Labored Language

Anxiety and Sadomasochism in Steel-industry Tales of Masculinity

Bibliographic Data

ID2387553
AuthorsJames V Catano (Louisiana State University, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume6
Issue1
Pages3-30
Publication date2003-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMen and Masculinities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1097-184X • E-ISSN: 1552-6828
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1097184x03006001001
OpenAlexW4232681733
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited24

This article discusses the construction and representation of worker masculinities within one of the West's premier industries: steel. It argues that concerns over sadomasochism in masculinity, which are vigorously denied within the dominant oedipal myth of masculinity, are revealed and interrogated by working-class tales about the steel industry-although these narratives cannot finally overturn the dominant. The result of that controlling mythic process is a continual rewarding and repetition of masculine behavior that is sadomasochistic at base. The cost of that system of rewards and punishments is enormous for all classes and races. But as workers' tales make clear, although the cost is ultimately paid by all, it is not equally shared among all

Aesthetics · Art · Human sexuality · Linguistics · Literature · Masculinity · Mythology · Narrative · Sadomasochism · Sociology · Asian American and Pacific Histories · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Philosophy · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society · Social Psychology