His work offers an unusually clear view of this prevailing convention of insecure and destructive masculinity, which Herbert connects with contemporary analyses of male identity formation, sexuality, and violence and with cultural, political, and ideological developments reaching back to the nation's democratic beginnings.".

His work offers an unusually clear view of this prevailing convention of insecure and destructive masculinity, which Herbert connects with contemporary analyses of male identity formation, sexuality, and violence and with cultural, political, and ideological developments reaching back to the nation's democratic beginnings.".

It is impossible to separate histories of sexual violence and the enslavement of Black women in the antebellum South. Rape permeated the lives of all who existed in that system: Black and white, male and female, adult and child, enslaved and free. Shannon C. Eaves unflinchingly investigates how both enslaved people and their enslavers experienced the systematic rape and sexual exploitation of bondswomen and came to understand what this culture of sexualized violence meant for themselves and others. Eaves mines a wealth of primary sources including autobiographies, diaries, court records, and more to show that rape and other forms of sexual exploitation entangled slaves and slave owners in battles over power to protect oneself and one's community, power to avenge hurt and humiliation, and power to punish and eliminate future threats. By placing sexual violence at the center of the systems of power and culture, Eaves shows how the South's rape culture was revealed in enslaved people's and their enslavers' interactions with one another and with members of their respective communities.

Reading Rape examines how American culture talks about sexual violence and explains why, in the latter twentieth century, rape achieved such significance as a trope of power relations. Through attentive readings of a wide range of literary and cultural representations of sexual assault--from antebellum seduction narratives and "realist" representations of rape in nineteenth-century novels to Deliverance, American Psycho, and contemporary feminist accounts--Sabine Sielke traces the evolution of a specifically American rhetoric of rape. She considers the kinds of cultural work that this rhetoric has performed and finds that rape has been an insistent figure for a range of social, political, and economic issues. Sielke argues that the representation of rape has been a major force in the cultural construction of sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, class, and indeed national identity. At the same time, her acute analyses of both canonical and lesser-known texts explore the complex anxieties that motivate such constructions and their function within the wider cultural imagination. Provoked in part by contemporary feminist criticism, Reading Rape also challenges feminist positions on sexual violence by interrogating them as part of the history in which rape has been a convenient and conventional albeit troubling trope for other concerns and conflicts. This book teaches us what we talk about when we talk about rape. And what we're talking about is often something else entirely: power, money, social change, difference, and identity.

MALE CRIME AND DEVIANCE seeks to explore in-depth the types of offenses most identified with and committed by males, dynamics of male crime, characteristics of male offenders, how male criminality and delinquency compare with and differ from female delinquent and criminal behavior, explanations for male crime, and efforts at combating crime in this country. Particular attention is given to exploring the relationship between male aggression and masculinity, as well as the role that testosterone and other biological factors play in male crime and violence. The book also focuses on the correlation between male violence and aggressive behavior and firearms, violence involving intimates, male sexual violence, bias crimes, workplace violence, terrorism, male perpetrated sexual offenses, youth gang crime, and school violence. These areas of male criminality and deviance are examined within the context of all male offending, arrest, self-report, and inmate data, along with criminological theoretical approaches to understanding the causes and related factors of male deviant behavior. The book is written primarily for undergraduate and graduate level students for coursework in criminal justice, criminology, male aggression, violent behavior, homicide, youth studies, gang studies, delinquency, law, law enforcement, sociology, social science, psychology, biology, and related areas of study. However, it is appropriate as well for academicians, social scientists, psychologists, law officers, medical workers, and a general readership with a vested interest in antisocial behavior and its implications on the greater society.

The uproar over "legitimate rape" during the 2012 U.S. elections confirms that rape remains a word in flux, subject to political power and social privilege. Redefining Rape describes the forces that have shaped the meaning of sexual violence in the U.S., through the experiences of accusers, assailants, and advocates for change.

Masculinity Under Construction: Literary Re-Presentations of Black Masculinity in the African Diaspora analyzes Black male identity as constructed by Black male authors. In each chapter, Dr. Jefferson-James discusses a different "construction" or definition of masculine identity produced by men of African descent on the continent of Africa, in the Caribbean, and in North America. Combing through the works of James Baldwin, Chinua Achebe, Ralph Ellison, George Lamming, and other pan-African authors, Masculinity Under Construction argues for the importance of analyzing the historical context that contributed to the formation of Black male identity. Additionally, Dr. Jefferson-James draws a relationship between Black feminists and writers, such as Anna Julia Cooper and her contemporaries, and these works of literature viewed as primarily about Black masculinity.

Adultery, though not an umbrella concept for all the sexual prohibitions in the Hebrew Bible, enjoys a certain pride of place. Remarkably, it is the one sexual prohibition attested in all biblical genres, which makes it very representative in the Hebrew Bible. It is the only Hebrew biblical sexual prohibition explicitly mentioned in the Decalogue. A solid understanding of Hebrew biblical adultery, therefore, is an important step towards grasping the vital role of human sexuality in the Hebrew Bible, both in terms of inter-human relationships and the relationship between the human and the divine. Without prejudice to the contents of the Hebrew biblical lexicons and theological dictionaries, this work aims at providing a comprehensive understanding of adultery in the Hebrew Bible: its meaning, punishments and the implications thereof. Among others, it corrects some wrong assumptions about the concept of adultery in the Hebrew Bible, and provides a balanced and unbiased Hebrew biblical conception of adultery and the implications thereof for todays couples.

Explores how Cold War men's magazines idealized warrior-heroes and sexual-conquerors and normalized conceptions of martial masculinity.

What made Emily Dickinson the reclusive woman she was, and the dynamic poet she became? A Wounded Deer concludes that her enigmatic poetry may have originated from a personal exposure to incest, and examines how she used her craft to make the transition from victim to survivor at a time when the medical profession failed to acknowledge any damage related to this event. Research into the Dickinson family background, evidence from letters and poems, and the testimony of people who knew the poet, indicate that she apparently displayed at least 33 of 37 “Incest Survivors’ Aftereffects” from a diagnostic tool used internationally by many therapists; when a client exhibits over 25 of these behavior patterns sexual abuse is strongly suspected. The second section of the book deals with the three stage of recovery from complex post-traumatic stress, as outlined by trauma expert Judith Herman. Remarkably, Dickinson seems to have completed stages one and two, but was unable to complete stage three because she could not reconnect with the outside world. Writing was Dickinson’s way of identifying the nature of her trauma, coming to terms with its impact, breaking the silence to inspire future women writers, and reconstructing a new persona–albeit from the sanctuary of her self-imposed isolation. The final section of A Wounded Deer examines what the poet might have discovered about sexual abuse from the literature she read, and how she responded to this information in her own work. It discusses The Bible, Shakespeare, Byron, Hawthorne, (Charlotte) Brontë, (George) Eliot, and Barrett Browning. "A Wounded Deer is fascinating, clearly written, difficult to put down, and a must for Dickinson scholars, psychologists and anyone interested in psychological interpretations of literature." Marilyn Berg Callander, President-Elect of the Fulbright Association. "A Wounded Deer is well worth reading: its argument is clear, cogent and at times riveting. Although we will never know the truth of the poet's life, this study offers readers a very plausible suggestion of what may be at the core of Dickinson's "omitted center"." Maryanne Garbowsky, English professor at the County College of Morris (NJ) and Dickinson scholar "This is a "groundbreaking" book, a fascinating and revealing read." E. Sue Blume, LCSW, Diplomate in Clinical Social Work Author, Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its Aftereffects in Women (1990: Ballantine Books) "How many multitudes of women have been terrorized into silence, withholding the truth of their damning accusations rather than face their fear, condemnation and shame of incest. Emily allows her soul to reach over time and space to tell others tortured by life's tragedies that they are not alone, and doing so the poet triumphs." Sandra Bloom has served as President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, President of the Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Chair of the Task Force on Family Violence for the Attorney General. She is the author of two books.