Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the works of historians, sociologists and other scholars that have explored not only the social construction of masculinity, but the multiple ways that adherence to its ideals have shaped the office of the presidency as well as foreign and domestic policy. In the United States, investment in masculine political leadership has changed little over the course of the past six decades, in spite of the strides made by the second and third wave feminist movements. If manhood is something that is earned, then masculinity is the demonstrable quality of being a man, the regular evidencing of one's normative gender identity, the active claim on an earned manhood. The assumption of political leadership is easier for women when they are able to demonstrate that they conform to hegemonic standards of femininity.