch
from a tall, white, fair-haired female model. T h e t e x t o f the advertise-
ment a n n o u n c e d , " G o i n g for the k n o c k o u t punch in powerfully sexy
gym w e a r . " Such an advertisement, argues h o o k s , suggests that black
men should c o m p e t e with white w o m e n for power and pleasure in the
gender order, and that access t o this power and pleasure will be deter-
mined by white males (hooks, 1 9 9 4 , p. 1 0 5 ; see also Katz, 1 9 9 5 ;
Kervin, 1 9 9 0 , 1 9 9 1 ; Shields, 1 9 9 0 ) .
T h e issue o f self-representation has assumed an urgency and a
significance in the African American c o m m u n i t y , particularly as hege-
m o n i c masculinity is continuously articulated and modified to a c c o m -
m o d a t e the shifting nuances o f public and private masculinities
( H a n k e , 1 9 9 2 ; Willis, 1 9 9 7 ) . T h e s e representations, produced from
within this c o m m u n i t y , mark out the "racial and cultural boundaries
o f a c o u n t e r - h e g e m o n i c blackness" (Gray, 1 9 9 5 , p. 4 0 3 ) , a blackness
that opposes, resists, and attempts t o displace the prevailing negative
constructions o f black masculinity resident in the established gender
order (see Smith, 1 9 9 8 ; W a t k i n s , 1 9 9 8 ) .
H o w do the media, including the film industry, produce (and
reproduce) masculinity as a cultural category and as a social experi-
ence? B e l o w , I l o o k closely at h o w h e g e m o n i c masculinities are imag-
ined in three different film genres: W e s t e r n s , war movies, and film
noir. I also e x p l o r e the ways in which masculinity is being redefined
and reshaped, even as it is being performed and seen.
Frontier Nation: Men at the Edge
The Myth of the Frontier is our oldest and most characteristic myth,
expressed in a body of literature, folklore, ritual, historiography,
and polemics produced over a period of three centuries.
—Richard Slotkin
The western frontier is still the quintessential mythic site for demon-
strating manhood. . . . [W]e come to the western to experience the
initiation into manhood and the mythopoeic quest reinscribed into
buckskin and revolvers. The search for authentic experiences, for
deep meaning, has always led men back to the frontier, back to na-
ture, even if it is inevitably the frontier of their imaginations.
—Michael Kimmel
After, all, the Old West is not really a time or a place but a state of
mind.
—Jim Janke's Old West Web page
The idea o f the W e s t as a frontier populated by courageous and stoic

settlers, ruthless outlaws, and hostile Indians is firmly e n t r e n c h e d in
the American mythos. T h i s idea serves as a m e t a p h o r for the national
character, for the ideals o f modernization and progress, for the e x p a n -
sion o f the e c o n o m y , and for the legitimization o f imperialist inter-
ventions in the international a r e n a . It also serves as a justification for
3
the subjugation and colonization o f indigenous peoples and the e x -

ploitation o f natural resources.
So great is the hold o f this idea on the American imagination that
the W e s t e r n frontier continues to be fictionalized in literature and
poetry; see, for e x a m p l e , Roundup Magazine p r o d u c e d by the W e s t -
ern W r i t e r s o f A m e r i c a , American Cowboy magazine, and the novels
o f such authors as Louis L ' A m o u r , J a c k Schaefer, L u k e S h o r t , and
R i c h a r d S. W h e e l e r . M u s e u m s preserve the history o f the frontier and
its colorful c h a r a c t e r s ; there is, for e x a m p l e , the O l d W e s t M u s e u m ,
4
the R o y R o g e r s / D a l e Evans M u s e u m , the G e n e Autry M u s e u m o f

W e s t e r n Heritage, the Buffalo Bill Historical C e n t e r , and even a Buf-
falo Bill W a x M u s e u m . Significant a m o n g these m e m o r i a l s t o the past
is the N a t i o n a l C o w b o y Hall o f F a m e in O k l a h o m a , which is billed as
a j o u r n e y through the O l d W e s t . It is a place w h e r e visitors can experi-
ence a typical 1 9 t h - c e n t u r y frontier t o w n — b y walking the "streets"
and l o o k i n g at the building fagades "filled with authentic . . . arti-
facts." T h e Hall o f F a m e also offers visitors the opportunity to partici-
pate in special events, such as the C o w b o y Poetry Gathering and the
Annual C h u c k w a g o n Gathering. F o r those w h o wish to leave with a
tangible piece o f frontier history, the museum has a gift shop called,
appropriately, T r a p p i n g s o f the W e s t .
Such renderings o f the past, sentimentalized and c o m m o d i f i e d for
mainstream A m e r i c a , emphasize the significance o f the c o w b o y as
both masculine figure and as h e r o . Indeed, M i c h a e l K i m m e l ( 1 9 9 6 )
wryly observes, " T h e c o w b o y occupies an important place in Ameri-

can cultural history: H e is America's contribution t o the world's s t o c k
o f mythic h e r o e s " (p. 1 4 8 ; see also H i n e & B i n g h a m , 1 9 7 2 ; S p e n c e ,
1966).
Central to the perpetuation o f the myths and images o f the W e s t -
ern frontier is the modern media. W h i l e the cultural project o f manu-
facturing images o f the W e s t has a long history and has included
written w o r k , performance, and the visual arts, film and television
have broadcast narratives about the pioneering days in a consistent
process o f production. T h e contours o f the stories may change and the
protagonists may vary, along with the e x t r e m e nature o f their deeds,
but the ideological underpinnings o f these representations remain
firmly in place. F o r e x a m p l e , the landscape is frequently represented
as a site o f renewal and o f transformation, a place separate from the
effete influences o f the East (Mitchell, 1 9 9 6 ; T o m p k i n s , 1 9 9 2 ) .
Although the W e s t e r n as a film genre has been both adaptable and
flexible, its trajectory has followed s o m e well-trod paths. F o r e x a m -
ple, during the 1 9 5 0 s , W e s t e r n s were preoccupied with the biological
requirements o f manliness. In the 1 9 6 0 s , W e s t e r n s b e c a m e m o r e vio-
lent ( M i t c h e l l , 1 9 9 6 ) , as illustrated by the films o f S a m Peckinpah, in
which violence itself occupies center stage (see C h a p t e r 3 ) .
W e s t e r n s typically problematize a series o f issues: progress, "envi-
sioned as a passing o f frontiers"; h o n o r , "defined in a c o n t e x t o f social
e x p e d i e n c y " ; law and order, "enacted in a conflict o f vengeance and
social c o n t r o l " ; and violence and "what it means to be a man, as aging
victim o f progress, e m b o d i m e n t o f h o n o r , champion o f justice in an
unjust w o r l d " ( M i t c h e l l , 1 9 9 6 , p. 3 ) . O f all o f the problems dealt with
by the W e s t e r n , masculinity is the most perplexing riddle nestled
within the narrative. T h e W e s t e r n novel and film have been described
as "phallic discourses" taken to an e x t r e m e — a s places w h e r e " m e n
gaze at each other, pump bullets into each other's bodies, and lust
after w o m e n " ( H o r r o c k s , 1 9 9 5 , p. 5 6 ) .
F u r t h e r m o r e , the overt meanings o f the W e s t e r n are about law
and order, patriarchal and colonizing law writ large on the male h e r o .
T h e y are also about violence—even "regeneration through v i o l e n c e "
( H o r r o c k s , 1 9 9 5 , p. 7 7 ) — a n d , o f course, about death. Indeed, death
is pivotal to the discourse o f the W e s t e r n . H o r r o c k s ( 1 9 9 5 ) notes that,
here, "we find a worship o f death, an eroticism around death, that is
both disorderly and exciting" (p. 8 1 ) . T h e covert meanings o f the
W e s t e r n are c o n c e r n e d with men's capacity for love, m e n ' s suffering,
and defiance o f middle-class values. H o r r o c k s claims that the male
suffering depicted in s o m e W e s t e r n s could be regarded as symbolic,
representing the injury inflicted on m e n in patriarchal society. H e

further claims that this view is fraught with tension because it conflicts
with t h e o r t h o d o x view that w o m e n are, rightfully, t h e suffering
victims.
W e s t e r n s , according t o H o r r o c k s ( 1 9 9 5 ) , e x p l o r e the c o n t r a d i c -
tions in mainstream American masculinity and their alterations over
t i m e ; they e x a m i n e , for e x a m p l e , the e x p e c t a t i o n that men be " h a r d "
or "tough," but remain within the confines o f the law. W e can thus see
the changes in the depiction o f masculinity in the p o s t - W o r l d W a r II
W e s t e r n s : E c o n o m i c imperialism is often questioned, and the surfeit
o f masculine behaviors required in an earlier era is n o longer seen as
relevant.
At the same time, however, W e s t e r n s articulate a particular mas-
culine e t h o s — o n e in which injury t o the male body is an important
and meaningful part o f the narrative. M i t c h e l l ( 1 9 9 6 ) argues that male
bodies are shown being whipped, beaten, flogged, and shot precisely
so that they can be shown convalescing and recovering. It is the m o t i f
o f rehabilitation that establishes the validity o f masculine identity:
O n c e r e c o v e r e d , men, in W e s t e r n narratives, can maintain a strong,
gendered presence. T h i s idea is based on what M i t c h e l l calls the
"double logic o f the male body visibly making itself, even as it needs
t o disappear as a body t o ensure the achievement o f masculinity"
(p. 1 5 4 ) . Masculinity is n o t simply a biological given, but must be
asserted through the narrative as an achievement. As M i t c h e l l n o t e s ,
The frequency with which the [male] body is celebrated, then physi-
cally punished, only to convalesce, suggests something of the para-
dox involved in making true men out of biological men, taking their
male bodies and distorting them beyond any apparent power of self-
control, so that in the course of recuperating, and achieved mascu-
linity that is at once physical and based on performance can be
revealed, (p. 155)
T h e h e r o in the W e s t e r n , m o r e than any o t h e r genre, invites us t o gaze

upon his body. As we l o o k , w e see men in the process o f fleshing out
their identity, o f finishing the creative process o f self-construction.
At the same time, w e are encouraged t o believe that all o f this is
unnecessary.
Paul Smith ( 1 9 9 5 ) makes a similar point, claiming that, within the
cultural productions o f our phallocentric society, "masculinity is rep-
resented first o f all as a particular nexus o f pleasure," a pleasure pro-
duced through " a specific m o d e o f objectifying and eroticizing the
B o y s on Film 169
male body, and . . . fortified by a series o f operations on that male

body that, while they have the trappings o f a resistance t o the phallic
law, are in fact designed t o lead the male subject through a proving
ground t o w a r d the e m p o w e r e d position that is represented in the
N a m e o f the F a t h e r " (p. 9 4 ) .
J a n e T o m p k i n s ( 1 9 9 2 ) asserts that W e s t e r n s are a masculine p r o -
test against feminine domesticity and the Christian sacrifice and
reform celebrated in the late 1 9 t h - c e n t u r y w o m a n ' s novel. W e s t e r n s ,
in T o m p k i n s ' s view, can be seen as a c o u n t e r p o i n t t o the e m o t i o n a l
sensibilities o f this literature and also as an attempt t o deny, o r even
eradicate, femininity in American popular culture. T h e novels o f
W e s t e r n writers such as Z a n e G r e y , O w e n W i s t e r , and others, and the
film genre that evolved out o f these w o r k are thus, according t o
T o m p k i n s , an expression o f the attempt by American m e n t o take
back their m a n h o o d "from the Christian w o m e n w h o [had] been hold-
ing it in thrall" (p. 3 3 ) . T h e W e s t e r n , then, is principally about " m e n ' s
fear o f losing their mastery, and h e n c e their identity" ( T o m p k i n s ,
1992, p. 4 5 ) ; furthermore, the W e s t e r n , as a cultural formula, "tire-
lessly reinvents" masculine identity as antithetical t o the feminine val-
ues o f m a n n e r e d society.
We could c o n c l u d e that the W e s t e r n is c o n c e r n e d with the cre-
ation o f an imaginary social space in which w o m e n are defined as a
hindrance (or even as redundant), and in which talk, negotiation, and
introspection are viewed as dangerous feminine practices. M o r e o v e r ,
violence is understood as integral t o the W e s t e r n ; it tests the limits o f
masculine endurance, highlighting masculine prowess and bravery.
Indeed, "the h e r o is so right (that is, so w r o n g e d ) that he can kill with
impunity," notes T o m p k i n s (p. 2 2 9 ) , and " v e n g e a n c e , by the time it
arrives, feels biologically necessary" (p. 2 2 8 ) . In the W e s t e r n , mascu-
linity is p r o t e c t e d from, and safeguarded against, the corrosive and
polluting influence o f femininity.
Warrior Spectacles:
Masculinity on Show
The only real thing was fighting. (You couldn't be a man without
fighting, and being a man was the only way of being alive). When
there is no more fighting, no more being a man, life ceases and
everything (the man, the world) becomes a pulp.
—Klaus Theweleit
T h e war film encompasses a number o f genres. A m o n g them is the

c o m b a t film, which explores themes such as nationalism, heroism,
individual and collective morality, and the futility o f war. T h e c o m b a t
film, o f necessity, depicts power relations between groups o f m e n ,
struggle and resistance within groups o f men, and the physical and
psychological consequences o f war. T h e c o m b a t film also negotiates a
path between mythmaking and historical representation.
T h e c o m b a t film is a quintessential American genre. Its origins are
in the infantry films o f the W o r l d W a r I period. H o w e v e r , it was dur-
ing W o r l d W a r II and the period thereafter that the c o m b a t film
emerged as a genre in its own right. T h e c o m b a t film continues t o be
very popular in the post-Vietnam era.
T h e films made in the wake o f W o r l d W a r I contained messages
about the desecration o f war: the waste o f youth, the terrible injuries,
the heavy death toll. Films such as The Big Parade ( 1 9 2 5 ) and What
Price Glory? ( 1 9 2 6 ) were strongly pacifist. T h e s e post-war films also
mapped out the identity o f the professional soldier even as they em-
phasized the iconography o f war: weapons, uniforms, and c o m b a t
paraphernalia.
During W o r l d W a r II, the c o m b a t film was transformed i n t o a
cultural product with an ideological orientation. T h e films o p e n e d a
narrative space for the dramatization o f real events, and provided the
audience with an opportunity to experience vicariously aspects o f real
c o m b a t . T h e reasons for attacking other nations, or defending our
own, were important in these films, and the values and behaviors o f
the individual and the nation were, thus, bound together in a m o r a l
cohesion. In films such as They Were Expendable ( 1 9 4 5 ) and A Walk in
the Sun ( 1 9 4 6 ) , the idea o f h o m e provided the soldiers with a ratio-
nale to fight.
W o m e n made occasional appearances in c o m b a t films during this
time, usually as nurses (as in They Were Expendable), or during dream
sequences or flashbacks. W o m e n symbolized domesticity—home and
family—and w e r e usually included in the roles o f wives and m o t h e r s .
T h e film A Walk in the Sun was unusual because it focused on the indi-
vidual e m o t i o n s o f the men and the sympathy felt for a c o m m a n d e r
w h o behaved in a stereotypically feminine way at a crucial m o m e n t .
In the film, however, the mythologizing o f death—the denial o f m o r -
tality and the eulogizing o f the bravery o f the ordinary soldier—
negated the fact that feminine qualities were admitted into the body
o f fighting men.
W o r l d W a r II c o m b a t films tended t o represent masculinity in an
unproblematic manner. T h e male subjects in the film were shown as
Boys on Film 171
actively engaged in warfare, as omniscient, as moving across physical

terrain, and as disengaged from w o m e n as r o m a n t i c partners (see
Basinger, 1 9 8 6 ) . In p o s t - W o r l d W a r II c o m b a t films, heroism was
supplanted by the demands o f conflict and war; duty and compassion
also played a part, as did authoritarianism and the fear o f responsibil-
ity. T h e moral purpose o f these films was neither clear-cut nor direct;
rather, they portrayed an equivocal and confused morality. M e n in
such films as The Sands of Iwo Jima ( 1 9 4 9 ) , Fixed Bayonets (1951),
and The Bridge on the River Kwai ( 1 9 5 7 ) struggled and did not always
succeed in their individual and collective mission. 5
W i t h the advent o f the post-Vietnam c o m b a t film, the presence o f

w o m e n assumed new significance. F u r t h e r m o r e , as we see b e l o w , the
warrior mythology was reaffirmed in these films, and the confron-
tation with death was renewed as a rite o f passage that validated
masculinity.
Post-Vietnam films, produced in the knowledge o f defeat, have
typically employed the narrative strategies o f mythologization and
displacement. T h e script o f the V i e t n a m war was effectively rewritten
in films such as those in the Ramho series ( 1 9 8 2 , 1 9 8 5 , 1 9 8 8 ) , in
which the eponymous hero immerses himself in the carnage o f war
but, nevertheless, emerges triumphant. In The Deer Hunter (1978)
and Apocalypse Now ( 1 9 7 9 ) , the traumas o f a humiliating loss w e r e
displaced by a transcendent interaction between the white culture o f
the W e s t and the alien and e x o t i c O t h e r in the guise o f the V i e t n a m e s e
(Jeffords, 1 9 9 0 ) . 6
Popular films produced about the V i e t n a m experience can also be

understood as part o f a larger cultural project, what Susan Jeffords
( 1 9 8 9 ) has called "the remasculinization o f A m e r i c a . " Jeffords claims
that "gender is the matrix through which V i e t n a m [can be] read, inter-
preted, and reframed in dominant American culture" (p. 5 3 ; see also
T r a u b e , 1 9 9 2 ) . T h i s viewing o f V i e t n a m through the lens o f gender
reflects the ways in which war itself provides an opportunity for the
reconstitution and reassertion o f formations o f masculinity. Indeed,
the "theater o f w a r " may be regarded as the space in which masculini-
ties are defined and performed anew, and in which the parameters o f
gender relations in civil society are articulated.
Indeed, the war zone is the discursive arena in which sexual dif-
ference is reaffirmed—in which elements associated with femaleness
(bodies/desire) are, paradoxically, celebrated, denied, and disavowed.
T h u s Jeffords ( 1 9 8 9 ) refers to the technologizing o f the male body in
narratives (and e x p e r i e n c e ) o f V i e t n a m , a maneuver that emphasizes
the power and invincibility o f the male body.
T h e body is clearly central to the discourses o f war; it is a r o u n d

the body that gendered ideas about warfare are constructed. W a r ,
with its explicit and visceral violence, is often viewed as equivalent t o
the physical and psychic ordeal o f childbirth. W i l l i a m Broyles, J r . ,
declared that "war was an initiation into the power o f life and death.
W o m e n touch that power at the m o m e n t o f birth; men on the edge o f
death" (quoted in Jeffords, 1 9 8 9 , p. 8 9 ) . Ironically, representations
o f the V i e t n a m W a r in c o n t e m p o r a r y films often invoke a parturient
masculinity; male characters in these films appropriate female repro-
ductive functions. In these narratives, the male body is figured as life-
giving as well as death-defying. T h e struggle over life and death in-
herent in warfare necessitates the radical separation o f the "clean
and p r o p e r " male body from the " m i r e " o f the female b o d y (see
T h e w e l e i t , 1 9 8 7 ) ; it also negates the reproductive capability o f the
female body, attaching these attributes t o the warring male b o d y — a
body facing a crisis o f transformation. Jeffords ( 1 9 8 9 ) notes o f these
V i e t n a m narratives, "men do not become w o m e n in these narratives,
they occupy t h e m " (p. 1 0 5 ) .
T h i s crisis o f bodily transformation assumes other forms. W a r sto-
ries in popular culture also address deeply held fears and anxieties
about the literal loss o f masculinity in warfare, signified by various
degrees o f castration or i m p o t e n c e resulting from injury. Peter
L e h m a n ( 1 9 9 3 ) states, " W a r , where men go t o prove and affirm their
masculinity, is perhaps not surprisingly also a literary and cinematic
site o f a great deal o f anxiety precisely about losing that masculinity"
(p. 7 1 ) . T h i s observation is based on the distinction, drawn by
7
Lehman ( 1 9 9 3 ) , between the penis and the phallus. H e assumes that

the latter "dominates, restricts, prohibits, and controls represen-
tations o f the male b o d y , " and produces, in men, strong feelings o f
alienation from the body. L e h m a n cites the dramatic scene in the film
Born on the Fourth of July ( 1 9 8 9 ) , in which the character R o n Kovick
(played by T o m Cruise) learns o f his paralysis, and immediately asks
the d o c t o r if he will be able to father a child. W h e n the d o c t o r replies
in the negative, R o n is shattered.
Although such injuries are clearly a reality o f war, the implications
o f these woundings are rarely depicted in H o l l y w o o d c i n e m a . H e r e ,
the imperative o f projecting the image o f the technologized and invin-
cible male body is in the ascendant. Indeed, Jeffords ( 1 9 9 4 ) argues
that H o l l y w o o d c i n e m a responded to the political exigencies o f the
Reagan era with the production o f images o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity.
W h i l e this has been a project o f the American entertainment industry
since at least the 1 9 6 0 s , Jeffords claims that the election o f R o n a l d
Reagan heralded the return o f the "physical king" t o the political
stage. In the Reagan era, dominant constructions o f masculinity dic-

tated that assertiveness, toughness, decisiveness, and, when necessary,
the capacity for violence should be at the core o f what it means t o be a
man. T h i s was depicted unequivocally in the action-adventure dramas
o f the 1 9 8 0 s , in which "heroism, individualism, and bodily integrity"
were centered in the male body (Jeffords, 1 9 9 4 , p. 1 4 8 ) . E x a m p l e s o f
8
this include the Robocop series ( 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 9 0 ) .

Films made subsequent t o this wave o f tales about machinelike
heroes have tended, according t o Jeffords ( 1 9 9 3 , 1 9 9 4 ) , t o carry mes-
sages about m e n ' s capacity t o e x p e r i e n c e e m o t i o n a l pain. T h e s e m o r e
recent portrayals, however, are contextualized within the narrative
tensions between the Utopian and dystopian discourses o f society.
D o y e n ( 1 9 9 6 ) observes that, in these cinematic dystopian depictions,
the h e r o "through fearless action . . . still redeems and proves himself,
but his victory is n o w dubiously impermanent and is taken away from
him at the start o f every s e q u e l . . . . T h e m o d e r n h e r o is at war n o t just
with the villains, but with a hostile society, which is repressive and
dehumanizing." Despite these broader considerations, the image o f
the hard body persists. Jeffords ( 1 9 9 4 ) states,
The hard body has remained a theme that epitomizes the national
imaginary.... [T]he hard body continues, in the post-Reagan, post-
Cold War era, to find the national models of masculinity conveyed
by some of Hollywood's most successful films. They have shown
their resiliency as models because they appear to critique, at times
even to reject, their earlier versions, only to renarrate them in ways
more complex and more intimately woven into the fabric of Ameri-
can culture, (pp. 192-193)
T h e hard masculine body—taut with a musculature that resembles

a r m o r or m e c h a n i z e d in a simulation o f t h e m a l e f o r m — r e a c h e d its ze-
nith in c i n e m a t i c representations o f c o m b a t . F r o m W o r l d W a r II on-
ward, depictions o f m e n at war increasingly focused on the male b o d y
as the bearer o f masculine meanings. T h e r o b o t i c masculinity still pa-
raded in films such as Judge Dredd perpetuates and extends the crisis
over gender relations in evidence at the close o f W o r l d W a r II.
Ambiguous Masculinities:
Tough Guys and Crime Fighters
In this dark world of crime, violence, and annihilation, nothing is

certain. . . . Characters appear and disappear. . . . Violence and
moral ambiguity, as well as murky character and action, create the
effect . . . [that] the spectator experience[s] what these desperate

characters feel: anguish and insecurity.
—R. Barton Palmer
O t h e r cinematic genres can also be regarded, at least in part, as a

response to the disillusionment, alienation, and confusion produced
by large-scale military conflict. Film noir, which emerged in the early
1 9 4 0 s and was characterized, according t o some critics, by "disrup-
tions to the stylistic, narrative and generic norms o f the 'classical' sys-
tem o f film-making" (Krutnik, 1 9 9 1 , p. x ) , is a case in point. Further-
m o r e , film noir frequently offered "an engagement with problematic,
even illicit, potentialities within masculine identity" (Krutnik, 1 9 9 1 ,
p. xiii). T h i s is not surprising, as the topics dealt with in these films
often revolved around urban crime and corruption—quintessential
masculine activities (see Christopher, 1 9 9 7 ; F o r m a n , 1 9 9 4 ; M a r t i n ,
1 9 9 7 ; M u l l e r , 1 9 9 8 ; Server, G o r m a n , & G r e e n b e r g , 1 9 9 8 ) .
Film noir c a n n o t easily be defined or categorized. Films in this
tradition capture a m o o d or an ambience, and draw on an eclectic
range o f cinematic ideas and techniques. T h e thematic and stylistic
trends in film noir reflected the wider social criticism o f moral and
sexual values in postwar American society. T h e y also constituted an
acknowledgment o f the significance o f psychological aspects o f char-
acterization, and expressed a fascination with sexuality, especially
predatory female sexuality. F r o m a technical viewpoint, these films
often adopted the style o f chiaroscuro visualization (see Krutnik,
1991).
Film noir can be divided into various stages. T h e early to mid-
1 9 4 0 s produced films in which the lead male character was alienated
and anxious, and in which events were overlaid by a dark, often fore-
boding, atmosphere. In many o f these films, the male protagonist's
voice was privileged, and there was an attempt to contain and c o n t r o l
the excesses o f sexual energy that threatened t o unravel the social
order. T h e authority o f the male protagonist, however, was often
undermined, and tensions were often introduced between loyalty t o
other males and attraction t o alluring and dangerous w o m e n .
T h e postwar years saw the production o f many films that sprang
from the disruptions associated with returning veterans, the impend-
ing nuclear threat, the C o l d W a r , anticommunist propaganda, and the
Korean conflict. M a l e protagonists in films o f this period were often
violent and possessed o f a hard-edged sexuality.
The 1 9 5 0 s witnessed the beginning o f a decline in the utilization
of noir themes and techniques. Since this time, noir conventions have
been invoked to conjure a specific tone or create a milieu, as, for

e x a m p l e , in Chinatown ( 1 9 7 4 ) , Night Moves ( 1 9 7 5 ) , and Cop ( 1 9 8 7 ) .
H o w e v e r , the cultural c o n t e x t that made film noir possible—and even
necessary—during the 1 9 4 0 s has altered radically in the last fifty years
(see C r o w t h e r , 1 9 8 8 ; Morrison, 1 9 8 8 ; Thomas, 1 9 8 8 ; Trelotte,
1989;Tuska, 1994).
It is the classic film noir thrillers from the 1 9 4 0 s that articulated
vivid and highly delineated portraits o f masculinity. In these "hard-
b o i l e d " crime and detective films, the male subject was located at the
center o f the narrative, and female subjects w e r e positioned as erotic
but marginal figures. W o m e n in these films were highly sexualized.
Krutnik ( 1 9 9 1 ) claims that, "generally in the noir thriller, this kind o f
sexual objectification o f the w o m a n as body is a c o m m o n strategy,
occurring in a highly formalized and fetishistic manner and serving to
deny the w o m a n a subjective centering within the t e x t " (p. 6 2 ) . Fre-
quently, the female protagonists were femmes fatales (see Allen, 1 9 8 3 ;
Bade, 1 9 7 9 ; Dijkstra, 1 9 9 6 ) .
T h e introduction o f the femme fatale into the noir thrillers per-
mitted H o l l y w o o d to e x p l o r e , in s o m e detail, the topos o f the manip-
ulative, devious, and desiring w o m a n (see D o a n e , 1 9 9 1 ) . T h i s femme
fatale character was both sought after and feared in the narrative
(Maxfield, 1 9 9 6 ) , and was also censured (see Staiger, 1 9 9 5 ) . Christine
Gledhill ( 1 9 7 8 ) has noted that these female characters were subjected
to intensive masculine scrutiny, followed by disapproval and punish-
ment. Pam C o o k ( 1 9 7 8 ) has suggested that film noir thrillers were
derived from the profound ambivalence about gender relations and
the gender order in postwar America. T h e dislocation o f cultural ar-
rangements as a c o n s e q u e n c e o f men's return from the war, w o m e n ' s
entry into the workplace, and the subsequent rise in c o m p e t e n c e , skill,
and ability in the previously subordinated female population, chal-
lenged the pre-war social order. As Krutnik ( 1 9 9 1 ) argues,
The postwar era required a reconstruction of cultural priorities, and

one can see the postwar noir "tough" thrillers as being one of the
principal means by which Hollywood, in its role as a cultural institu-
tion, sought to tackle such a project, by focusing attention upon the
problems attending to the (re)definition of masculine identity and
masculine role. (p. 64)
H e n c e the hard-boiled crime and detective thrillers emphasized the

masculine through language (epigrammatic and c o n t r o l l e d speech)
and through action (tough, decisive, and often violent behaviors).
T h e s e films, according t o Krutnik, sought t o reorder "disruptions t o

and schisms in masculine identity" (p. 1 6 4 ) . T h e y w e r e , ostensibly,
consolatory tales.
Krutnik also argues that the ideological w o r k o f reconstructing
beliefs and attitudes toward gender and power was extremely difficult
and n o t always convincing. T h e continued popularity (and, s o m e -
times, cult status) enjoyed by these films, however, is a testament t o
their cultural relevance today. T h e images o f masculinity and feminin-
ity contained in these films resonate with the dominant constructions
o f gender in c o n t e m p o r a r y society. W i t n e s s , for e x a m p l e , the recent
success o f the droll, flashy, and violent film LA. Confidential (1997),
with its postmodern spin on the noir tradition.
Indeed, w e should be aware that the three film genres e x a m i n e d
here—the W e s t e r n , the c o m b a t movie, and film noir—are interrelated
in terms o f their origins, especially W e s t e r n s and film noir (see
Slotkin, 1 9 9 2 ) , and their explicit and implicit meanings regarding
gender, power, violence, and the social order.
Masquerading:
Icons of Masculinity
Gender is a symbolic representation perceived in culture as a mi-

metic one; it always involves some element of masquerade.
—Steve Cohan
As w e have seen, it has been argued that masculinity is c o m p o s e d o f

acts, gestures, and enactments. F u r t h e r m o r e , the identity or essence
that these public behaviors purport t o represent might be regarded
as a fabrication "manufactured and sustained through corporeal
signs and other discursive m e a n s " (Butler, 1 9 9 0 , p. 1 3 6 ) . T h i s anti-
essentialist view o f the self implies that masculinity is performative—
that gender (masculinity and femininity) is articulated and renewed in
the interactions that o c c u r between people. G e n d e r is thus understood
as public, visible, and changeable.
I have attempted to show, in this chapter, that the performative
aspects o f masculinity, c o n c e r n e d with exhibition and transaction, are
mirrored on the screen. In film, or any public performance, w h e t h e r
rehearsed or spontaneous, masculinity b e c o m e s a corporeal display; it
unfolds, as action, as violence, as omniscience, in a cascade o f arrest-
ing images. H o l m u n d ( 1 9 9 3 ) has written o f the doubling o f masculin-

9
ity in s o m e cinematic representations, suggesting that masculinity is

a "multiple masquerade" (p. 2 2 4 ) . 1 0
Bingham ( 1 9 9 4 ) claims that w e
can see the "discontinuities o f fabricated r o l e s " and the "fragmenta-
tion that makes unitary masculinity a difficult—even impossible—
construction to maintain" if we l o o k closely at the film careers and
public personas o f celebrated male stars (p. 1 9 ) . 1 1
Bingham further argues that h e g e m o n i c (white, middle class) mas-

culinity has been challenged and subverted in film. T h i s has happened
m o r e frequently since the fall o f the studio system in H o l l y w o o d :
"Such subversions," according to Bingham, "take place in cycles—and
in different corners o f an increasingly fragmented movie industry in
different eras" (p. 4 ) .
According to Bingham ( 1 9 9 4 ) , we can interrogate the ruptured
surface that is masculinity as it is continually performed (both on and
off screen) by looking at the careers o f such actors as J a m e s Stewart,
J a c k N i c h o l s o n , and Clint E a s t w o o d . Each o f these actors, in their
performances, contradicts our deeply held cultural expectations that
gender identity is stable, fixed, and coherent. Stewart often mani-
fested an "enraptured gaze" (p. 3 0 ) , a "receptive l o o k " (p. 3 1 ) , often
c o m b i n e d with an open mouth, which gave him an ambiguous sexual-
ity. N i c h o l s o n places great emphasis on anxiety-laden role-playing;
facial expressions b e c o m e an exaggerated mask for emotions, an
ironic representation born o f the epic acting tradition. Eastwood
evinces a kind o f minimalism, a pastiche o f frontier ideals and expres-
sionless heroics. Bingham maintains that this screen persona devel-
oped out o f a recognition that "the foundations o f masculine identity
had been lost and needed t o be massively reconstructed and re-
p er f o r m e d " (p. 1 7 4 ) . Charting the evolution o f the roles played by
Eastwood, Bingham concludes that the film Unforgiven ( 1 9 9 2 ) shifts
the threat to stability from the O t h e r to the white male, undermining
his centrality in the narrative.
Specific films also play with these renegotiations around gender.
T h e recent British film The Crying Game ( 1 9 9 3 ) has generated consid-
erable controversy (see Simpson, 1 9 9 4 ) . S o m e believe the film invites
the audience to imagine gender disconnected from biology. B o r d o
( 1 9 9 6 ) suggests that o n e scene in which a " f e m a l e " character is shown
to have a penis is subversive to the degree that w e , the audience, per-
sist with our original assumption that the character is a w o m a n .
According to B o r d o , the persistence o f this belief undermines the
essentialist and masculinist readings o f gender, which regard the pos-
session o f a penis as the critical arbiter o f maleness and, o f course, o f

masculinity. 12
T h e film also features a male lead w h o is emotionally
labile and open; a character described by B o r d o as "probably the least
phallic hero the screen has s e e n " (p. 3 0 2 ) . B o r d o insists that this char-
acter presents itself " n o t only as a revisioning o f masculinity but as
indictment o f modern subjectivity" (p. 3 0 2 ) .
O n e film that specifically explores the politics o f masculinity and
dominant Schemas o f representation is another British film, The Full
Monty ( 1 9 9 7 ) . T h i s film details the fortunes o f six unemployed men
"with nothing t o l o s e " living in Sheffield, in the gray heart o f indus-
trial England. T h e six men include a middle-aged manager w h o can-
not tell his wife that he has been made redundant (at least not until
after their possessions are repossessed); an aging black man w h o can
still perform a mean "funky c h i c k e n " dance; a young " l u n c h b o x " (i.e.,
a well-endowed male) w h o can neither sing n o r dance (and w h o may
be gay); a temporarily suicidal young man w h o lives with his disabled,
dying m o t h e r ; and a thirty-something pair, one overweight and
devoid o f confidence, and the other a separated father behind in his
child maintenance. T h i s odd assortment o f men elect t o perform a
one-night strip show, in which they go "the full m o n t y " — t h a t is, in
which they strip completely. In this theatrical event, they e x p o s e their
ordinary bodies (with one e x c e p t i o n ) to the local, mainly female,
audience. T h e y manage, in so doing, t o turn adversity into advan-
tage; their show is a triumph for a group o f socially and economically
redundant men. In preparing to stage their show, the men e x p l o r e the
construction o f the sexualized and objectified body, and confront
their own fears and inadequacies about their sexuality and the mascu-
line status o f their bodies. T h e film explores the pathos o f the father
denied access t o his son and the emerging b o n d between generations
o f men. It is amusing, entertaining, and poignant.
W h a t is the significance o f these representations? I believe it is
possible t o argue that imagining and visualizing masculinities is a
continuous and perpetual political process arising in response to social
crises that imply changes t o the gender order. Such processes are
required to maintain the equilibrium within the structures and institu-
tions o f society, and t o provide vehicles for the socialization o f boys.
Imagining and visualizing, through photographs, film, and video, pro-
duces maps o f the masculine.
But what are these perceived crises within the gender order?
B e l o w , I explore the dimensions and scope o f these crises, particularly
as they affect masculinity.
The Felt Crisis of Masculinity
There seems to be a crisis of masculinities initiated through the femi-

nist questioning of traditional forms of male power and superiority
that have been structured into the very terms of an Enlightenment
vision of modernity.
—Victor Jeleniewski Seidler
What is called the masculinity crisis involves the collapse of a com-

mon code for male role behavior and the intensification of gender
role strain. . . . It also interacts in complex ways with what I have
elsewhere termed the crisis of connection between men and women.
—Ronald F. Levant
It has been suggested that masculinity itself is in crisis. It has further

been suggested that masculinity should be "reframed" (Betcher &
Pollack, 1 9 9 3 ) , "revisioned" (Kupers, 1 9 9 3 ) , "redefined" (Kimmel,
1 9 9 5 ) , or "reconstructed" (Levant & K o p e c k y , 1 9 9 5 ) . It has even
been suggested that we need to "end m a n h o o d " (Stoltenberg, 1 9 9 3 ) .
R o n a l d Levant ( 1 9 9 6 ) claims that this felt crisis o f masculinity
takes several forms: the loss o f the role o f g o o d provider; the inade-
quacy o f the role o f g o o d family man, and its failure to replace the
g o o d provider r o l e ; the trend for heterosexual relationships to revert
to stereotypical roles; and the patterns and dynamics o f divorce.
Levant claims that white, middle-class males are disproportionately
affected by the dimensions and scope o f this crisis. N o t surprisingly,
he notes the emergence o f the p h e n o m e n o n o f the "angry white m a l e "
and the advent o f organized public rallies involving men, such as the
Promise Keepers.
N o w h e r e has the representation o f the angry white male been so
clearly articulated as in the movie Falling Down ( 1 9 9 3 ) . T h i s ambigu-
ously titled film portrayed the passage o f a middle-class man, played
by M i c h a e l Douglas, from success, self-control, and self-respect to
failure, rage, and violence. Levant ( 1 9 9 6 ) effectively describes the nar-
rative o f the film well when he states,
Divorced, restricted from seeing his child, and unemployed, [the

film's protagonist] was unable to look at himself and examine the
sources of his arrogant and abusive behavior. Instead, he focused on
the loss of his (imagined) picture-perfect white English-speaking
world to immigration, civic corruption, and urban decay, and began
a one-day killing spree, taking out his venom on the ethnic minority
people he encountered as he attempted an uninvited and very
unwelcome "homecoming" to his wife and child.
Levant maintains that the e c o n o m i c restructuring o f the w o r k f o r c e ,

which has led t o e m p l o y m e n t instability and the disappearance o f
many manufacturing jobs, has brought many formerly privileged men
closer t o the experiences o f working-class men. C o n s e q u e n t l y , white,
middle-class men can n o longer e x p e c t t o reign supreme as e c o n o m i c
providers for the family. A significant proportion o f these men are
n o w located in dual-career (or dual-job) families in which two incomes
are imperative for maintaining an appropriate standard o f living.
According t o s o m e c o m m e n t a t o r s , these e c o n o m i c losses have
fuelled the development o f a climate o f anger and hate. J o e l D y e r
( 1 9 9 8 ) argues that the devastation o f the American farm e c o n o m y ,
w h i c h has resulted in an unprecedented number o f farm foreclosures,
has threatened the very identity o f those still left on the land. A c c o r d -
ing t o D y e r , this sowed the seeds o f o n e o f the worst terrorist inci-
dents in the United States: the b o m b i n g o f the M u r r a h Federal
Building in O k l a h o m a City in April, 1 9 9 5 . Indeed, D y e r maintains
that the antigovernment militia groups, many o f w h i c h are dedicated
t o seceding from the United States and establishing alternative legal
and administrative systems, have fed on the high levels o f hostility
toward the federal government in the farm sector.
T h i s politics o f hate and violence is the o u t c o m e , at least in part,
o f the growing gap between the rich and the p o o r in the United States.
Arguably, it is also the expression o f the frustrations e x p e r i e n c e d by
impoverished males, n o w landless, devoid o f identity and, in many
cases, without reasonable i n c o m e (see Eisenstein, 1 9 9 7 ) .
O t h e r issues, aside from those o f w o r k and family, have propelled
masculinity into the limelight. T h e s e issues include the impact o f femi-
nism and the w o m e n ' s m o v e m e n t . David Buchbinder ( 1 9 9 2 ) , writing
in the Australian c o n t e x t , points t o the unsettling and disturbing
effects that the claims and, indeed, achievements o f feminism with
regard t o equality and justice have had: R e c e i v e d masculine views and
behaviors have b e c o m e problematized, and individual men have
sometimes felt c o m p e l l e d to justify or rationalize that which previ-
ously seemed natural or inevitable. T h i s has made s o m e m e n fearful,
defensive, confused, and angry. B u c h b i n d e r refers t o m e n ' s experi-
ence as "being embattled by feminism" (p. 1 3 7 ) .
O t h e r issues that have shaken the foundation o f the prevailing
constructions o f masculinity include the advent o f H I V / A I D S and the
visibility accorded the gay m e n ' s m o v e m e n t . B o t h o f these p h e n o m e n a

have, according t o Buchbinder, radically affected male subjectivity,
especially in the arena o f sexuality and desire. T h e striving, hydraulic
model o f masculine sexuality so valorized in W e s t e r n society has been
e x p o s e d t o examination and criticism. Ironically, it has b e c o m e associ-
ated with disease, bodily decay, and death. F u r t h e r m o r e , the erotic
relations between men—even avowed heterosexual men—have also
b e c o m e visible, calling into question the binary division between het-
erosexual and h o m o s e x u a l identifications.
V i c t o r Jeleniewski Seidler ( 1 9 9 7 ) writes o f m e n ' s collective anxi-
ety in the wake o f social change:
In the West heterosexual men have responded to the challenges of

feminism and gay liberation in different ways, but they have left men
feeling uncertain and confused about what it means "to be a man" as
we approach the millennium, (p. 1)
W h a t might this mean for a hierarchically organized gender order in

which h e g e m o n i c styles o f masculinity are focused on the possession
o f e c o n o m i c and social power, and in which heterosexuality is privi-
leged? W e have already seen h o w the threatened collapse o f distinct
but related categories provokes a crisis. H e r e , we are perhaps witness-
ing a crisis within the construct o f masculinity, rather than a crisis be-
tween the masculine and the feminine. H o w e v e r , as w e have seen, a
crisis within constructions o f masculinity has the potential to affect
constructions o f femininity.
The Politics of Masculinity
As w e saw in Chapter 4 , we can n o longer speak o f masculinity in

singular terms in W e s t e r n society. Instead, masculinities are n o w
viewed as multiple or plural, with a number o f different forms o f mas-
culinity coexisting in society at any o n e time. C o n n e l l ( 1 9 9 5 ) argued
that masculinities vary along a number o f dimensions relating t o
power, privilege, and entitlement. H e g e m o n i c or dominant masculin-
ity embraces heterosexuality, homosociality (i.e., a preference for
male groups), aggression, hierarchy, and competition.
T h e opportunity and capacity t o dominate O t h e r s is integral t o
h e g e m o n i c masculinity. T h e use o f force and violence is viewed as o n e
o f the instruments o f power and as o n e o f the modes o f behavior by
which hierarchy is perpetuated in society. Consequently, v i o l e n c e —
against gay men and w o m e n — i s implicated within h e g e m o n i c mascu-

linity. Subordinated masculinities, on the other hand, are central t o
the social e x p e r i e n c e s o f gay men, men from non-English speaking
backgrounds or other marginalized groups. Subordinated masculini-
ties may still hinge on a strategy, albeit less effective, o f excluding o r
denying social power t o w o m e n .
T h e advent o f a second-wave w o m e n ' s m o v e m e n t in the 1 9 6 0 s
and 1 9 7 0 s , focusing on the frequency o f sexual and other violence
against w o m e n , threw the spotlight on h e g e m o n i c masculinity and its
recourse t o force. C o n n e l l ( 1 9 9 7 ) notes that the association between
violent actions and hegemonic masculinity is generally not
problematized unless a crisis arises. In these circumstances, a formida-
ble defense o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity is m o u n t e d . W e might call this a
"backlash" politics ( C o n n e l l , 1 9 9 7 ) . C o n n e l l ( 1 9 9 5 ) refers t o the insti-
tutional aspects o f this defense when he notes,
The consequences of this defense are not just the slowing down or
turning back of gender c h a n g e . . . . The consequences are also found
in long-term trends in the institutional order that hegemonic mascu-
linity dominates. These trends include the growing destructiveness
of military technology (not the least the spread of nuclear weapons),
the long-term degradation of the environment and the increase of
economic inequality on a world scale, (p. 2 1 6 )
Recognizing different, but c o e x i s t e n t , forms o f masculinity helps

to a c c o u n t for the wide range o f responses to the c o n t e m p o r a r y crises
affecting men and the masculine in W e s t e r n society. It also helps t o
explain the e m e r g e n c e o f a masculinity politics expressed in the idea
o f a m e n ' s m o v e m e n t . S o m e aspects o f this m o v e m e n t are grounded in
the politics o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity; other aspects are based in the
politics o f subordinated masculinities. W e might think here o f the gay
m e n ' s m o v e m e n t , or the profeminist m o v e m e n t dedicated to ending
violence against women (see Clatterbaugh, 1 9 9 7 ; Dench, 1 9 9 6 ; Kimmel,
1 9 9 5 ; K i m m e l & Kaufman, 1 9 9 4 ; M e s s n e r , 1 9 9 7 ; S c h w a l b e , 1 9 9 6 ;
Seidler, 1 9 9 7 ) .
Risky Strategies
W e began by noting that the desire to represent masculinity was

a c c o m p a n i e d by the expansion o f the public domain in the 1 9 t h cen-
tury and an increase in m e n ' s power within it. T h i s desire was, o f
course, b o o s t e d by the invention o f technologies o f the visual.
B o y s on Film 183
G i v e n that s o m e n o w suggest that the public d o m a i n is synony-

m o u s with the m e d i a (see J o h n H a r t l e y , 1 9 9 2 ) , w e can predict that
images o f masculinity will c o n t i n u e t o saturate the e n t e r t a i n m e n t a n d
news media. Perceived crises in the gender o r d e r will c o n t i n u e t o p r o -
v o k e an intensification o f strategies o f masculinization. Judge Dredd is
undoubtedly an a t t e m p t t o reassert d o m i n a n t masculine values a n d t o
l o c a t e these in an aesthetic o f h a r d , i m p e n e t r a b l e (male) bodies
r e m a d e in a c t i o n - p a c k e d spectacles o f difference. T h e risk in p r o d u c -
ing such e x t r e m e displays o f masculine b r a v a d o is that they will then
be viewed as p a r o d y ; the p e r f o r m a n c e will b e revealed as excessive
a n d ridiculous. O f c o u r s e , w o m e n ' s skepticism a b o u t t h e m a s c u l i n e
m a s q u e r a d e is n o t h i n g n e w . B u t will m e n b e c o n v i n c e d by their o w n
p e r f o r m a n c e ? W i l l acting b e seen as m e r e dissimulation, and will the
fabrications o f gender be e x p o s e d as a sham? W e can only wait a n d
see.
Notes
1. The eponymous "lads" are the mainstay of Simon Nye's British comic success
Men Behaving Badly, which has generated a huge international television audience and
spawned an unsuccessful and heavily censored American imitation.
2. Of course, corporealizing the Other is not a strategy reserved for African
Americans but has been consistently applied to women and socially marginal groups
(see Adams & Donovan, 1995).
3. The frontier shapes American foreign policy and the deployment of U.S.
power. Megan Shaw (1996) describes the way in which Vietnam was constructed in the
American popular imagination and military consciousness as a new frontier. Shaw
notes that the "mythic symbolism of the jungle . . worked on the American public to
create an easily marketable mystique for the war. As lavishly detailed in numerous
Hollywood productions, the Asian jungle is, for the American male, the last frontier of
this world."
Of course, other frontiers have also been invented. Space, in particular, offers rich
possibilities for frontier travel. This is so, irrespective of whether such travel (or explo-
ration) occurs under the auspices of government funded scientific research or the mass-
mediated entertainment industry. In either case, the imperial self prevails (see Fulton,
1994).
4. Michael Kimmel (1996) provides us with an insight into the seductiveness of
this turn to nostalgia for the western frontier. He refers to the loss of certainty and pre-
dictability for American men: "As we face a new century, American men remain bewil-
dered by the sea changes of our culture, besieged by the forces of reform, and bereft by
the emotional impoverishment of our lives. For straight white middle-class men a vir-
tual siege mentality has set in. The frontier is gone [italics added] and competition in the
global marketplace is keener than ever" (p. 3 3 0 ) .
5. Interestingly, this postwar period has been identified as a time of "phallic
crisis." William Stern (1995) claims that
the art of physique photography . . . boomed in the 1950s, and while the
muscle men depicted often exhibited the hyper-masculinity so de rigeur in a
sissy-fearing society, they did so in a perverse way: implicitly critiquing the

legitimation of certain forms of display (i.e., the sexualized and commodified
female form).
6. For a discussion of Vietnam and the American imaginary, see the following
sources: Adair ( 1 9 8 1 ) , Auster and Quart ( 1 9 8 8 ) , Devine ( 1 9 9 5 ) , Dittmar and Michaud
( 1 9 9 0 ) , Gilman and Smith ( 1 9 9 0 ) , Martin ( 1 9 9 3 ) , and Searle ( 1 9 8 8 ) .
7. This dilemma has its parallel in everyday life. Lake and Damousi (1995) ac-
knowledge the significance of war, and its aftermath, for men:
In wars men could attain heroism, but they might also be plunged into a crisis
of masculinity as they in some way or other failed to measure up to the
impossible standards. And, paradoxically, wars could destroy the very man-
hood they were meant to prove so that postwar repatriation policies were
necessarily gendered restorative strategies, designed to make old soldiers feel
like men again, (p. 5)
8. Jeffords ( 1 9 9 4 ) notes that such figurations of the body are coded in terms of
race as well as gender. She astutely observes that "masculinity is defined in and through
the white male body and against the racially marked male body" (p. 1 4 8 ) .
9. W e might also think of dance here. Dance is an arena in which the dominant
constructions of masculinity have been strongly contested. Dance can play with the lim-
its of masculine behavior, the role of the viewer or spectator, and the idea of touch or
bodily contact and its relationship to danger (see Burt, 1 9 9 5 ) .
10. The idea of gender as a masquerade was first posited by the psychoanalyst
Joan Riviere in 1 9 2 9 . Riviere argued that femininity was essentially a mask or a faςade
erected to distract from or deny the absence of the phallus (see Riviere, 1 9 8 6 ) . More
recently, the notion of femininity as a masquerade has been taken up by feminist film
theorists and cultural studies scholars (see, for example, Fletcher, 1 9 8 8 ; Heath, 1 9 8 6 ) .
However, to perceive masculinity as a masquerade is heretical to some. As Harry
Brod ( 1 9 9 5 ) explains,
The masculine self has traditionally been held to be inherently opposed to

the kind of deceit and dissembling characteristic of the masquerade.... Like
the American cowboy, "real" men embody the primitive, unadorned, self-
evident, natural truths of the world, not the effete pretences of urban dan-
dies twirling about at a masquerade ball. (p. 13)
11. Steve Cohan ( 1 9 9 5 ) notes that the
understanding of a gender masquerade is especially pertinent to cinema

because of its institutional reliance upon stardom. . . . In their performance
of gender types, Hollywood stars . . . cross seemingly rigid binarized cate-
gories, such as the oppositions seeming/posing, natural/artificial, sincere/
deceptive, which themselves carry a secondary gender inflection of mascu-
line/feminine, (p. 5 8 )
12. For an alternative reading of this film, see Simpson ( 1 9 9 4 ) .
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6
Traumatic Crossings
On the one side, . . . there is the erosion of the boundaries between

body and world, body and image, body and machine. On the other,
there is its direct pathologization: trauma as the collapse of the dis-
tinction between inner and outer, observer and scene, representa-
tion and perception, as the failure of the subject's proper distance
with respect to representation . . . , a collapse of proper boundary
maintenance—the opening and wounding of bodies and persons.
—Mark Seltzer
TA ο many, it seems as if the boundaries that frame the conceptual

categories underpinning W e s t e r n society are n o w dissolving. W e
might think here o f the manifold anxieties about place and identity
that have generated debates about the disappearance o f the bound-
aries around nation, community, the public and private spheres, and,
o f course, identity—including sexual identity (see Radhakrishnan,
1 9 9 6 ; Seelye & Wasilewski, 1 9 9 6 ) .
S o m e t i m e s , this process o f boundary collapse is pathologized—
viewed as a sign o f aberrance or deviance, and labeled a "trauma."
H o w e v e r , discourses o f nondifferentiation or boundary crossing can
be articulated in terms o f either negative or positive shifts in k n o w l -
edge and e x p e r i e n c e . Consequently, the erosion o f the boundaries o f
the established order offers b o t h a threat, in terms o f its potential t o
pathologize, and a promise, in terms o f its potential t o refuse the idea
o f a center that is premised on the exclusion and devaluation o f the
O t h e r (Hatty & Mills, 1 9 9 8 ) .
In this chapter, I return t o the principal c o n c e r n o f this b o o k : the
relationship between violence and masculinity. I begin by examining
the centrality o f violence t o American culture; specifically, I discuss
191
o n e o f the m o s t e x t r e m e , but emblematic, forms o f violence evident

today: serial killing. Analyzed in academic writing, aestheticized in
film, and popularized in television shows, serial killing has b e c o m e the
litmus test o f public morality, private desires, and social t o l e r a n c e . As
a type o f predation often linked t o sexuality, serial killing condenses a
range o f issues and anxieties revolving around self, bodies, instru-
ments/weapons, and the administration o f justice. Serial killing, as the
limit case o f the human (and, perhaps, the masculine), is the lens
through which I e x a m i n e the interplay between violence and gender.
I conclude with s o m e thoughts on responsibility, care, and justice.
Violated Bodies
Let us begin by noting that we live in an era in which violation is

one o f our primary cultural metaphors. W e live in a culture in w h i c h
violence is spectacular, immediate, and entertaining (Bok, 1 9 9 8 ;
Fisher, 1 9 9 7 ; Goldstein, 1 9 9 8 ) . T h i s translates into an appetite for
visual and experiential intimacy with exaggerated forms o f violence,
such as serial killing. H o l m e s and H o l m e s ( 1 9 9 8 ) n o t e that "serial kill-
ers have b e c o m e a part o f A m e r i c a ' s cultural heritage" (p. 3 5 ) , and
that " t o many Americans, serial murderers are seen as i c o n s " (p. 2 9 ) .
Indeed, as H o l m e s and H o l m e s argue,
Serial murder has mesmerized the attention of American society. It

has become a focus of attention, and some may even call it fascina-
tion. The media have devoted pages and books, T V documentaries
and large-screen movies to the topic of serial killers. Each killer
occupies a space in the memory of us all to one degree or another,
(p. 4 6 )
In a similar vein, Steven Egger ( 1 9 9 8 ) declares,
American culture as a whole has cultivated a taste for violence that

seems to be insatiable. . . . The violence of our popular culture
reflected in movies, T V programs, magazines, and fact or fiction
books in the latter part of the twentieth century has made the shock-
ing realism of this violence a routine risk that we all face. (p. 89)
And, in a m o s t extraordinary series o f statements, Egger declares,
We desire to learn more about the killer. The killer becomes our
total focus. We want to hear or read about the torture and mutila-
T r a u m a t i c Crossings 193
tion deaths of female victims as if such acts were an art form [italics
added]. The serial killer becomes an artist [italics added], in some
cases performing a reverse type of sculpturing by taking the lives of
his victims with a sharp knife, (pp. 89-90)
Bodies are violated in other ways as well. W e might think here o f

the discourses o f viral infection that abound in the c o n t e m p o r a r y c o n -
text (Hatty & Hatty, 1 9 9 9 ) . Such discourses e m b r a c e fiction and pop-
ular entertainment, as well as the worlds o f science and politics. O n e
arena in which we can see this language at w o r k is biotechnological
warfare. H e r e , we can witness the cultural preoccupation with the
possibility that a malevolent and disturbed individual or group might
inflict massive injury or death on a large number o f people through
the release o f a contagious and lethal virus. T h i s fear relates t o the
risks o f unpredictable and undetectable acts o f catastrophic h a r m —
harm that takes the form o f e x t r e m e injury t o the body.
In an address given before the N a t i o n a l Academy o f Sciences in
J a n u a r y , 1 9 9 9 , President Clinton ( 1 9 9 9 , p. 2 ) noted, "Last M a y . . . I
said terrorist and outlaw states are extending the w o r l d ' s fields o f bat-
tle, from physical space t o cyberspace, from our earth's vast bodies o f
water t o the c o m p l e x workings o f our own human b o d i e s " (p. 2 ) .
S o seriously did Clinton view this threat that he expressed relief that
panels o f experts are n o w speaking out on the threat o f bioterrorism
and deflecting suspicion from the idea that he, C l i n t o n , "was just
reading t o o many novels late at night" (p. 1 ) .
It has been suggested that the bioterrorism threat might n o t be
confined to the individual terrorist or the rogue state, but might be an
extension o f the modus operandi o f the serial killer. Steven Egger
( 1 9 9 8 ) poses this question: " W h a t kind o f serial killers will hunt our
w o r l d in the n e x t c e n t u r y ? . . . Possibly they will be mass-serial killers,
using letter b o m b s , poison in our water supply, or poison gas in the
subways o f our urban c e n t e r s " (p. 2 6 3 ) . T h e American public is cur-
rently consuming a wide variety o f imagined accounts o f this scenario.
O n e e x a m p l e is R i c h a r d Preston's recent b o o k , The Cobra Event
( 1 9 9 7 ) : a fictional narrative o f a secret, counterterror operation
m o u n t e d by a disgruntled scientist w h o uses biological weapons,
developed through genetic engineering, t o spread a highly contagious
virus throughout the civilian population o f N e w Y o r k . T h e t e c h n o l -
ogy he uses is a known as "black b i o l o g y , " and the w e a p o n he employs
is the so-called c o b r a virus. T h e descriptions o f the bodily disintegra-
tion in Preston's b o o k are intense; they include vivid scenes depicting
the viral amplification processes within the body and horrific acts o f
self-cannibalization provoked by the virus. T h e reader is deliberately

confronted by the visceral experience o f bodily breakdown and the
ensuing reaction o f disgust. (See M i l l e r , 1 9 9 8 ; see also C o l e , 1 9 9 8 ;
1
Peters & O l s h a k e r , 1 9 9 7 ; Radetsky, 1 9 9 5 ; R h o d e s , 1 9 9 7 ; R y a n ,

1997.)
It is possible t o argue that, on the brink o f the 2 1 s t century, w e are
located in both a viral culture, in which we are preoccupied with fears
about bodily disintegration, and a violent culture, in which w e are
inundated with increasingly explicit images o f wretched, broken b o d -
ies. O u r dominant impulses and anxieties revolve around the forced
breaching o f the body's boundaries. T h e s e tropes o f human experi-
ence have in c o m m o n the violation o f the body by an external agent:
an involuntary and nonconsensual intrusion or invasion resulting in
injury and, perhaps ultimately, individual extinction.
T h e s e attacks from b e y o n d the borders o f the body may result in
corporeal disintegration: the spilling out o f the body's viscera and
organs, and a radical failure o f the body's border (that is, the skin) t o
hold. I f this occurs, the person loses her or his integrity as an indi-
vidual, and is transformed into an undifferentiated, bloody pulp.
And proximity t o this monstrous body—indeed, the very process o f
becoming monstrous—produces a reaction o f h o r r o r . T h i s reaction o f
h o r r o r is fundamental t o the experience o f abjection: the threatened
e n c r o a c h m e n t o f that which is defined as abject (excreta, bodily fluids,
or the corpse itself), and the potential collapse o f the border between
the pure and the impure (Kristeva, 1 9 8 2 ) .
H o w e v e r , s o m e n o w w e l c o m e the abject; s o m e n o w wish t o k n o w
it intimately, t o experience its impurity at close range. T h i s , o f course,
is linked t o discourses o f s e x , sexuality, and desire. W e can see these
2
impulses at w o r k in popular culture: for e x a m p l e , in news media and

in film. In the b o o k Offensive Films, M i k i t a B r o t t m a n ( 1 9 9 7 ) dis-
cusses the genre known as " c i n e m a vomitif," which involves acts o f
cannibalism, unsuspected slaughter, and ritualized killing, acts that
violate various taboos surrounding the body. T h i s film genre enjoys a
certain cachet a m o n g a growing array o f audiences. W e might c o m -
pare it with the photographic genre o f the N e w G r o t e s q u e , pioneered
by J o e l - P e t e r W i t k i n . W i t k i n ' s celebrated photos o f anatomical a n o m -
alies, body parts, and decorated, augmented, and transformed bodies
are visual experiences b o r n o f the medical museum and the gothic
imagination (see W i t k i n , 1 9 8 9 , 1 9 9 4 , 1 9 9 8 ; see also Akin & Ludwig,
1989).
As a result o f these cultural trends and practices, infection/
contagion and violence are linked in a ritualized attack on the "clean
and p r o p e r " body. T h i s body, the idealized and masculinized b o d y o f

modernity, is n o w under threat; external forces impinge on the integ-
rity o f this body, threatening t o turn it into something O t h e r , s o m e -
thing monstrous. And we k n o w that the monstrous body is "always in
a state o f decomposition, . . . constantly threaten [ing] t o unravel, t o
fail t o h o l d t o g e t h e r " (Halberstam, 1 9 9 5 , p. 4 7 ) .
B e l o w , I e x p l o r e the ways in which the linked e m o t i o n s o f fear,
panic, and trauma shape our experience o f the social, especially our
engagement with the public sphere. As I do this, it might be useful t o
reflect on the relationship between the crises o f gender and embodi-
ment. H o w do the boundaries that mark out embodied differences
shift under the pressures o f such crises? H o w is this played out in pub-
lic fear or panic?
The Rise of Wound Culture
According t o M a r k Seltzer ( 1 9 9 8 ) , the public sphere is n o w a

space in which perverse and violent desires are given expression.
M o r e o v e r , the public sphere is a space in which participation in or
witnessing o f acts o f violence constitutes the lines o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n ,
the bonds that link people and communities.
T h i s witnessing o f violent events may take many forms, from the
well-rehearsed activities o f pornography, to disasters o f various mag-
nitudes, and, o f course, to crime. T h i s last form n o w involves the tech-
nologies o f the image: for e x a m p l e , the use o f video cameras t o
capture private transactions occurring in public or t o provide surveil-
lance o f c o m m e r c i a l spaces. W e might think here o f the freezing on
film o f the unforgettable image o f young J a m e s Bulger being led out o f
a shopping mall t o his violent death by t w o 10-year-old boys in Liver-
p o o l , England, in 1 9 9 3 . T h e visibility o f J a m e s ' s walk to his i m m i n e n t
demise—and its availability for endless repetition on our television
screens—constituted a significant portion o f the h o r r o r attached t o
this crime. Imagining his small, torn body left lying on the railway
tracks following the crime constituted another significant aspect.
Indeed, many people in the local c o m m u n i t y and b e y o n d were linked
together by the affective e x p e r i e n c e o f witnessing this killing-in-the-
making, what Alison Y o u n g ( 1 9 9 6 ) calls "the trauma o f the visible"
(p. 1 1 1 ) .
T h e representations o f violated bodies in media, fiction, and film,
as well as in official state discourse and academic accounts constitute
what M a r k Seltzer ( 1 9 9 8 ) calls "atrocity e x h i b i t i o n s " (p. 2 1 ) . T h e s e
exhibitions m a k e up "the c o n t e m p o r a r y pathological public sphere,

our w o u n d culture" (p. 1 ) . T h i s " w o u n d culture"—in w h i c h the trau-
matic, the injurious, and the violent are n o t only visible, but also an
integral aspect o f individual and social functioning—is premised on
the pathologization o f the public sphere, the rendering o f the public
sphere as a place o f abjection. T r a u m a t i c v i o l e n c e , in w h i c h bodies are
ripped open, emptied out, o r taken apart, flows through the public
sphere c o n n e c t i n g all w h o are involved in these processes o f c o r p o r e a l
annihilation. Agency, desire, and spectatorship are interlinked in a
bizarre logic o f shared pleasure and singular pain.
Acts o f spectacular v i o l e n c e , whether murders, accidents, o r sui-
cides, are the sites in which public fantasy and private desire interact.
T h i s collective fascination with violence takes the form o f prurient
interest in such crimes as serial killing, and a fascination with the colli-
sion b e t w e e n bodies and t e c h n o l o g i e s ; both represent "a s h o c k o f c o n -
tact that e n c o d e s , in turn, a breakdown in the distinction between the
individual and the mass and between private and public registers"
(Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 , p. 2 5 3 ) . O f course, this prurient interest is only possi-
ble in a culture in which the distinction between inside and outside
threatens t o collapse o r indeed has disappeared altogether.
W h a t are the origins o f this fascination with grotesque violence?
Gothic Traces
There is no consensus in the psychiatric community that Dr. Lecter

should be termed a man. He has long been regarded by his profes-
sional peers in psychiatry, many of whom fear his acid pen in the
professional journals, as something entirely Other. For convenience
they term him "monster."
—Thomas Harris, Hannibal
The 1 9 t h century witnessed the birth o f the American gothic imagina-

tion. It was a time when constructions o f killers and killing w e r e
realigned; the prevailing religious and spiritual interpretations o f
crime and v i o l e n c e , with their emphasis on original sin and innate
human depravity, w e r e replaced to a large e x t e n t by n e w readings
focusing on the secular and the sensational (Halttunen, 1 9 9 8 ) . T h e
gulf between the gothic imagination, premised on mystery and revela-
tion, and the legal imagination, founded on rationality and prosecu-
tion, was encapsulated in the figure o f the killer. T h e killer, viewed
from the perspective o f the gothic cultural frame, was transformed
from a sinner to a monster. T h e killer b e c a m e defined as radically dif-

ferent from the n o r m , outside social relations, and threatening t o the
social order. Fundamentally, the killer b e c a m e incomprehensible and
morally strange: a representative o f the realm o f h o r r o r (Halttunen,
1 9 9 8 ) . Society could n o longer m a k e sense o f acts o f violence in terms
o f narratives o f personal failure, moral lassitude, or corruption o f val-
ues. T h e unfathomable killer b e c a m e a figure o f terror w h o haunted
society and challenged the limits o f the permissible.
W h a t is the significance o f this gothic response t o transgression?
Elizabeth G r o s z ( 1 9 9 6 ) points out,
Fascination with the monstrous is testimony to our tenuous hold on

the image of perfection. . . . The viewer's horror lies in the recogni-
tion that this monstrous being is at the heart of his or her own iden-
tity, for it is all that must be ejected or abjected from self-image to
make the bounded, category-obeying self possible, (p. 6 5 )
As we have already n o t e d in Chapter 2 , the 1 9 t h century also wit-

nessed the birth o f the idea o f the dangerous individual. T h e character
o f the actor rather than the character o f the acts themselves t o o k pre-
cedence, as is m o s t evident in the production o f the figure o f the s e x
criminal. H e r e , issues o f sexual identity and individual functioning
came t o the fore, which provided ripe terrain for the emergence o f the
serial killer. M a r k Seltzer ( 1 9 9 8 ) notes that
the serial killer emerges at the dark intersection of these strands. By

the turn of the 20th century, serial killing has become something to
do (a lifestyle, or career, or calling) and the serial killer has become
something to be (a species of person). The serial killer becomes a
type of person, a body, a case history, a childhood, an alien life
form. (p. 4)
T o d a y , serial killing can be regarded as a cultural formation typical

o f the late 2 0 t h century. As such, it is emblematic o f the motifs o f
machine culture: the mass-produced images, the multiple representa-
tions and simulations, and the retreat o f the ideals o f humanism. T h e
insertion o f graphic violence at the heart o f society and its replication
in numerous visual forms provides the optimum c o n t e x t for the gener-
ation o f the " l o g i c o f killing for pleasure" (Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 , p. 7 ) .
M o r e o v e r , as I have argued throughout this b o o k , it is n o w
assumed that serial killers (and other "predators") are nestled at the
core o f civic society. T h e y are c o n c e a l e d inside the ordinary machin-
ery o f everyday life, obscured within institutions and able t o crisscross
various sites without detection. O u r inability t o visually identify these

predators by looking for signs o f physical anomaly only increases
our fear. Ironically, our technologies o f identification, such as psy-
chological profiling, are neither instantaneous n o r reliable. J u d i t h
Halberstam ( 1 9 9 5 ) observes,
The postmodern monster is no longer the hideous other storming

the gates of the human citadel, he has already disrupted the careful
geography of human self and demon other and he makes the periph-
eral and marginal part of the center. Monsters in postmodernism are
already inside—the house, the body, the head, the skin, the nation—
and they work their way out. Accordingly, it is the human, the
fagade of the normal, that tends to become the place of terror in
postmodern Gothic, (p. 162)
Egger ( 1 9 9 8 ) recently w r o t e , "As we m o v e about a m o n g strang-

ers, we have little c o n t r o l over these strangers. As w e b e c o m e the ever-
increasing prey for these strangers, we are reminded that predators are
all around us [italics added]. W e feel truly isolated and very a l o n e "
(p. 3 9 ) . T h i s imagery o f penetration and enclosure is reminiscent o f
that used by President Clinton in 1 9 9 6 t o warn the sexual predators
o f A m e r i c a that the state would n o t tolerate their activities, and would
declare war on the predators lurking within society.
Presence and Absence
J a c k the Ripper, w h o murdered a series o f w o m e n in L o n d o n at

the end o f the 1 9 t h century, could be regarded as the prototypical
serial killer. M a n y o f the w o m e n he killed were s e x workers, their
mutilated bodies testament to the dangers o f their encounters. J a c k
the R i p p e r , however, is a mythic figure, unknown and u n k n o w a b l e ,
an inspiration for b o o k s , films, and much public speculation. As J o a n
Smith ( 1 9 8 9 ) states, " J a c k the Ripper is not a person but a label con-
necting a set o f related acts; he has n o proper name, n o address, n o
biographical details" (p. 1 1 7 ) .
As we saw in Chapter 2 , c o n t e m p o r a r y constructions o f the serial
killer e m b r a c e the idea o f psychological types or statistical p h e n o m -
ena. W e n o w have technologies o f knowing: ways o f quantitatively
mapping the characteristics o f the serial killer. As w e saw, the U . S .
Federal Bureau o f Investigation has a unit devoted t o accumulating
psychological and criminological data on serial killers. R o b e r t Ressler,
cofounder o f the F B I ' s Behavioral Science Unit ( B S U ) , published an
influential b o o k on the psychological profiling o f serial killers (Ressler

& S c h a c h t m a n , 1 9 9 2 ) . Ressler's colleague, J o h n Douglas, has also
published in this field (Douglas & Olshaker, 1 9 9 5 , 1 9 9 8 ) . 3
Despite this intense interest in cataloguing the traits, tendencies,

and behaviors o f serial killers, there is, paradoxically, a claim that
some o f these offenders are characterized by lack, by a kind o f psycho-
logical vacuum. F o r e x a m p l e , the British serial killer Dennis Nilsen
was diagnosed as suffering from False Self S y n d r o m e , which implied
that he had failed to develop an autonomous, mature sense o f self.
Nilsen had been in the army, the police force, and the civil service: T o
those w h o diagnosed him, these occupational choices seemed to pre-
figure his modus operandi, which involved piling the bodies o f his vic-
tims o n t o a huge fire. H e described this as "a mixing o f flesh in a
c o m m o n flame and a single unity o f ashes, . . . a uniform and anony-
mous corporation c e m e t e r y " (quoted in Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 , p. 1 9 ) . T h i s act
was as "a mass spectacle o f pathology and a b j e c t i o n " (Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 ,
p. 1 9 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , it has been said that Nilsen was "a black hole o f
violation and pollution about which the c o n te mpor ar y national body
gathers, spectates, and discharges itself; in his words, he was 'a na-
tional receptacle into which all the nation will urinate'" (Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 ,
p. 1 9 ) . W e can recognize these excessive performances, apparently
inspired by lack, as characteristic o f the monstrous (see Chapter 3 ) .
Ironically, these killers are situated in a culture saturated with
media representations o f the serial killer and those w h o stalk him. An
example o f this might be the television show Profiler, in which a
forensic psychologist with the ability to visualize aspects o f the crime
or crime scene works as part o f an elite team pursuing serial killers,
perpetrators o f hate crimes, arsonists, and o t h e r offenders. Serial kill-
ing figures prominently in the series: According t o the story line, the
lead character, the gifted forensic psychologist, o n c e b e c a m e t o o
entangled with a serial killer n i c k n a m e d J a c k o f All T r a d e s , and her
husband was abducted and murdered as a c o n s e q u e n c e . In recent epi-
sodes o f Profiler, J a c k , the serial killer, has been caught, and so the
main character is n o longer stalked. Interestingly, the television net-
w o r k responsible for the show ( N B C ) hosts a website, Jack's Killer
Website, that invites visitors to enter an on-screen game with J a c k .
T h e site contains statements such as the following:
This is Jack speaking. . . .
Relish my pleasure. The hunter and the hunted. The Quick and the
Dead.
I am stirred to the hunt by my hunger, like a Lion in search of its

prey
It's a dog eat dog world . . . and I am the Alpha Male. . . .
What more Power can you have than controlling Life and Death?
I will do as I see fit.
Visitors to the site are invited to enter the game, pit their wits against
the mind o f the serial killer, and solve the riddle by assembling a series
o f black and white photographs scattered throughout the site.
R e a l serial killers are n o t isolated from these cultural representa-
tions, but c o m e to k n o w themselves through exposure to the range o f
available instructional and mass-mediated materials. T h i s produces a
kind o f circular process o f incorporation and imitation, a mimetics o f
desire and violence. T h e film Copycat ( 1 9 9 5 ) depicts this m i m e t i c
relationship in detail. In this film, an imprisoned serial killer threatens
a criminal psychologist w h o has written the definitive t e x t on the psy-
chology o f serial killing. H e induces a young man to reenact murders
c o m m i t t e d by various infamous offenders, such as T e d Bundy. T h e
modus operandi o f the copycat killer changes as the chosen identity o f
each notorious offender changes. T h e psychologist and the copycat
killer are aware o f the actors and the circumstances o f each replicated
murder, as this information is contained in the psychologist's defini-
tive t e x t and in her numerous public lectures. T h e psychologist is
drawn into the police investigative process in her status as expert, and
b e c o m e s embroiled in a plot to take her life. H e r e , the mimetics o f
desire and violence are literalized in the film: N o t only are the c o n -
victed serial killer and his follower e x p o s e d to professional knowledge
about serial killing, but the actions central t o the film revolve around
reenactments o f prior acts o f violence.
Trashing Bodies and Boundaries
As w e saw in Chapter 1, the issue o f boundaries and their dissolu-

tion is central to the construction and lived e x p e r i e n c e o f the self. As
w e saw subsequently, the self is both gendered and e m b o d i e d ; further-
m o r e , the body is sexed, and cannot be regarded as mere neutral mat-
ter. G r o s z ( 1 9 9 4 ) discusses the idea o f sexual difference as it is played
out on the terrain o f the body, posing s o m e compelling questions
about the distinctive ways in which m e n ' s and w o m e n ' s bodies are
conceptualized in c o n t e m p o r a r y W e s t e r n society. S h e asks,
Can it be that in the West, in our time, the female body has been
constructed not only as lack or absence but with more complexity,
as a leaking, uncontrollable, seeping liquid; as formless flow; as vis-
cosity, entrapping, secreting; as lacking not so much or simply the
phallus but self-containment—not a cracked or porous vessel, like a
leaking ship, but a formlessness that engulfs all form, a disorder that
threatens all order? (p. 2 0 3 )
Referring to m e n ' s bodies, she asks a similar set o f provocative

questions:
Could the reduction of men's body fluids to the by-products of plea-

sure and the raw materials of reproduction, along with men's refusal
to acknowledge the effects of flows that move through various parts
of the body and from the inside out, have to do with men's attempt
to distance themselves from the very corporeality—uncontrollable,
excessive, expansive, disruptive, irrational—they have attributed to
women? (p. 2 0 0 )
W h a t , then, might be the uses (psychological, social, and cultural) o f

this differentiation between s e x e d bodies? W h a t is the significance o f
the erection o f this constantly patrolled boundary? H o w is e x t r e m e ,
repetitive violence implicated in this system o f difference? I e x p l o r e
b e l o w s o m e o f the consequences o f the threatened collapse o f this
boundary and the potential o f formlessness to engulf all form and t o
unleash disorder.
Seltzer ( 1 9 9 8 ) claims that the preoccupation with boundaries col-
ors t h e discourses o f serial killing; experts and killers alike m a k e sense
o f their behavior in terms o f these discourses. F o r the serial killer, this
anxiety about boundaries "shapes the panic about the f u s i o n ' with
other bodies and bodily masses—as the threat o f self-dissolution; and
shapes the desire for this fusion—the desire for self-dissolution that, at
t h e e x t r e m e , takes the form o f the killer's black out at the m o m e n t o f
v i o l e n c e " (Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 , p. 1 3 9 ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , Seltzer alleges that the
impulse to open bodies and skin and to preserve bodies can be viewed
as "panics about and desires for the dissolution o f boundaries that
m a k e it possible for the killer t o derive identity from, and take plea-
sure in, destruction and self-destruction" (p. 1 4 0 ) .
T h e anticipation o f m e r g e n c e or fusion with another is m o l d e d by
the cultural construction o f s e x e d bodies. Consistent with the dis-
courses o f serial killing, heightened anxiety about self-dissolution may
be played out on the victims' bodies; sexual difference is literally

(re)imposed on the bodies o f the w o m e n w h o are killed. T h e s e x e d
bodies o f these w o m e n may be rendered different from the killer
through acts o f violence. F u r t h e r m o r e , attempts on the part o f serial
killers t o r e w o r k the self may be attempts t o annihilate femaleness.
F o r e x a m p l e , the serial killer H e n r y L e e Lucas a n n o u n c e d , " I am
death on w o m e n . "
H o w e v e r , in the discourses o f serial killing, a kind o f strange
inversion is presumed to be at w o r k in the relationship between the
killer and his victim. T h e r e is an identification with the victim; the
tearing open o f the body o f a n o t h e r and the externalization o f
the body's interior can be seen as a response t o the desire t o see inside
o n e ' s own body. T h e r e is also the refusal t o identify with the victim,
the e x c l a m a t i o n o f victory over death, especially a n o t h e r ' s death. As
Seltzer ( 1 9 9 8 ) notes, "the drive to survive [the] opening o f interiors"
is profound indeed (p. 2 7 3 ) . As the serial killer E d K e m p e r expressed
it, " W h a t I wanted t o see was the death, and I wanted t o see the tri-
umph, . . . the triumph o f survival and the exultation over death"
(quoted in Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 , p. 2 7 2 ) .
In an orgy o f killing, K e m p e r extinguished the lives o f several
young female college students, and dismembered their bodies, literally
acting out his desire t o turn w o m e n ' s bodies inside out. K e m p e r
acknowledged this urgent impulse t o view the interior o f w o m e n ' s
bodies: O f o n e victim, he said, " S h e had a rather large forehead and I
was imagining what her brain l o o k e d like inside" (quoted in Seltzer,
1 9 9 8 , p. 2 7 3 ) . T h e act o f detaching the head from the b o d y — o f
depriving the young w o m e n o f their "personality," as he called it—
was both compulsive and deeply satisfying t o K e m p e r . W e c a n n o t fail
t o n o t i c e the historical and cultural precedents for K e m p e r ' s desires
and actions: W e might think here o f the association o f violence with
the acquisition o f knowledge, particularly hidden or secret k n o w l -
edge; w e might think, also, o f the link between sight and knowledge,
and the acquisition o f medical knowledge through the practices o f dis-
section (see C h a p t e r 1 ) .
N o t surprisingly, K e m p e r was apparently driven by a desire t o
possess and i n c o r p o r a t e aspects o f his victims' identities. H e said,
" I w a n t e d them to be a part o f m e — a n d n o w they a r e " (quoted in
Seltzer, 1 9 9 8 , p. 2 7 4 ) . H e r e , another breakdown in boundaries
b e c o m e s evident: T h e self/Other distinction is displaced by an ulti-
mate self-sameness. K e m p e r ' s penultimate act o f violence, the killing
and dismembering o f his m o t h e r , points t o a m e r g e n c e between the
murderous acts o f female obliteration and the imperative o f male self-
genesis, o f continually recreating a new identity through incorpora-

tion. T h i s coalesces with the fantasy o f genderless reproduction that
underlies many o f the acts o f male serial killers. Jeffrey D a h m e r , w h o
killed and dissected a series o f young men, literalized his identification
with o n e victim by consuming a part o f his body. Egger ( 1 9 9 8 ) claims
that D a h m e r experienced "an addiction to b o d i e s " (p. 2 5 4 ) . D a h m e r
himself declared, " M y consuming lust was to experience [italics
added] their b o d i e s " (quoted in Egger, 1 9 9 8 , p. 2 6 3 ) .
D a h m e r also conducted grotesque chemical and anatomical e x -
periments on the bodies o f his victims. O f these experiments, Seltzer
( 1 9 9 8 ) says,
These are, above all, experiments in the lifelike: experiments in re-

duplicating bodies and persons. Seeing how things work involves,
most basically, a fascination with what makes subjects go—some-
thing like an attempt to isolate and to make visible "life itself."
(p. 191)
T h i s fascination with "life itself" t o o k hold in public culture in the

19th century. Biology, as the science o f life, was propelled by the
search for the life force through a mechanistic visualization o f physi-
ology and anatomy. Foucault, among others, pointed out the deep
irony o f the biological sciences gaining their credibility by taking apart
and studying the dead body—the techniques o f the corpse, Foucault
called it.
W e could conclude that the desires and fears o f the (male) serial
killer regarding bodies and gendered differences have been transposed
into a constellation o f cultural desires and fears. T h e s e e m o t i o n s are
n o longer confined to the small band o f "postmodern monsters." T h i s
small c o m p a n y o f killers n o w act out the desires o f a significant pro-
portion o f mass society; these postmodern monsters embody the vio-
lent, murderous desires that transect parts o f American society.
Ironically, this identification with the serial killer—the self-
sameness evident in the literature on serial killing and in media and
film—is literally horrifying. It produces anxiety in the population.
Arguably, this anxiety takes a very different shape for men and for
w o m e n : W h i l e men may enjoy a vicarious thrill at the "hunting" o f
the serial killer, w o m e n may experience a range o f e m o t i o n s , includ-
ing the terror o f being hunted.
H o w , then, does femininity intersect with the dictates o f w o u n d
culture? B e l o w , I l o o k at h o w the feminine is constructed in c o n t e m -
porary culture, and e x a m i n e the relationship between the feminine
and violence.
Femmes Fatales:
Figuring the Feminine
W e have already seen in Chapter 1 that the boundaries o f the sub-

ject and the body are n o longer either secure or predictable. C o n s e -
quently, cultural images and representations o f w o m a n h o o d in the
fin-de-siecle c o n t e x t are multiple and diverse (Griggers, 1 9 9 7 ) . W e
have the persistence o f old images o f w o m a n as inherently dangerous:
W e might think here o f the witch, that contradictory and c o m p l e x fig-
ure symbolic o f all that is dark and foreboding (Purkiss, 1 9 9 7 ) . O f
course, central t o the historical constructions o f the witch is female
sexuality. A n o t h e r reading o f the feminine that prevails at the brink
4
o f the 2 1 s t century is that o f the threatening or violent w o m a n , a read-

ing that has been given expression in film, literature, and television in
recent decades. W e could cite here the figure o f the femme fatale that
haunted film noir in the 1 9 3 0 s and 1 9 4 0 s (see Chapter 3 ) . T h e literal
interpretation o f this figure is the w o m a n w h o kills, especially the
w o m a n w h o kills a stranger (i.e., whose killings o c c u r in the public
rather than the private domain).
O n e o f the most notorious female serial killers in recent American
m e m o r y is undoubtedly Aileen W o u r n o s . T h e F B I labeled W o u r n o s
America's first female serial killer. C o n v i c t e d in 1 9 9 2 o f killing
R i c h a r d M a l l o r y , a white middle-class man, W o u r n o s is suspected o f
killing at least six other men from similar backgrounds between
D e c e m b e r 1 9 8 9 and N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 0 . T h e i r bodies had been discov-
ered scattered amongst the trees along Florida's highways. W o u r n o s
was a prostitute w h o w o r k e d these highways. J u d g e Uriel B o u n t , J r . ,
sentenced Aileen C a r o l " L e e " W o u r n o s t o death in Florida's electric
chair.
During her trial, W o u r n o s was portrayed by the defense as a pros-
titute w h o had suffered serious violence and humiliation at the hands
o f the men w h o were her clients. T h e prosecution portrayed W o u r n o s
as a "predatory prostitute" w h o s e "appetite for lust and c o n t r o l had
taken a lethal turn." (quoted in Mills, 1 9 9 5 , p. 1 ) . W o u r n o s was
described as a w o m a n w h o was " n o longer satisfied with just taking
[sic] m e n ' s bodies and their m o n e y , but w h o was n o w seeking the ulti-
mate gratification o f taking m e n ' s lives" (quoted in Mills, 1 9 9 5 , p. 1 ) .
T h e prosecution emphasized the notion o f c o n t r o l and the power
inherent in the possession and exercise o f that c o n t r o l . T h i s c o n t r o l
was viewed as the prerogative o f the prostitute. M o r e o v e r , the power
involved in "taking" m e n ' s bodies provided the basis for usurping
m e n ' s very existence. T h e power o f the prostitute was understood as
potentially life-threatening; it was viewed as an extension, in part, o f

the presumed vulnerability experienced by men in n o n c o m m e r c i a l
sexual encounters with w o m e n . T h i s vulnerability supposedly delivers
high levels o f c o n t r o l t o the female, w h o may take advantage o f it in
various ways: As w e have seen, the "predatory prostitute" may even
kill. T h e prosecution concluded its case against W o u r n o s by declaring
that female s e x workers are driven by a need for "tremendous c o n -
t r o l , " a need to "take all that a man has physically . . . [and] spiritu-
ally" (quoted in Mills, 1 9 9 5 , p. 2 ) . State Prosecutor J o h n T a n n e r
announced, " T h e r e ' s only o n e thing left—and that's t o kill. . . .
[T]hat's w h a t [ W o u r n o s ] wanted and that's w h a t she took [sic]"
(quoted in Mills, 1 9 9 5 , p. 2 ) .
T h e defense, on the other hand, directed attention t o W o u r n o s ' s
experiences o f repeated abuse as a child, her poverty, and the violence
and torture m e t e d out regularly by the men she engaged as clients.
Public Defender T r i c i a J e n k i n s portrayed W o u r n o s as a victim o f
m e n ' s savagery: " Y o u will hear evidence o f bondage, rape, s o d o m y
and degradation," J e n k i n s told the jury (quoted in Mills, 1 9 9 5 , p. 1 ) .
P r o v o k e d b e y o n d endurance, according t o J e n k i n s , W o u r n o s eventu-
ally defended herself with fatal consequences. In her own legal
defense, W o u r n o s said,
In my confessions, I stated thirty-seven times . . . thirty-seven times

[I stated] that they raped, or beat and then began to rape—and had
intentions of killing. And what I did was what anybody else would
do, defended myself. . . . And I had no intention of killing anyone.
. . . I'm not that type of person" (quoted in Mills, 1995, p. 2)
As a prostitute w h o had c o n t a c t with 2 0 0 to 2 5 0 men a m o n t h ,

w h o avowed a liking for s e x , and w h o derived a g o o d i n c o m e from
her w o r k , W o u r n o s is representative o f a raft o f taboos. S h e disrupts
the usual division between masculine and feminine roles in sexual
encounters, in relationships, and in c o m m e r c i a l transactions. S h e can
also be seen as a figure o f disease and c o n t a g i o n ; the multiple
exchanges o f body fluids during the many encounters t o which
W o u r n o s was a willing or unwilling party transform W o u r n o s into a
m e t a p h o r for the implied danger associated with the female body and
with female sexuality. Y e t W o u r n o s is aberrant in a number o f ways:
She is a lesbian, she k n o w s a great deal about m e n ' s desire and m e n ' s
bodies, and she traverses public space with an eye t o a profit.
W o u r n o s exceeds the boundaries o f " p r o p e r " femininity; she
epitomizes abjection in her embrace o f the abnormal and the strange.
In this sense, W o u r n o s ' s character—and her body—are a material

reality and also a collective fiction. T o o far from the normalizing cate-
gory o f the feminine and t o o close t o the prohibited category o f the
masculine, W o u r n o s , as female serial killer, represents o n e aspect o f
" b e c o m i n g - W o m a n " in c o n t e m p o r a r y U.S. culture (Griggers, 1 9 9 7 ) .
F e m a l e p r e d a t i o n — m o r e terrible than its male counterpart—is the
specter that threatens the social order. And according t o the dominant
discourses o f gender, it must be expunged.
T h e masculine postmodern monster affords many the opportu-
nity for identification, and h e n c e is a source o f desire as well as fear.
T h e feminine postmodern monster is the living expression o f the
capacity o f her gender to wreak havoc in civic society (see C h a p t e r 1 ) .
She inspires dread; she is m o r e frightful than her male counterpart.
T h e famed Italian physicians L o m b r o s o and F e r r e r o ( 1 9 5 8 ) claimed
that the female criminal was " m o r e terrible than any m a n " (p. 1 5 0 ) .
Cultural Discourses of Violence
I have argued throughout this b o o k that it is possible t o identify a

persistent and pervasive cultural narrative about violence in W e s t e r n
society. W e e x p l o r e d s o m e o f the historical catalysts t o the develop-
ment o f this narrative in C h a p t e r 1, and we e x a m i n e d the specific
accounts o f violence, the specific explanations o f gender constructs,
and the linkages between the t w o in subsequent chapters. In these
chapters, we n o t e d that the construction o f modern selfhood is sup-
portive o f and consistent with the imperative t o violence in the W e s t ;
indeed, that violence, in its many forms, is installed within the
machinery o f the m o d e r n self. W e acknowledged the social and psy-
chological contingency o f the masculine sense o f self, c o m p o s e d as it
is o f an illusory "inner masculine knot o f selfhood" (West, 1 9 9 7 ,
p. 2 8 4 ) , and n o t e d that this "fiction o f unambivalent self-possession,"
peculiar t o masculine subjectivity, is "always shadowed by disavowed
reminders that it is b o r r o w e d , simulated, relative—more a costume
than an essence" (Kramer, 1 9 9 7 , pp. 6 , 7 ) .
O n e question remains: W h a t are the c o m p o n e n t s o f this domi-
nant cultural narrative about gender and violence in the W e s t ?
Barbara W h i t m e r ( 1 9 9 7 ) describes this narrative as the "violence
m y t h o s : " "a collection o f beliefs that articulates attitudes in W e s t e r n
culture about v i o l e n c e " (p. 1 ) . According t o W h i t m e r , this belief sys-
tem and its attendant attitudes are premised on t w o assumptions: first,
that violence is central t o human nature, and its expression is inevita-
ble; and, s e c o n d , that it is necessary t o apply legal and cultural sanc-

tions t o prevent or curb violent individual behaviors.
T h e m a t r i x o f beliefs and attitudes that make up the violence
mythos are consistent with the gendered, cultural ideas w e discussed
in C h a p t e r 1. T h e s e ideas revolve around dualist hierarchies: the
mind/body split; the dissociation o f culture from nature; and, o f
course, the radical separation o f male from female. T h e violence
mythos, as outlined by W h i t m e r ( 1 9 9 7 ) , also privileges the c o n c e p t o f
c o n t r o l — c o n t r o l o f self (especially e m o t i o n s and desires); and c o n t r o l
o f O t h e r s (especially those deemed likely t o provoke unsettling or dis-
turbing e m o t i o n s or desires). W e discussed the significance o f c o n t r o l
t o W e s t e r n knowledge systems, and lived e x p e r i e n c e , in C h a p t e r 1.
W e also n o t e d that dominant constructions o f masculinity—that is,
h e g e m o n i c masculinity—are grounded in notions o f (self) c o n t r o l
(Seidler, 1 9 9 7 ) . W e e x p l o r e d the m o t i f o f loss o f c o n t r o l , and its
implications for modern masculinity, in Chapter 4 .
According t o W h i t m e r ( 1 9 9 7 ) , it is imperative that w e replace the
violence mythos with another set o f cultural discourses that turn on
the construct o f interdependence. T h e s e alternative discourses would
disavow dualist thinking and all that it implies, and would e m b r a c e
instead the interconnectedness o f life and experience. W h i t m e r claims
that we need a "richer, broader l e x i c o n t o a c c o m m o d a t e the language
o f somatic i n t e r c h a n g e " (p. 2 3 7 ) : a language founded on trust and
mutuality; a language that recognizes the inherent limitations o f the
binary logic o f either/or, the logic o f inclusion and exclusion; a lan-
guage that shifts to a positive evaluation o f femaleness, e m o t i o n s , and
bodies. F u r t h e r m o r e , we need to withdraw support for a h e r o mythol-
ogy and to develop a set o f practices for acknowledging and address-
ing vulnerability and suffering. T h e s e practices should be c o n t e x t u a l -
ized within a framework in which attachment rather than hierarchy is
the hallmark o f relations. T h e emergence o f this mythos o f inter-
dependence would finally show that "the h e r o has n o a r m o r , only
skin, and the perpetrator n o shadow, only face, and the victim n o vio-
lence, only a need t o live" ( W h i t m e r , 1 9 9 7 , p. 2 3 9 ) .
M o i r a G a t e n s ( 1 9 9 6 a , 1 9 9 6 b ) also proposes the development o f
fresh approaches t o the twin concepts o f justice and responsibility.
She talks o f the need for an ethic o f embodied responsibility. Drawing
on the w o r k o f the philosopher Spinoza t o e x t e n d her argument,
G a t e n s notes that, although definitions o f morality vary by historical
and social c o n t e x t , it is nevertheless at the level o f c o m m u n i t y or civil
society that we should attempt to make sense o f the concepts o f justice
and responsibility. G a t e n s suggests that, in order t o r e w o r k the rela-
tionship between individual acts o f harm and the larger society, it is

important to rethink the composition and functioning o f the civil body.
T h i s would involve paying m o r e attention t o the aspects o f Spinoza's
juridical and political theory that focus on the benefits o f sociability
a m o n g citizens. O n a practical level, it would involve ensuring that all
those traditionally excluded from civil society are a c c o r d e d b o t h
social position and status. T h i s practice would have an impact on legal
(and other social) systems, which have encoded—and embodied—the
link between secondary status and heightened vulnerability. As w e
have seen, this traditional focus on individual harms, narrowly de-
fined (see W e s t , 1 9 9 7 ) , distracts attention from the harms e m b e d d e d
in the structures and everyday practices o f governments, c o r p o r a t i o n s ,
and associations. As w e have also seen, our current m o r a l and legal
order encourages us t o see the criminal offender as different, thereby
stressing the Otherness o f the offender and effecting a radical separa-
tion between the offender and the civil body.
As G a t e n s ( 1 9 9 6 b ) observes, however,
It is this fabricated difference that contributes to the marked fascina-

tion/repulsion that so many, encouraged by the media, appear to
have for serial killers or those convicted of particularly violent or
shocking crimes. The frequent finding of such media exposes is that,
according to neighbors and acquaintances, the so-called monster
was a quiet, polite "ordinary sort of guy." This ordinariness adds to
rather than undermines his monstrosity. The spectacular cruelty of
such crimes only serves to mask the underlying banality of a largely
unchallenged structural cruelty in many of our social relations,
(p. 4 2 )
If, instead o f cleaving the world into monsters and ordinary m e n , w e

c o n c e r n e d ourselves with the structural dimensions o f harm, and vio-
lent behavior generally, w e would b e diverted from our preoccupation
with the criminal offender as a particular type o f person—something
O t h e r , something monstrous. F o r , as Gatens ( 1 9 9 6 b ) cautions us, " S o
long as the law continues t o treat the criminal as an aberrant individ-
ual or as a monster and as the sole locus o f responsibility, our civil
body will continue t o structure human relations in ways which system-
atically encourage v i o l e n c e " (p. 4 0 ) .
T h i s alternate approach to justice and responsibility would turn
on the development o f a morality o f care (West, 1 9 9 7 ) , an ethic o f
e m b o d i e d justice. Such a stance would recognize that our dominant
constructions o f masculinity both shape and are shaped by our under-
standings o f morality ( M a y , 1 9 9 8 ) , that our c o n c e p t i o n s o f legal ratio-
nales for b e h a v i o r and o u r c o n c e p t i o n s o f judicial d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g are

affected by the ideals o f h e g e m o n i c masculinity. It w o u l d also r e c o g -
nize that n o t i o n s o f justice and c a r e are n o t mutually exclusive, but
should be mutually constitutive ( W e s t , 1 9 9 7 ) .
M o s t significantly, such an a p p r o a c h w o u l d r e c o g n i z e b o t h that
o u r c o n n e c t i v e relationships, especially t h o s e that imply responsibility
and p r o t e c t i o n , are often profoundly abusive and v i o l e n t , a n d that it is
this n e x u s o f c o n n e c t i o n — t h e articulation o f n e e d and e m o t i o n in this
c o n t e x t — t h a t m a y be fraught with v i o l e n c e . T h i s n e x u s has the p o t e n -
tial t o p r o d u c e w h a t L e v a n t ( 1 9 9 6 ) calls the "crisis o f c o n n e c t i o n "
b e t w e e n m e n a n d w o m e n . T h e s e relationships, h o w e v e r , are suffused
with m o r a l m e a n i n g as surely as they c o n t a i n t h e p o t e n t i a l for h a r m .
W e n e e d t o e x e r c i s e an e t h i c o f care in o r d e r t o e n c o u r a g e positive
m o r a l value t o flourish within these relationships. It is o n l y w h e n w e
i n v o k e the virtues o f n u r t u r a n c e , c o m p a s s i o n , and c o m m i t m e n t that
justice will prevail.
Notes
1. Despite being fictional, Preston's book is not science fiction. The advent of
black biology—the creation and use of genetically engineered biotech weapons of mass
destruction—has generated a new politics of fear surrounding invisible but deadly
weapons and also the social proximity of bodies (see Hatty & Hatty, 1 9 9 9 ) . There is
now a demonstrable relationship between terrorism and contagious viruses, and there
is a new tide of anxiety about the potential effects of insidious and lethal weapons
released within an unsuspecting urban population.
The expression of cultural anxiety about bioterrorism so lucidly portrayed in
Preston's book has a parallel in real-life politics. It is now widely accepted that a major
biowarfare terrorist attack cannot be prevented, and that thorough preparation and
training are our only defense. Jeffrey Simon (1997) notes, "By improving our readiness
to respond to biological terrorism, many lives can be saved and terrorists denied their
goal of creating panic and crisis throughout the country" (p. 4 2 8 ) . The U.S. Depart-
ment of Defense is currently spending $ 5 0 million to provide crisis training for police,
fire, medical, and ambulance workers in the event of a chemical or biological weapons
attack. Specific cities are preparing for the possibility of a nuclear, chemical, or biologi-
cal weapons attack: New York City, for example, began this training in earnest in 1 9 9 8 .
President Bill Clinton recently announced a comprehensive strategy to strengthen U.S.
defenses against terrorist attacks during the 21st century—including attacks on infra-
structure, computer networks, and through the use of biological weapons. With regard
to this last form of attack, Clinton announced that the entire armed services will be
inoculated against anthrax, and that medicines and vaccines to fight biological attacks
will be stockpiled. Clinton (1998) declared that it is necessary to "approach these
21st century threats with the same rigor and determination we applied to the toughest
security challenges of this century."
2. Nowhere are these impulses more obvious than in the recent scandal involving
the president and the former White House intern. Here, we were witnesses to the pruri-
ent fascination with the sexual transgressions of President Clinton. Described as both
"contagious" and "hysterical," the recent response to the vigorous inquiry into Presi-
dent Clinton's private life by Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr was an instance in which
media interest in sex and sexuality approached the extremes of obsession (Kroker &
Kroker, 1 9 9 8 ) . Despite the slippery semantics surrounding Clinton's definition of sex,
this "outrageous farce" (Said, 1 9 9 8 ) , with its exaggerated attention to the tawdry antics
of the president, took on the dimensions of a "national trauma" (Said, 1 9 9 8 ) . The cata-
pulting of private acts into the public domain ultimately compromised the office of the
president and exposed the United States to international ridicule. The violation of the
boundaries between private and public and the sensationalist interest in intimate behav-
iors propelled the nation into a state of anxiety that could be alleviated only by a peni-
tential ritual. The necessity for the production of a sacrificial victim is commonplace in
U.S. culture—a culture in which the moral lessons of confession, contrition, forgive-
ness, and redemption are of paramount significance.
3. For more on the psychological profiling of serial killers, see Fox and Levin
( 1 9 9 6 ) , Giannangelo (1997), Jackson and Bekerian (1997), and Keppel and Birnes
(1997).
4. Witches, according to the Malleus Malificarum, were possessed of extra-
ordinary sexual powers. Witches, as carriers of the manifold anxieties, fantasies, and
desires of both men and women, continue to exert a profound influence on contempo-
rary cultural institutions and discourses. Moreover, constructions of female sexuality as
powerful but potentially malevolent are still with us. We may think of the wave of cul-
tural anxiety unleashed by the actions of Lorena Bobbitt (and the rendering of her as
"mad"). For more on this subject, see Dijkstra ( 1 9 9 6 ) .
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Index
Aberdeen Proving Ground, 129 "Angry white male," 1 4 0 , 1 7 9 - 1 8 0

Aboriginal Australians, 4 9 - 5 1 Anorexic women, 125
Action-adventure films, 1 6 3 , 173 Apocalypse culture, 2 4
Adolescents: Apocalypse Now, 171
crime rates, 5-6 Army, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0
masculine identities, 6 8 - 6 9 See also Military; Warfare
rape and murder by, 6 8 - 6 9 Assault:
risk-prone behavior, 5 5 legal definitions, 4 6 , 4 7
school shootings, 1-2, 82 psychological, 4 7
Advertising, 1 6 2 - 1 6 3 , 165 rates, 4
African Americans: relationship with victim, 5
associated with violence and crime, See also Domestic violence; Rape;
164 Sexual assault
civil rights movement, 1 3 8 - 1 3 9 Atlas, Charles, 137
crime victims, 4, 6 Atwood, M., 121
portrayals of masculinity, 1 6 3 - 1 6 5 Australia:
racism against, 136, 138, 164 feminism, 180
seen as Other, 136 indigenous children removed from
self-representation, 165 families, 4 9 - 5 1
Aggression: mass shootings in Port Arthur, 4 3 - 4 5
murder cases, 6 8 - 6 9 , 7 2 - 7 4
biological explanations, 5 3 - 5 5
definition, 4 5 , 53
gender differences in interpretations, Bandura, Α., 5 6
59 The Basketball Diaries, 82
sociological and psychological expla- Battered woman syndrome, 73
nations, 5 6 - 5 7 Berkowitz, L., 5 6 - 5 7
AIDS/HIV, 4 7 , 1 8 0 - 1 8 1 Bigelow, Kathryn, 86
Amb Kor (Female Spirit cult), 145 Bilchik, S., 5
Anabolic steroids, 5 4 Bingham, D., 177
Androgens, 5 4 , 111 Biological explanations for violence,
Androgyny, 140 53-55
213
Biotechnological warfare, 1 9 3 - 1 9 4 Campbell, Α., 5 9

Birth. See Human reproduction Cannibalism, 6 0 , 2 0 3
The Birth of a Nation, 164 Castration, 9 2 , 1 3 9 , 172
Blacks. See African Americans Chagga people, 1 4 2
Bodies: Children:
cannibalism, 6 0 , 2 0 3 development, 13, 16
differences between sexes, 1 1 1 , 115 homeless, 4 8 - 4 9
disease, 9 1 , 1 9 3 - 1 9 5 indigenous Australians removed from
dualism with mind, 18, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 families, 4 9 - 5 1
grotesque, 1 4 6 - 1 4 7 , 194 kidnapping and murder, 8 4 , 195
images in media, 1 9 5 - 1 9 6 murderers, 5-6, 84
in postmodern era, 28 victims of sexual predators, 6 2 , 73
linked with subjectivity, 119 viewed as monstrous, 93
medical studies of, 2 0 2 , 2 0 3 Chimbu people, 144
monstrous, 1 9 4 - 1 9 6 Cities, crime rates, 4
multiple identities, 3 0 - 3 2 Citizens, 12
parts shown in horror films, 84, 93 Civil rights movement, 1 3 8 - 1 3 9
piercings, 96 Civil society:
senses, 119 inclusiveness, 2 0 8
violent crossings of boundaries, 4 6 - nonviolence, 134
47, 146, 194-195 Civil strife, 4 9
viral infections, 1 9 3 - 1 9 5 Class, 148
Western view of, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 Clinton, W. J . , 6 5 , 193, 198
wish to escape confines of, 29 Clover, C, 132-133
See also Female bodies; Human re- The Cobra Event (Preston), 1 9 3 - 1 9 4
production; Male bodies Coercive institutions, 2 0 - 2 1
Bodybuilding, 1 2 6 , 137 Collectivities, violence by, 48
Borders. See Boundaries Colombia, 4 8 - 4 9
Bordo, S., 1 2 5 , 1 7 7 - 1 7 8 Combat films, 170-171
Born on the Fourth of July, 172 Communication, 9, 27
Boundaries: Community protection model, 6 1 - 6 2
between genders, 112, 1 1 4 , 130 Computer technology:
between self and Other, 11, 15-16, effects on gender categories, 2 8 - 2 9
122-123, 124, 201-202 effects on society, 2 3 - 2 5 , 2 6
crossings, 4 6 - 4 7 , 6 6 - 6 8 , 9 4 , 191
effects on subjectivity, 87-88
discourses of serial killers, 2 0 1 - 2 0 3
interactive media, 2 4 , 2 9
fantasies of transcending, 1 2 3 - 1 2 4
virtual reality, 2 8 , 2 9
in virtual reality, 2 9
See also Internet
invasion of body, 4 6 - 4 7 , 146, 194-
Conflict:
195
definition, 4 6 , 53
Bount, Uriel, Jr., 2 0 4
homicides related to, 71
Boyette, Grant, 2
Connell, R., 1 1 6 - 1 1 7
Brazil, 4 8 - 4 9
Conservative masculinity, 163
Britain. See United Kingdom
Control, importance to modern self, 12,
The Brood, 93
19, 1 3 5 , 2 0 7
Brottman, M., 1 9 4
Copycat, 8 3 , 2 0 0
Browning, Tod, 9 2
Cowboys, 1 3 6 , 1 4 0 , 1 6 6 - 1 6 7
Bryant, Martin, 4 3 - 4 5 , 7 4
Cox, William, 4 4
Bulger, James, 8 4 , 195
Crash, 85
Bush, George, 140
Creation accounts, 1 4 1 - 1 4 2
Butler, J . , 2 8 - 2 9 , 118
Crime:
fear of, 83, 102
California, sexual predator laws, 6 2 gender differences, 7
Callahan, D., 10 juvenile, 5-6
Index 215
media attention, 8 1 - 8 2 , 2 0 8 Enlightenment:

medicalization, 61 conception of knowledge, 7-8, 18-
rates, 4 19, 25
robberies, 4, 6 view of masculinity, 1 3 3 - 1 3 5
witnesses, 195 Environment, violence to, 48
See also Assault; Homicide; Law en- Erikson, Ε. H., 16
forcement; Victims of crime Etoro people, 142
Criminals: Evolutionary explanations of violence,
clinical model of dangerousness, 6 1 , 55-56
62-66
desire to demonstrate masculinity, 117
Falling Down, 1 7 9 - 1 8 0
female, 7, 2 0 4 - 2 0 6
False Memory Syndrome (FMS), 14
in entertainment media, 101
False Self Syndrome, 199
in films, 9 5 - 1 0 0 , 1 7 4 , 1 7 5 - 1 7 6
Families, masculinities in, 6 6 , 1 1 0 , 137,
marginalized men, 7 1 , 117
138
mental disorders, 6 2 , 6 3 , 6 4 , 94-95
Farm crisis, 180
psychological profiling, 1 9 8 - 1 9 9
Fatherhood, 138
seen as Other, 2 0 8
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):
See also Serial killers; Sexual predators
Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU), 6 1 ,
Criminology, 19-20, 2 1 , 2 2
198-199
Cronenberg, David, 8 5 , 93
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 4
Cross-dressing, 110
Female bodies:
The Crying Game, 1 7 7 - 1 7 8
anorexic, 125
desire to see interior of, 2 0 2
Dahmer, Jeffrey, 6 0 , 2 0 3 difference as pathology view, 124-125
Deaths: efforts to remake, 1 2 4 - 1 2 5
in films, 167, 170 inferiority, 8 9 , 93
See also Homicides medieval view of, 133
The Deer Hunter, 171 objectification of, 1 2 4 , 1 2 5 , 147, 175
Descartes, Rene, 17-18, 1 1 3 , 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 pollution cults, 1 4 5 - 1 4 6
Detective fiction, 137 sexuality, 1 2 5 , 1 7 4 , 2 0 4 , 2 0 5
Detective films, 1 7 5 - 1 7 6 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, 127
Dibbell, J . , 28 traditional societies' views, 142, 1 4 5 -
Difference theory, 113 146
Discipline, 2 0 - 2 1 , 2 2 viewed by Other, 125
Disease, 12, 9 1 , 1 9 3 - 1 9 5 Western view of, 1 4 6 - 1 4 7 , 2 0 0 - 2 0 1
Domestic violence: women's experience of, 124
battered woman syndrome, 73 See also Bodies
differences from other forms of vio- Female reproduction:
lence, 4 8 interpretations in horror films, 93
evolutionary explanation, 55-56 male competition for, 55
legal definitions, 4 menstruation, 1 4 3 - 1 4 4 , 1 4 5 , 1 4 6
symbolism, 172
men's accounts, 58
personality profiles, 57 traditional societies' views, 1 4 1 - 1 4 2 ,
rates, 4 1 4 4 - 1 4 5 , 147
Douglas, Michael, 179 violence of, 172
Dualism: See also Human reproduction
mind-body, 18, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 Female Spirit cult (Amb Kor), 145
self and Other, 11 Femininity:
as ideal, 118
ascribed to opponents, 127, 1 3 6
Eastwood, Clint, 177 associated with dependence, 11
Economic crisis, 180 in American culture, 2 0 4
England. See United Kingdom in gender order, 117
men's fear of, 126 Gatens, M., 2 0 7 - 2 0 8

psychometric scales, 137 Gay men:
self-sufficiency, 147 political activity, 181
Feminism: serial killers, 6 0 , 2 0 3
difference theorists, 113 subordinated masculinity, 117, 182
explanations of violence against See also Homosexuality
women, 5 6 Geertz, C., 9
social impact, 180 Gender:
women's movement, 1 3 8 - 1 3 9 , 182 boundaries between, 112, 1 1 4 , 130
Femmes fatales, 1 7 5 , 2 0 4 definition, 111
Fiction: difference theory, 113
detective, 137 differences in accounts of violence, 58
horror, 9 0 differences in interpretations of vio-
masculine heroes, 137 lence, 5 9
19th-century woman's novels, 169 distinction from sex, 1 1 1 , 1 1 2 - 1 1 3 ,
Western novels, 1 3 6 , 1 6 6 , 169 114-115
Film noir: emotional and cognitive differences,
femmes fatales, 1 7 5 , 2 0 4 113
images of masculinity, 1 7 3 - 1 7 6 fear of loss of difference, 130
Film violence, 8 2 - 8 3 , 8 5 - 8 6 medieval view of, 132-133
blamed for violent crimes, 8 2 , 85 power relationships, 5 6 , 5 8 , 1 1 3 ,
expressive, 84 116-117
horror films, 9 4 - 9 5 psychometric scales, 137
instrumental, 8 4 , 9 5 - 1 0 0 revisionist theories, 1 1 6 - 1 1 8
masculine images, 1 5 9 - 1 6 0 social construction of, 1 1 2 , 1 1 4 - 1 1 5 ,
monstrous, 1 9 4 118, 137
techniques, 84 traditional societies' views, 1 4 0 - 1 4 6
Western films, 167, 169 victims of crime, 4 , 5
Films: Gender and violence:
action-adventure, 1 6 3 , 173 cultural narrative, 2 0 6 - 2 0 7
"angry white male" image, 1 7 9 - 1 8 0 postmodern view, 3
film noir, 1 7 3 - 1 7 6 , 2 0 4 social structures and, 5 6
horror, 8 4 , 8 9 - 9 1 , 9 2 - 9 5 theoretical understanding, 33
images of masculinity, 9 4 - 9 5 , 159- Gender identities:
160, 162, 1 6 3 - 1 6 5 , 1 7 2 - 1 7 3 , core, 1 1 5 , 118
176-177 definition, 1 1 1 - 1 1 2
masculine heroes, 138 effects of new technologies, 2 8 - 2 9
portrayals of criminal underworld, See also Femininity; Masculinities
95-100, 174 Gender identity dysphoria, 113
war, 1 6 9 - 1 7 3 Gender order, 1 1 6 - 1 1 7 , 1 7 9 - 1 8 1
Western, 1 3 8 , 1 6 3 , 1 6 5 - 1 6 9 changes, 178
women in military, 130
hierarchies, 113
Flax, J . , 1 8 - 1 9
male dominance, 5 8 , 9 3 - 9 4
FMS. See False Memory Syndrome
Gender regimes, 116
Foi people, 147
Gender roles, 112, 179
Football, 126
Genetics:
Foucault, M., 18, 19-20, 2 1 , 6 1 , 2 0 3
sex differences, 111
Freud, Sigmund, 13, 18-19, 1 1 3 , 115
studies of violent behavior, 5 3 - 5 4
Frontier myth, 1 6 5 - 1 6 6
Genocide, 4 9
Frustration-aggression theory, 5 6 - 5 7
Gergen, K. J . , 2 6 - 2 7
The Full Monty, 178
Gilman, S. L., 12
Gordon, Α., 2 2
G.LJane, 130 Gothic imagination, 1 9 6 - 1 9 7
Gahuka-Gama people, 144 Green, P., 51
Index 217
Grier, Pam, 98 traditional societies' views, 1 4 1 - 1 4 2 ,

Guns: 143-145
school shootings, 1-2, 82 See also Female reproduction
use in juvenile crime, 6 Human sciences, 19-20, 2 1 - 2 2
Gururumba people, 144
Ideal self, 10
Hale, David, 1 3 0 Identity:
Health: changes in understandings of, 3 0 - 3 2
disease, 12, 9 1 , 1 9 3 - 1 9 5 construction of, 3 1 , 3 2
of men, 1 2 1 - 1 2 2 disappearance of boundaries, 191
Hegemonic masculinity, 117 Hobbes' view of, 134
criticism of, 181 Multiple Personality Disorder
defenses of, 182 (MPD), 3 0 - 3 2
in films, 1 7 2 - 1 7 3 , 1 7 7 - 1 7 8 of Aboriginal Australians, 5 1
in 1980s, 1 7 2 - 1 7 3 postmodern view, 3 0 , 8 5 , 87-88
in Western films, 1 6 3 , 1 6 5 - 1 6 9 See also Self
of white males, 165 Images. See Photographs; Visual images
subversive images, 1 7 7 - 1 7 8 Immigrants, 1 3 5 - 1 3 6
violence as display of, 1 4 8 , 1 8 1 - 1 8 2 Imperial self, 11, 2 7
Hemingway, Ernest, 137 Independence, 11-12, 18
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, 86 Indians, 1 3 6 , 166
HIV/AIDS, 4 7 , 1 8 0 - 1 8 1 Information technology. See Computer
Hobbes, Thomas, 18-19, 1 3 3 - 1 3 4 technology; Internet
Homeless youth, 4 8 - 4 9 Interdependence, 2 0 7
Homicides: Internet, 87
by children, 8 4 , 195 MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons), 2 9
confrontations between men, 7 0 - 7 1 websites on serial killers, 1 9 9 - 2 0 0
defenses resulting in acquittals, 7 2 - 7 4 Internet Relay Chat (IRC), 2 9
legal definitions, 4 6 , 4 7 Iqwaye people, 1 4 1 - 1 4 2
mass killings, 4 3 - 4 5 , 6 0 IRC. See Internet Relay Chat
of women, 7 0
rates, 4
Jack the Ripper, 198
school shootings, 1-2, 82
Jackie Brown, 98
self-defense, 7 2 , 73
Jackson, Andrew, 136
suicides and, 70
Jackson, D., 1 2 1 - 1 2 3 , 124
typical scenarios, 7 0 - 7 1
Jenkins, Tricia, 2 0 5
weapons, 5 2 - 5 3 , 71
Judge Dredd, 1 5 9 - 1 6 0 , 183
by youths, 5-6
Justice, 2 0 7 - 2 0 9
See also Serial homicide
Justice Department, 5, 6, 6 1 , 65
Homosexuality:
Justice system. See Law enforcement
fear of, 137
Juvenile crime, 5-6
See also Gay men
Hormones, 5 3 , 5 4 , 111
Horrocks, R., 1 6 7 - 1 6 8 Kaluli people, 1 4 2
Horror, 8 9 , 9 1 , 9 2 , 1 9 4 , 197 Kanka, Megan, 63
Horror fiction, 9 0 Kemper, Ed, 2 0 2 - 2 0 3
Horror films, 8 4 , 8 9 - 9 1 , 92-95 Knowledge:
Hua people, 1 4 2 - 1 4 4 , 1 4 6 Enlightenment conception of, 7-8,
Human reproduction: 18-19, 25
male autogenesis myths, 1 4 1 - 1 4 2 , modern views, 17, 19-20
202-203 postmodern view, 25
male parthenogenesis myths, 132 scientific, 8, 17, 19-20, 2 5 , 119
male "pregnancy," 1 4 3 , 144 vision and, 88, 2 0 2
male role, 1 4 1 , 142, 1 4 4 - 1 4 5 Kristiansen, C. M., 14
L.A. Confidential, 176 sexuality, 1 2 1 , 1 2 2 - 1 2 3 , 172

Lad culture, 1 6 2 - 1 6 3 Western view of, 2 0 0 - 2 0 1
Language: See also Bodies
accounts of violence, 5 7 - 5 8 Mallory, Richard, 2 0 4
narratives, 2 6 , 58 Marketing, 162
of interdependence, 2 0 7 Masculinities:
rationalist view, 8 achievement-oriented, 120
Laqueur, T., 132, 133 "angry white male," 1 4 0 , 1 7 9 - 1 8 0
Lasch, C , 11 centrality of violence, 1 2 0
Law, role in modernity, 2 6 conservative, 163
Law enforcement: crisis of, 1 7 9 - 1 8 1
community protection model, 6 1 - 6 2 culturally valorized styles, 3, 1 8 1 - 1 8 2
justice model, 61 dangerous, 6 6 , 1 4 7 - 1 4 8
Panopticon model, 19-20, 2 2 demonstrated in criminal acts, 117
prevention, 63 Enlightenment view of, 1 3 3 - 1 3 5
reality television shows, 1 0 1 - 1 0 3 hegemonic, 117, 1 4 8 , 1 6 3 , 1 6 5 - 1 6 9 ,
retributivist approach, 6 0 - 6 1 172-173, 177-178, 181-182
Laws: heroic, 1 3 1 , 1 3 4 , 137
on assault, 4 7 hierarchies, 68
on sexual predators, 6 2 - 6 6 , 67, 198 historical formation, 1 3 0 - 1 4 0
Leigh, Leigh, 6 8 - 6 9 images in films, 9 4 - 9 5 , 1 5 9 - 1 6 0 ,
Leigh, Robyn, 69 162, 1 6 3 - 1 6 5 , 1 7 2 - 1 7 3 , 1 7 6 -
Leonard, Elmore, 98 177
Levant, R. F., 1 7 9 - 1 8 0 images in media, 117, 1 6 2 - 1 6 3 , 183
Literature. See Fiction; Poetry in 1980s, 1 4 0 , 1 7 2 - 1 7 3
Littleton (Colorado), 82 inherent in male bodies, 126
Lombroso, Cesare, 21 medieval, 1 3 1 - 1 3 3 , 134
Lowe, Belinda, 7 2 19th-century views, 1 3 5 - 1 3 6
Lucas, Henry Lee, 2 0 2 of adolescents, 6 8 - 6 9
of African Americans, 1 6 3 - 1 6 5
MacKinnon, C , 113 performative aspects, 1 7 6 - 1 7 7
Madness, 18 political influences, 178
Magazines: postmodern view, 1 1 6 - 1 1 8
advertising, 162, 165 psychoanalytic view, 115
images of masculinity, 163 psychometric scales, 137
Playboy, 138 public, 11-12, 1 1 0 , 1 6 1 - 1 6 3
pornographic, 140 questioning of, 1 3 9 - 1 4 0
See also Media revisionist theories, 1 1 6 - 1 1 8
Mailer, Norman, 138 social construction of, 1 1 4 - 1 1 5 , 178
Male bodies: sports and, 1 2 5 - 1 2 7 , 163
alienation from, 1 2 0 - 1 2 3 , 172 subordinated, 117, 1 6 3 - 1 6 4 , 1 6 5 ,
as weapons, 1 2 0 , 1 2 6 , 1 6 4 182
castration, 9 2 , 1 3 9 , 1 7 2 traditional societies, 1 4 0 - 1 4 6
experience in sports, 1 2 6 , 127 20th-century views, 1 3 6 - Ϊ 4 0
experiences of, 1 1 9 - 1 2 4 within families, 6 6 , 1 1 0 , 137, 138
health, 1 2 1 - 1 2 2 Mass killers, 4 3 - 4 5 , 6 0
hormones, 5 4 , 111 fear of, 67
images in films, 1 7 1 - 1 7 2 , 1 7 3 , 178, school shootings, 1-2, 82
183 See also Serial killers
injuries in Western films, 1 6 8 - 1 6 9 McKinney, Gene, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0
masculinity seen as inherent in, 126 McRae, S., 2 9
movements, 1 2 2 - 1 2 3 Media:
normative view, 124 attention to serial homicide, 6 0 , 6 1 ,
objectification, 178 82, 9 9 , 192, 2 0 8
Index 219
blamed for violence in society, 82, role of Law, 2 6

85, 99 self in, 10-11
crime stories, 8 1 - 8 2 , 2 0 8 view of violence and gender, 3
digital, 87 Monsters:
entertainment, 9 1 - 9 3 , 9 9 , 1 0 1 , 103 births, 93
first age, 87 bodies, 1 9 4 - 1 9 5
images of hegemonic masculinity, border crossings, 66-68
117 fascination with, 89
images of violent women, 2 0 4 in horror films, 9 4
in 1950s, 138 pathology of, 6 1 , 6 6
interactive, 2 4 postmodern, 1 9 8 , 2 0 6
news, 81-82, 9 9 , 1 0 0 , 1 3 7 , 2 0 8 reactions to, 9 1 , 9 2 , 1 9 4 , 197
second age, 87-88
study of (teratology), 89
sensational stories about homosexu-
types shown in entertainment media,
ality, 137
9 1 - 9 3 , 103
See also Films; Magazines; Television
Morality of care, 2 0 8 - 2 0 9
Megan's Law, 6 3 - 6 4 , 65
Morgan, Said, 7 3 - 7 4
Melanesia, 1 4 0 - 1 4 1 , 144
Motherhood, 138
Memories, 13-14, 27
Mount Hageners, 1 4 1 , 1 4 4 - 1 4 5
Men:
Movies. See Films
as crime victims, 4
MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons), 2 9
attempts to change socialization of,
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD),
114-115
30-32
authority at work, 1 3 8 , 139
Murders. See Homicides; Serial homi-
competition for access to reproduc-
cide
tive females, 55
emotional and cognitive differences Museums, of frontier, 166
from women, 113
experience of sexuality, 1 2 1 , 122-
National Cowboy Hall of Fame, 1 6 6
123
National Crime Victimization Survey
fathers, 138
(NCVS), 4
initiation rituals, 144
National Institute of Mental Health, 53
political groups, 1 3 9 - 1 4 0
Native Americans, 1 3 6 , 166
risk-prone behavior, 55
Natural Born Killers, 9 8 - 1 0 0
young, 5 5 , 6 8 - 6 9
Navy, 129
See also Male bodies; Masculinities
Men's movement, 1 3 9 - 1 4 0 , 182 See also Military; Warfare
Messerschmidt, J . , 117-118 NBC, 1 9 9 - 2 0 0
Middle Ages, 131-133 NCVS. See National Crime Victimiza-
Military: tion Survey
institutions, 1 2 8 - 1 2 9 Negroponte, N., 2 4
rituals, 128 Neural and physiological factors in vio-
sexual scandals, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0 lence, 5 4
soldiers returning from wars, 1 3 8 , New Guinea, 1 4 0 - 1 4 6 , 147
139 New Jersey, Megan's Law, 6 3 - 6 4
training, 1 2 8 - 1 2 9 New lad image, 162-163
women in, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0 New man image, 162
See also Warfare News media, 8 1 - 8 2 , 9 9 , 1 0 0 , 137, 2 0 8
Militia groups, 180 See also Media
Mill, John Stuart, 1 3 4 - 1 3 5 Nicholson, Jack, 9 4 , 177
Mind-body dualism, 18, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 Nilsen, Dennis, 199
Minnesota Court of Appeal, 67 Nonviolence, 134
Modernity: Normalization, 2 2
reason and rationality, 16-19 Novels. See Fiction
Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), 180 Postmodernism, 2 3 - 2 5

Old Norse texts, 1 3 2 - 1 3 3 features, 2 5 - 2 6
Onabasulu people, 142 games, 2 6
Ontology, 2 7 identity concept, 3 0 , 8 5 , 87-88
Other: monsters, 1 9 8 , 2 0 6
African Americans seen as, 136 narratives, 2 6
body as, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 self, 2 6 - 2 8 , 8 5 , 1 1 6
boundaries between self and, 11, 15- technological change, 2 3 - 2 5 , 2 6
16, 1 2 2 - 1 2 3 , 1 2 4 , 2 0 1 - 2 0 2 view of violence and gender, 3
criminals, 2 0 8 Power:
fear of, 6 6 , 6 8 , 103 in gender relationships, 5 6 , 5 8 , 1 1 3 ,
images of, 89 116-117
postmodern view, 26 state exercise of violence, 4 8 , 4 9 , 51
subjecting to reason, 2 2 Preston, R., 1 9 3 - 1 9 4
violent domination of, 1 8 1 - 1 8 2 Prisons, Panopticon model, 19-20, 2 2
women's bodies viewed by, 125 Profiler, 1 9 9 - 2 0 0
See also Monsters Promise Keepers, 3 , 179
Prostitutes, 1 3 9 , 2 0 4 - 2 0 5
Psychoanalysis, 115
Paducah (Kentucky), 82
Psychological assault, 4 7
Panopticon, 19-20, 22
Psychological essentialism, 9, 2 7
Papua New Guinea, 1 4 0 - 1 4 6 , 147
Psychology:
Pathology of monstrous, 6 1 , 66
construction of identity, 3 1 , 3 2
Pearl (Mississippi), 1-2
explanations of violence, 56-57
Peckinpah, Sam, 8 5 - 8 6 , 167
mental disorders of criminals, 6 2 , 6 3 ,
Personality traits:
6 4 , 94-95
of serial killers, 1 9 8 - 1 9 9
popular, 137
of violence-prone individuals, 57
profiling, 1 9 8 - 1 9 9
Pfohl, S., 22
view of self, 14-16
Photographs:
Public sphere, 11-12, 1 9 5 - 1 9 6
marketing uses of masculine images,
Pulp Fiction, 9 5 - 9 7
162, 165
New Grotesque genre, 194
See also Visual images Racially motivated violence, 71
Physiology, 5 4 , 111 Racism, 1 3 6 , 1 3 8 , 164
Piaget, J . , 16 Rambo, 171
Playboy, 138 Rape:
Poetry, 1 6 6 in military, 129
Politics: rates, 4
antigovernment militia groups, 1 8 0 victims, 4 - 5 , 6 8 - 6 9
changes in gender order, 178 See also Sexual assault
defense of hegemonic masculinity, Reagan, Ronald, 1 4 0 , 1 7 2 - 1 7 3
182 Reality, Enlightenment conception of, 7-
men's organizations, 1 3 9 - 1 4 0 , 182 8
terrorism, 1 8 0 , 1 9 3 - 1 9 4 Reality television, 1 0 1 - 1 0 3
women's movement, 1 3 8 - 1 3 9 , 1 8 0 , Reason, 8, 16-19, 2 2 , 135
182 Religion, in Middle Ages, 1 3 1 - 1 3 2
Polk, K., 7 0 , 71 Renaissance, 23
Polygram, 82 Reno, Janet, 6
Popular culture: Repression, 13-14
influence of images, 1 6 2 Reproduction. See Female reproduction;
See also Fiction; Films; Magazines; Human reproduction
Media Resendez-Ramirez, Rafael, 82
Pornography, 140 Reservoir Dogs, 97-98
Port Arthur (Tasmania, Australia), 4 3 - 4 5 Responsibility, 10, 2 0 7 - 2 0 9
Index 221
Ressler, Robert, 1 9 8 - 1 9 9 portrayals of fictional, 1 9 9 - 2 0 0

Robberies, 4, 6 psychological profiles, 1 9 8 - 1 9 9
Robertson, Derrick, 129 relationships with victims, 2 0 1 - 2 0 2
Role theory, 115 stereotypes, 6 0
Romanticist self, 13-14 Seven, 8 3 , 9 4
Rose, N., 14, 2 1 , 2 2 , 2 6 Sex:
Ross, Colin, 31 definition, 111
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 18-19, 113 distinction from gender, 1 1 1 , 112-
Rushkoff, D., 2 3 - 2 4 113, 1 1 4 - 1 1 5
medieval view of, 1 3 2 - 1 3 3
social construction of, 114
Saint-Hilaire, Geoffrey, 89
Sex roles, 112
School shootings, 1-2, 82
Sex workers, 2 8 , 1 3 9 , 2 0 4 - 2 0 5
Science:
in horror films, 91 Sexual assault:
reason and rationality, 18 by youths, 6
Scientific knowledge, 8, 17, 19-20, 2 5 , film depictions, 8 6 , 164
119 in military, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0
Self: legal definitions, 4
autonomy, 10, 2 7 rates, 4
boundaries between Other and, 11, victims, 4 - 5 , 3 0 - 3 2 , 86
15-16, 1 2 2 - 1 2 3 , 124, 2 0 1 - 2 0 2 See also Rape
definitions, 8-9 Sexual predators, 67
development of 13 16 A %
civil commitment, 6 2 - 6 3
False Self Syndrome, 199 laws dealing with, 6 2 - 6 6 , 67, 198
fear of loss, 12-13, 2 0 1 - 2 0 2 murders of, 7 3 - 7 4
ideal, 10 registration, 6 4 , 65
imperial, 1 1 , 2 7 Sexuality:
importance of control, 12, 19, 1 3 5 , desire seen as danger to self-control,
207 19
interiority, 13, 17, 2 7 female, 1 2 5 , 174, 2 0 4 , 2 0 5
modernist, 1 0 - 1 3 , 14-15, 16-18 male, 1 2 1 , 1 2 2 - 1 2 3 , 172
postmodern view, 2 6 - 2 8 , 8 5 , 116 portrayals of African American
psychological essentialism, 9, 2 7 males, 164
role of body, 1 1 9 virtual relationships, 28
romanticist, 13-14 Shell shock, 128
Self-defense, 7 2 , 73 The Shining, 9 4
Self-improvement, 15 Showalter, Ε., 128
Serial homicide, 192 The Silence of the Lambs, 8 2 - 8 3 , 9 4 - 9 5
as part of culture, 1 9 2 - 1 9 3 , 1 9 7 - 1 9 8 , Simpson, Delmar, 129
203 Soccer, 126
depicted in films, 8 6 , 9 4 - 9 5 , 99 Social groups:
fascination with, 1 9 6 - 1 9 7 , 2 0 8 criminals, 6-7
future weapons, 193 marginal, 6-7, 4 8 - 4 9 , 7 1 , 117, 182
media attention, 6 0 , 6 1 , 8 2 , 9 9 , 192, vulnerability to crime, 4 - 5 , 6-7
208 Social learning theory, 5 6
Serial killers: Social organization, 2 1 , 56
defenses, 2 0 5 Socialization theory, 115
discourses on boundaries, 2 0 1 - 2 0 3 Sports, 1 2 5 - 1 2 7 , 163
fear of, 6 0 , 6 1 , 67, 82 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, 127
female, 2 0 4 - 2 0 6 State:
hunts for, 82 view of subjectivity, 32
imitation of, 2 0 0 violence performed by, 4 8 , 4 9 , 51
media attention, 6 0 , 6 1 , 8 2 , 9 9 , 192, See also Law enforcement
208 State of nature, 1 3 4
Steedman, C , 13 Truth, 8
Stewart, James, 177 Turkle, S., 2 9 , 3 2
Stone, A. R., 2 8 , 3 1 - 3 2
Stone, Oliver, 9 8 - 1 0 0
Unforgiven, 177
Strange Days, 86
Subjectivity: Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 4
effects of new communication tech- United Kingdom:
nologies, 87 controversial films, 85
Enlightenment view, 134 laws on assault, 4 7
gender identity and, 115 legal distinction between sex and
importance in postmodernism, 2 6 gender, 1 1 2 - 1 1 3
in government, 3 2 masculine imagery in advertising,
multiple identities and, 3 2 162-163
postmodern view, 116 murder of Bulger, 84, 195
role of body and senses, 119 serial killers, 1 9 8 , 199
visual images and, 88 sports, 1 2 6 , 127
vocabularies for governing, 2 1 - 2 2 violence in sports, 126
Subordinated masculinity, 117, 1 6 3 - 1 6 4 , United States:
165,182 evolution of masculinity, 1 3 5 - 1 4 0
Suicides, murders and, 70 foreign policy, 140
Summer of Sam, 83 U.S. Army, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0
Superman, 137 See also Military; Warfare
Supreme Court, 63 U.S. Department of Justice, 5, 6, 6 1 , 65
U.S. Navy, 129
See also Military; Warfare
Tailhook incident, 129
U.S. Supreme Court, 63
Tanner, John, 2 0 5
U.S. Violence Against Women Act, 4
Tarantino, Q., 95-98
Updike, J . , 121
Tasmania (Australia), 4 3 - 4 5
Taxidermy, 9 4 - 9 5
Technology. See Computer technology; Victims of crime:
Internet film depictions, 86
Teenagers. See Adolescents gender differences, 4 , 5
Television: marginal groups, 4 8 - 4 9 , 71
advertising, 162-163 of serial killers, 2 0 1 - 2 0 2
crime shows, 1 9 9 - 2 0 0 of sexual assault, 4 - 5 , 3 0 - 3 2 , 86
entertainment programs, 101 vulnerable groups, 4 - 5 , 6-7
images of fathers, 138 Videotapes, 8 4 , 86, 195
news about crime, 100 Vietnam War, 139, 1 7 1 , 172
reality programs, 1 0 1 - 1 0 3 Violence:
sports programs, 163 accounts of, 57-58
tabloid programs, 99 as strategy of modern self, 10-11
See also Media biological explanations, 5 3 - 5 5
Teratology, 89 blamed on violence in media, 82, 8 5 ,
Terrorism, 180, 1 9 3 - 1 9 4 99
Testosterone, 5 4 cultural contribution, 5 1 - 5 2 , 1 9 4 -
Thailand, 4 8 195
Time Warner, 8 2 cultural replacement for, 2 0 7 - 2 0 9
Timmendequas, Jesse, 63 definition, 4 6 - 4 7 , 53
Toch, H., 57-58 evolutionary explanations, 5 5 - 5 6
Tompkins, J . , 169 fascination with, 1 9 6 - 1 9 7
Torture, 4 9 gender and, 3, 3 3 , 5 6 , 2 0 6 - 2 0 7
Traditional societies, 1 4 0 - 1 4 6 , 147 good, 58
Transsexualism, 112, 1 1 3 , 114 importance in culture, 192, 2 0 6 - 2 0 7
Travers, Donald, 31 in sports, 126
Index 223
interpretations of, 4 7 - 4 8 , 5 2 , 59 in homicides, 5 2 - 5 3 , 71

justification of, 57 male bodies as, 1 2 0 , 1 2 6 , 164
legal definitions, 4 6 - 4 7 Webster, Matthew, 69
new modes, 83 Western films:
physical, 4 6 - 4 7 , 52-53 hegemonic masculinity in, 1 6 3 ,
search for explanations, 4 4 - 4 5 165-169
sociological and psychological expla- issues, 1 6 7 - 1 6 8
nations, 56-57 masculine heroes, 138
See also Aggression; Crime; Film vio- violence in, 167, 1 6 9
lence
Western novels, 1 3 6 , 166, 169
Violence against women:
Wetterling Act, 64-65
as normative, 69
Wherrett, P., 1 0 9 - 1 1 0
by male partners, 7 0
Wherrett, R., 1 0 9 - 1 1 0
evolutionary explanation, 5 5 - 5 6
Whitmer, B., 2 0 6 - 2 0 7
feminist explanation, 5 6
The Wild Bunch, 85-86
homicide, 70
Witches, 2 0 4
linked to hegemonic masculinity, 182
Witkin, Joel-Peter, 194
linked to sports attendance, 126
social value of women expressed in, Wogeo people, 144
69 Women:
statistics, 4 as crime victims, 5, 69
See also Domestic violence; Rape; as dangerous sex, 1 4 7 - 1 4 8 , 2 0 4 ,
Sexual assault 205
Viral infections, 1 9 3 - 1 9 5 emotional and cognitive differences
Virtual reality technology, 2 8 , 29 from men, 113
Vision, 8 8 , 2 0 2 femmes fatales, 1 7 5 , 2 0 4
Visual images: images in combat films, 170
advertising, 1 6 2 - 1 6 3 , 165 images in film noir, 1 7 4 , 2 0 4
cultural categories, 88-89 interpretations of violence, 59
cultural context, 88 involvement in violence, 7
electronic, 88 media images of violent, 2 0 4
relationship to subjectivity, 88 military service, 1 2 9 - 1 3 0
significance in Western culture, 88 mothers, 138
See also Photographs raising status by masculinization,
130
A Walk in the Sun, 170 serial killers, 2 0 4 - 2 0 6
War films, 1 6 9 - 1 7 3 See also Female bodies; Female re-
War on drugs, 140 production; Femininity; Vio-
Warfare, 4 9 lence against women
biotechnological, 1 9 3 - 1 9 4 Women's movement, 1 3 8 - 1 3 9 , 1 8 0 ,
masculinity associated with, 1 2 7 - 1 3 0 , 182
138, 171 Woodham, Luke, 1-3, 6
metaphors in sports, 1 2 6 , 127 Work, male authority, 1 3 8 , 139
reactions to violence in, 128 Working class, 136, 148
Vietnam War, 139, 1 7 1 , 1 7 2 World War I, 1 2 8 , 1 3 6 - 1 3 7 , 170
World War I, 1 2 8 , 1 3 6 - 1 3 7 , 170 World War II, 1 3 8 , 170-171
World War II, 1 3 8 , 1 7 0 - 1 7 1 Wound culture, 196
See also Military Wournos, Aileen, 2 0 4 - 2 0 6
Washington, sexual predator laws, 62
Waters, Dean, 7 2 - 7 3
Wayne, John, 138 Xenophobia, 1 3 5 - 1 3 6
Weapons:
future, 193
guns, 1-2, 6, 82 Young male syndrome, 55
About the Author
Suzanne E . H a t t y is Associate Professor o f Culture, Epistemology and

M e d i c i n e in the D e p a r t m e n t o f Social M e d i c i n e at O h i o University.
She has a P h . D . in Psychology from the University o f Sydney, Austra-
lia. H e r research interests include the cultures o f medicine, the body
and society, bioethics and b i o t e c h n o l o g i e s , posthumanism and future
studies, and crime and popular culture. H e r most recent b o o k , c o -
authored with J a m e s Hatty, is The Disordered Body: Epidemic Disease
and Cultural Transformation.
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MASCULINITIES,

Sage Series on Violence Against Women

|Sage Publications, Inc.

Sage Publications Ltd.

Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Acquiring Editor: C. Terry Hendrix

2 . B o d i l y H a r m : V i o l e n c e and the Cultural Imagination 43

4 . G e n d e r T h e a t r i c s : M a r k i n g the Difference 109

5 . Boys on F i l m : Masculinities and the C i n e m a 159

The pressures to speak and act violently are everywhere. . . . Vio-

The pressures to speak and act violently are everywhere. . . . Vio-

2W i t n e s s this: A 16-year-old male student, unable t o tolerate rejec-

broadcast after the killings, shows a young man w h o glances sideways

constitutes this "community o f the afflicted," named by Luke

W h a t are the patterns o f crime, especially violent c r i m e , in today's

tims w e r e related to or acquainted with their assailant. L o w - i n c o m e ,

urban residents between 1 6 and 1 9 years o f age were most likely t o be

between 1988 and 1 9 9 2 juvenile arrests for violent crime increased

T h e statistical evidence indicates that juveniles in the United States

increased by 8 5 % during the same period (compared with 2 1 % for

Class, ethnicity, and youth c o m b i n e t o place the individual within

Knowing Violence/Gendering Knowledge

M a n y o f our understandings about self, the social world, and the

and political institutions. Culturally pervasive beliefs define the

O u r dominant definition o f the self is founded on an understand-

anthropologist Clifford Geertz ( 1 9 7 5 ) provides us with a succinct por-

a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cogni-

T h i s self-contained being is separate and divided from other selves,

The Ideal Self

F u r t h e r m o r e , Callahan argues that

we have come to think that we as individuals are our own invention,

R a t i o n a l , emotionally contained, c o m p e t e n t , and in c o n t r o l o f b o t h

lence is the outer perimeter . . . o f the tendency o f the subject to force

public sphere; for e x a m p l e , the rights and entitlements o f the citizen

It is the fear of collapse, the sense of dissolution, which contami-

T h e fear o f loss is so profound and the ethos o f c o n t r o l is so en-

likely t o be deeply disturbing, engendering feelings o f fearfulness,

The Modern Self: Two Models

W i t h i n the c o n t e x t o f this individualized view o f the self, there

differing models o f the self, particularly when these touch on gender

our selves are defined and constructed and governed in psychologi-

F u r t h e r m o r e , as Gergen ( 1 9 9 7 ) argues, "Psychological expertise n o w

tivity," leading us t o conclude that psychological categories and terms

T h i s suggests that the modernist self is amenable to being re-

Patrolling the Borders of the Self

As the m o d e r n self is conceptualized as a distinct entity m a r k e d

chology have viewed the self as developing through stages or phases.

Raising the Barricades

M o d e r n i t y is founded on the primacy o f reason and rationality.

dread at immersion in nature and entrapment within the body ( B o r d o ,

ondary process, under the authority and pressure o f the patriarchal

The Human Sciences: The Subject of Crime

Foucault argued in his early w o r k that it was during the modern

als but also a laboratory in which experiments could be carried out.

Correspondingly, power/knowledge in the human sciences began t o

called for a technique of overlapping subjection and objectification.

T h i s is not t o suggest that the human sciences are the direct o u t c o m e

D a n d e k e r , 1 9 9 4 ) . T h e entire society is n o w invested with disciplinary

According t o N i k o l a s R o s e ( 1 9 9 2 ) , the societies o f N o r t h A m e r i c a

From the Modern to the Postmodern

Modern civilization simultaneously appears both frenzied and de-

The shock of modernization was that things were never going to be