Book Review
Beyond Machismo: Intersectional Latino Masculinities. By Aida Hurtado and Mrinal Sinha. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016, 272 pp., $29.95 (paper)
Aida Hurtado and Mrinal Sinha’s Beyond Machismo: Intersectional Latino Masculinities finds itself entering in the midst of some very busy noisy conversations regarding Masculinities. As the recently-concluded 2016 Presidential Election has revealed, what it means to be Men in the United States (if not the West/Global North) resonates with political volatility. While this particular debate has yielded many a now-ubiquitous theory – hegemonic masculinity (Connell), Structured Action (Messerschmidt), inclusivity (Anderson), female masculinity (Halberstam), manhood acts (Schrock/Schwalbe), …show more content…
If it had stood alone on its quantitative components and qualitative narrative (ending with a case study of Hurtado’s brother), Beyond Machismo would be compelling research that adds critical data and analysis to the lively ongoing conversations that define Masculinities Studies. Yet its rather bold visibility of Chicana feminist throughout its analysis to underpin its sociological conceptual framing signals a fresh if not unique methodological turn that kept uncovering important sociological insights page after turned page. As crafted by the authors, whose collective passion is articulated in the analysis of every section, this reconsideration of Latino Masculinity through Chicana Feminism is the intuitive methodology the field has been waiting …show more content…
Concepts such as hegemonic masculinity and structured action are grand, over-arching conceptual stances that seem almost imperial in their monolithic reach. In pushing beyond those rather rigid theoretical categories through a dynamic intersectional consideration, Hurtado and Sinha’s work creates the needed space to expand the discipline beyond its sometimes hardened masculinist leanings. The perceptive conclusions that emerge from this work should excite us as researchers and theorists as they open new epistemic avenues for exploration in the field. It brings with it fresh ideas and novel analysis, allowing us to re-examine what was thought to be old ground with fresh new (and unabashed) feminist
Beyond Machismo: Intersectional Latino Masculinities. By Aida Hurtado and Mrinal Sinha. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016, 272 pp., $29.95 (paper)
Aida Hurtado and Mrinal Sinha’s Beyond Machismo: Intersectional Latino Masculinities finds itself entering in the midst of some very busy noisy conversations regarding Masculinities. As the recently-concluded 2016 Presidential Election has revealed, what it means to be Men in the United States (if not the West/Global North) resonates with political volatility. While this particular debate has yielded many a now-ubiquitous theory – hegemonic masculinity (Connell), Structured Action (Messerschmidt), inclusivity (Anderson), female masculinity (Halberstam), manhood acts (Schrock/Schwalbe), …show more content…
If it had stood alone on its quantitative components and qualitative narrative (ending with a case study of Hurtado’s brother), Beyond Machismo would be compelling research that adds critical data and analysis to the lively ongoing conversations that define Masculinities Studies. Yet its rather bold visibility of Chicana feminist throughout its analysis to underpin its sociological conceptual framing signals a fresh if not unique methodological turn that kept uncovering important sociological insights page after turned page. As crafted by the authors, whose collective passion is articulated in the analysis of every section, this reconsideration of Latino Masculinity through Chicana Feminism is the intuitive methodology the field has been waiting …show more content…
Concepts such as hegemonic masculinity and structured action are grand, over-arching conceptual stances that seem almost imperial in their monolithic reach. In pushing beyond those rather rigid theoretical categories through a dynamic intersectional consideration, Hurtado and Sinha’s work creates the needed space to expand the discipline beyond its sometimes hardened masculinist leanings. The perceptive conclusions that emerge from this work should excite us as researchers and theorists as they open new epistemic avenues for exploration in the field. It brings with it fresh ideas and novel analysis, allowing us to re-examine what was thought to be old ground with fresh new (and unabashed) feminist