The rites of men : manhood, politics, and the culture of sport / Varda Burstyn.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

It gathers more spectators on a global basis than any other activity today. More than just a game, sport has profound political and social consequences, promoting a super-aggressive ideal of manhood and political culture.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This book explores the notion that sport has become the great masculine secular religion of the epoch and thus plays an integral role in men's interpersonal, work, and sociopolitical lives. A well constructed and documented narrative traces the roots of the "secular religion of sport" as envisaged by the Canadian-based author, who critically examines the dominant forms of masculinity and the institutionalized world of sport, or "the sport nexus." Throughout the text a complex tapestry of issues is woven: sport, economics, manhood, and gender systems. Issues ranging from sexuality to corporate manipulation, from violence to the biotechnologization of the athletic ideal, are questioned in the discussion of male athletes who are commercially elevated to hero status and the central figures in the development of "sport culture." The book is recommended for sports studies majors and graduate students who are interested in gender and masculinity and their intimate relationship to sport and social change. M. L. Krotee; University of Minnesota