Routledge Fashion and Masculinities in Popular Culture (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies)

Popular culture in the latter half of the twentieth century precipitated a decisive change in style and body image. Postwar film, television, radio shows, pulp fiction and comics placed heroic types firmly within public consciousness. This book concentrates on these heroic male types as they have evolved from the postwar era and their relationship to fashion to the present day. As well as demonstrating the role of male icons in contemporary society, this book’s originality also lies in showing the many gender slippages that these icons help to effect or expose. It is by exploring the somewhat inviolate types accorded to contemporary masculinity that we see the very fragility of a stable or rounded male identity. Review "This book makes an invaluable contribution to the rapidly emerging field of masculinity and gender studies by providing innovative, critical insights into the impact of historic and contemporary popular culture icons and archetypes on the formation and expression of male identity and multiple masculinities. This engaging exploration of the origins and existence of contemporary male icons from vampires and hipsters to Barbie’s Ken, exposes the socio-cultural contradictions that they espouse in their representation of dynamic masculinities. Finally we have a book that will spark lively interactions in the classroom and nuanced debates in future scholarship." -- Anne Peirson-Smith, City University of Hong Kong About the Author Adam Geczy is Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Faculty Board of Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Australia. Vicki Karaminas is Professor of Fashion and Deputy Director of Doctoral Research at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, New Zealand.