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Mask Off

Masculinity Redefined
By JJ Bola
3.94 goodreads logo

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( 3,256 ratings, 401 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Mask Off by JJ Bola challenges the conventional understanding of masculinity, revealing it as a social performance rather than a fixed trait. The book explores diverse experiences of masculinity across cultures, communities, and political landscapes, from LGBTQ men and men of colour to male refugees. Bola examines the influence of patriarchy, far-right politics, and societal expectations, highlighting masculinity's fluid and complex nature.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This provocative and urgent work is suited for readers interested in social studies, gender theory, and contemporary cultural debates.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

From Blurred Lines to gang signs, how does society cause toxic masculinity?

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

What is masculinity? Dominating the world around us, with deadly gun violence, male suicide rates and incels on Reddit, masculinity is perceived to be 'toxic', 'fragile' and 'in crisis'.

In Mask Off, JJ Bola exposes masculinity as a performance that men are socially conditioned into. Using examples of non-Western cultural traditions, music and sport, he shines light on historical narratives around manhood, debunking popular myths along the way. He explores how LGBTQ men, men of colour, and male refugees experience masculinity in diverse ways, revealing its fluidity, how it's strengthened and weakened by different political contexts, such as the patriarchy or the far-right, and perceived differently by those around them.

At the heart of love and sex, the political stage, competitive sports, gang culture, and mental health issues, lies masculinity: Mask Off is an urgent call to unravel masculinity and redefine it.

Series: Outspoken by Pluto

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780745338743

Publisher: Pluto Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 20 September 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pluto Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 134g

Pages: 128

About the Author

JJ Bola is a writer, poet and educator. He is the author of the novel No Place to Call Home (2017), as well as three poetry collections. He is one of the winners of the 2017 Spread the Word Flight 1000 Associates Prize.

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