In her new work, Crispin\u2019s tools of critique are the erotic thrillers in which Michael Douglas starred in the 1980s and \u201990s. The characters he played during this time, the author suggests, all reflect a \u201cnew masculinity\u201d trying to find purchase in the wake of not only feminism\u2019s second and third waves, but also shifts to America\u2019s global position at the end of the Cold War. Women had achieved, even if imperfectly, new freedoms and had built resourceful networks of community and advocacy to propel themselves from patriarchy\u2019s grip. Men, however, floundered in the face of perceived disempowerment. Failing to discern a new model of masculinity in their changing world, they become narrowly\u2014even dangerously\u2014reactive, shaping manliness into something marked by paranoid outrage, monetary greed, and cruel individualism. This is a niche period, both for Michael Douglas as a celebrity\u2014his work after the turn of the century is only barely covered in the text, with some films not mentioned at all\u2014and for the creation of a post-patriarchal society. The Douglas films offer examples as touchpoints for the author to discuss stereotypes like midlife crisis and nostalgic nationalism, as well as upheavals like no-fault divorce and the savings and loan banking crisis, all of which give way to the confusion, denial, and ultimately defensiveness and grievance that fuel a widespread conversation about how \u201cmen are failing to thrive\u201d today. The author\u2019s preoccupation with Douglas\u2019 portrayals often distracts from rather than reinforces her argument, which can itself be winding and overgeneralized. Nevertheless, Crispin\u2019s adept cultural synthesis is delivered with amusing snark and an undertone of increasing anxiety, pontifical concern, and moral urgency designed to confront the current moment.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In her new work, Crispin\u2019s tools of critique are the erotic thrillers in which Michael Douglas starred in the 1980s and \u201990s. The characters he played during this time, the author suggests, all reflect a \u201cnew masculinity\u201d trying to find purchase in the wake of not only feminism\u2019s second and third waves, but also shifts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}