Men in the public eye: The construction and deconstruction of public men and public patriarchies

Men’s  domination  of  the  public  domain  is  obvious,  yet  it  is  often  ignored  in  social  and  political  analyses.  How  do  public  men,  in  public  patriarchies,  come  to  exert  such  enormous power? How and why do men dominate in the public worlds of work, politics, sexuality,  and  culture?  Jeff  Hearn  explores  these  questions  and  investigates  how  public  worlds construct public men and public masculinities in different and changing ways. These  important  issues  are  examined  by  focusing  on  the  period  1870–1920,  when  there  was  massive  growth  and  transformation  in  the  power  of  the  public  domains.  Jeff  Hearn explores the relationships between men’s activity in and domination of the public domains, the domination of private domains by public domains, and the intensification of public patriarchies. An underlying theme is that the present exists in the past, and the past in the present, and Hearn demonstrates that these historical debates and dilemmas are still relevant today as men search for new, postmodern forms of masculinities. Men in the Public Eye reveals why men’s domination in and of the public domains is a vital feature of gender relations in patriarchies, both past and present. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the social, political, and cultural dimensions of men and masculinities.