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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

The Manly Modern

Masculinity in Postwar Canada

The Manly Modern, the first major book on the history of masculinity in Canada, traces the history of what happened when men’s supposed modernity became one of their defining features. Through a series of case studies covering such diverse subjects as car culture, mountaineering, war veterans, murder trials, and a bridge collapse, Christopher Dummitt argues that the very idea of what it meant to be modern was gendered. A strong current of anti-modernist sentiment bubbled just beneath the surface of postwar masculinity, creating rumblings about the state of modern manhood that, ironically, mirrored the tensions that burst forth in 1960s gender radicalism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

1 Introduction: The Manly Modern

2 Coming Home

3 At Work

4 In the Mountains

5 Before the Courts and on the Couch

6 On the Road

7 Conclusion: Manly Modernism in Hindsight

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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