Michael Kimmel

Michael Scott Kimmel (born February 26, 1951)^[1] is an American sociologist, specializing in gender studies. He holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the Stony Brook University in New York and is the founder and editor of the academic journal Men and Masculinities.^[2] Kimmel is a spokesperson of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS)^[3] and a longtime feminist.^[4] In 2013 he founded the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook University, where he is Executive Director.^[5]

Background

Kimmel earned a B.A. with distinction from Vassar College in 1972; an M.A. from Brown University in 1974; and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981 with a dissertation titled: Absolutism and its Discontents: Fiscal Crisis and Political Opposition in Seventeenth Century France and England.^[6]

Before joining the Stony Brook University faculty in 1987, Kimmel worked as assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers University from 1982 to 1986 as well as visiting assistant professor at New York University.^[6] He returned to his alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley, where he was visiting professor from 1992 to 1994.^[6] In the academic year 1992–1993, he was voted "Best Professor" on campus by the The Daily Californian.^[7]

Scholarship

Kimmel is considered a leading figure in the academic subfield of men's studies.^[8][9] He has written numerous books on gender and masculinities including Men's Lives (2010, 8th edition), The Gendered Society (2011, 4th edition), Manhood: a Cultural History (2012, 3rd edition), and Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men (2008). He has co-edited The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities (2005) and Men and Masculinities: a Social, Cultural and Historical Encyclopedia (2004) which was named "Best of Reference 2004" by the New York Public Library.^[10] Moreover, he is the editor of a series on genders and sexualities at New York University Press.^[11] In 1992–1993, Kimmel founded the journal Masculinities which was associated with the American Men's Studies Association. The journal was a precursor to the journal Men and Masculinities which was picked up by SAGE Publications in 1998 and became one of the first academic journals focused on men, with Kimmel as its editor.^[12]

In 2004, Kimmel was one of 15 scholars chosen for innovative scholarship by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. His research title was "Globalization and its Mal(e)contents: The Gendered Moral and Political Economy of the Extreme Right".^[13]

In an article about a "fight club" in Menlo Park, California, Kimmel remarked that there was a sadomasochistic thread running through them, and said they "are the male version of the girls who cut themselves. [...] All day long these guys think they're the captains of the universe, technical wizards. They're brilliant but empty. [...] They want to feel differently. They want to get hit, they want to feel something real." ^[14]

Selected publications

• Kimmel (2014). Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era. New York: Nation Books. ISBN 978-1-56-858696-0. 
• Kimmel (2012) [1996]. Manhood in America: A Cultural History (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-978155-3. 
• Kimmel; Aronson, Amy (2011). Sociology now: the essentials (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-73199-2. 
• Kimmel (2011) [2000]. The gendered society (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539902-8. 
• Kimmel; Messner, Michael (2010) [1989]. Men's Lives (8th ed.). Boston, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-69294-1. 
• Kimmel (2010). Misframing men: the politics of contemporary masculinities. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-4762-6. 
• Kimmel; Ferber, Abby L., eds. (2010) [2003]. Privilege: a reader (2nd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-4426-3. 
• Kimmel (2008). Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-083135-6. 
• Kimmel (2005). The Gender of Desire: Essays on Masculinity. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-6337-6. 
• Kimmel; Hearn, Jeff; Connell, Raewyn, eds. (2005). Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-0-7619-2369-5. 
• Kimmel; Aronson, Amy, eds. (2004). Men & Masculinities: A Social, Cultural, and Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-774-0. 
• Kimmel (1996) [1987]. Changing Men: New Directions in the Study of Men and Masculinity. Newbury Park, Calif.: SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-0-8039-2996-8. 
• Kimmel, ed. (1995). The Politics of Manhood. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-56639-365-2. 
• Kimmel (1992). Against the Tide: Pro-Feminist Men in the U.S., 1776–1990. Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-6760-4. 
• Kimmel (1991). Men Confront Pornography. New York: Crown. ISBN 978-0-517-56931-3. 
• Kimmel (1990). Revolution: A Sociological Interpretation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-0-87722-736-6. 
• Kimmel (1988). Absolutism and its Discontents: State and Society in 17th Century France and England. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction. ISBN 978-0-88738-180-5. 

References

External links

• Faculty page for Kimmel Stony Brook University
• Transcript of an interview with Kimmel in the PBS documentary No Safe Place: Violence Against Women, March 27, 1998

Articles online

• "Gender Equality: Not for Women Only", a lecture prepared for International Women's Day Seminar, European Parliament, Brussels, March 8, 2001
• "Gender, Class and Terrorism", The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 8, 2002
• "Toward A Pedagogy of the Oppressor", Tikkun, November/December 2002
• "About a Boy", Vassar, the Alumnae/i Quarterly, volume 100, issue 1, Winter 2003
• "A Black woman took my job – Michael Kimmel argues that it is in men's interest to work for gender equality", New Internationalist 373, November 1, 2004
• "Global Masculinities: Restoration and Resistance", Gender Policy Review