Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

Misogyny, jest-books and male youth culture in seventeenth-century England

Reinke-Williams, T. (2009) Misogyny, jest-books and male youth culture in seventeenth-century England. Gender and History. 21(2), pp. 324-339. 1468-0424.

Item Type: Article
Abstract: Over the past twenty years, patriarchy has become a vitally important analytical concept for historians of women, gender and masculinity. By contrast, misogyny has been under-explored, despite being an equally prevalent historical phenomenon. This article offers a cultural history of seventeenth-century masculinity based on an analysis of the humorous jokes and stories found in jest-books, a genre that appealed in particular to male adolescents and young men in their twenties. It argues that patriarchy and misogyny should be treated as separate analytical concepts and cultural phenomena that appealed to different sorts of men. While patriarchy offered a code of manly behaviour for middling-sort married males to aspire to, misogynistic humour appealed predominantly to youthful single males, who were as antagonistic towards patriarchs as they were towards women. In articulating such an argument, this article engages with debates about manhood, misogyny and the reception and creation of everyday culture in early modern society
Uncontrolled Keywords: Early modern history, social history, cultural history, masculinity, manhood, gender, jest-book, misogyny, print
Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > DA20 England
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN6700 Comic books, strips, etc.
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ793 Youth. Adolescents. Teenagers
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ1075 Sex role
Creators: Reinke-Williams, Tim
Publisher: Blackwells
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > School of Social Sciences (to 2016)
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > History
Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > History
Date: August 2009
Date Type: Publication
Page Range: pp. 324-339
Journal or Publication Title: Gender and History
Volume: 21
Number: 2
Language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0424.2009.01551.x
ISSN: 1468-0424
Status: Published / Disseminated
Refereed: Yes
Related URLs:
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/5445

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