Pimps Wimps Studs Thugs and Gentlemen

<p> With essays ranging in topic from the films of Neil LaBute to the sexual politics of Major League Baseball this diverse collection of essays examines the multi-faceted media images of contemporary masculinity from a variety of perspectives and academic disciplines. The book's first half focuses on the issue of racialized masculinity and its various manifestations with essays covering among other topics the re-imagining of Asian American masculinity in Justin Lin's <I>Better Luck Tomorrow</I> and the ever-present image of black male buffoonery in the neo-minstrel performances of VH1's <I>Flavor of Love</I>. The book's second half explores the issue of contemporary mediated performance and the cultural politics of masculinity with essays focusing on popular media representations of men in a variety of gendered roles from homemakers and househusbands to valorous war heroes and athletic demigods.</p>