White Men on the Edge

Rewriting the Borderlands in Lone Star

Bibliographic Data

ID2387583
AuthorsWendy Somerson (Seattle, WA), Wendy Elisheva Somerson (Seattle University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume6
Issue3
Pages215-239
Publication date2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMen and Masculinities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1097-184X • E-ISSN: 1552-6828
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1097184x03255847
OpenAlexW2164407024
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited17

This article argues that in the era of transnational capitalism, some U.S. narratives, generally produced by and about white men, reflect contemporary anxieties about the position of white masculinity, which alters in response to changes in sociopolitical and economic conditions. Responding to the potential displacement of white masculinity by feminism and multiculturalism, these narratives incorporate racial difference into the white nuclear family to reposition white masculinity as a borderland state of being. Once white masculinity is positioned on the borderlands, its importance can be reaffirmed in the era of globalization. The author begins with an analysis of racialized representations of former president Bill Clinton, who functioned as a figurehead of masculinity for the nation. She then considers John Sayles's film Lone Star, which marks out a positive subject position for the current white male subject by rewriting the racial position of the white male historical subject

Art · Capitalism · Literature · Masculinity · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Race, History, and American Society

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