“In Man Enough? Jackson Katz builds on recent scholarly work about how Americans conceive of the presidency, but his goal is to push presidential studies toward a more explicit engagement with the idea that the presidency is fundamentally a contest of American manhood. Katz’s book manages to be both intellectually exhilarating and highly accessible even as it greatly advances our understanding of presidential politics. It should be widely read by students, scholars, pundits, and political junkies.”

—Dr. Caroline Heldman, Chair, Department of Politics, Occidental College, coeditor of Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?

“For years, scholar and activist Jackson Katz has been providing crucial insights into the relationship between cultural representations of manhood and the actual social and economic circumstances of men’s lives. In Man Enough?, Katz brings his formidable critical skills to bear on contemporary American politics and the US presidency, offering a fresh and fascinating new take on the cultural politics of (white) manhood, with vivid discussions of timely topics such as the Trump phenomenon, the power of conservative talk radio, and the gender issues at play in the response to ISIS. This is first-rate social and political commentary.”

—Sut Jhally, PhD, Professor of Communication, UMass Amherst, Founder-Director, Media Education Foundation

“Every presidential election is a ‘masculinity contest,’ but rarely have constituencies congealed in such a gendered way as in 2016. Jackson Katz’s incisive analysis situates the gendered vitriol in shifting global social and economic contexts, while never losing sight of how individual candidates use gendered themes to make their case. Keep this book next to the remote on election night, mute the blathering pundits, and watch Katz’s analysis unfold.”

—Michael Kimmel, author of Manhood in America and Angry White Men:

“Men who run for office aren’t seen as ‘playing the gender card,’ because culturally, men are the deck. But when women enter the political arena they are always seen through the lens of their gender. Jackson Katz’s rigorous work destroys this fallacy. Man Enough? should be required reading for anyone interested in examining how gender norms and racial/ethnic biases shape definitions of leadership, not only in relation to the presidency but in many other areas as well.” American Masculinity at the End of an Era

—Soraya Chemaly, media critic and activist, and founder of The Speech Project

Author Bio:

Jackson Katz, Ph.D. is internationally renowned for his groundbreaking scholarship and activism on issues of gender and violence. He is the creator of the award-winning educational documentaries Tough Guise and Tough Guise 2, and is the author of The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help. He is featured in the films Miss Representation and The Mask You Live In. He blogs for The Huffington Post, and lectures widely in the U.S. and around the world on violence, media, and masculinities.