
The Man They Wanted Me to Be
Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
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Narrated by:
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Jared Yates Sexton
About this listen
Based on his provocative and popular New York Times op-ed, The Man They Wanted Me to Be is both memoir and cultural analysis. Jared Yates Sexton alternates between an examination of his working class upbringing and historical, psychological, and sociological sources that examine the genesis of toxic masculinity and its consequences for society.
As progressivism changes American society, and globalism shifts labor away from traditional manufacturing, the roles that have been prescribed to men since the Industrial Revolution have been rendered as obsolete. Donald Trump's campaign successfully leveraged male resentment and entitlement, and now, with Trump as president and the rise of the #MeToo movement, it's clear that our current definitions of masculinity are outdated and even dangerous.
Deeply personal and thoroughly researched, The Man They Wanted Me to Be examines how we teach boys what's expected of men in America, and the long-term effects of that socialization-which include depression, shorter lives, misogyny, and suicide. Sexton turns his keen eye to the establishment of the racist patriarchal structure which has favored white men, and investigates the personal and societal dangers of such outdated definitions of manhood.
©2019 Jared Yates Sexton (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Editor's Pick
I like my memoirs with a side of gender theory
"Having studied gender and masculinity in college, I always get excited when I find a listen that offers up gender analysis with a personal twist. Moving between personal anecdotes and scientific arguments that support his arguments, Jared Yates Sexton offers a glimpse of how toxic masculinity has affected his own life and lived experiences. Feminism has explored what it means to be a woman, but isn’t time we take a deeper look at what it means to 'be a man'?"
—Michael C., Audible Editor
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