10 Books on Masculinity
Biology | Psychology | Theology
To celebrate passing 4,000 subscribers on Substack, here's a list of 10 books on masculinity I recommend that you probably haven’t heard of before:
Steve Moxon, Sex Difference Explained: From DNA to Society — Purging Gene Copy Errors (New Male Studies, 2016)
Why males are the genetic filter of the species and what this means for male-female dynamics. Essential insights despite Moxon’s materialism (which has nothing to do with science).
Richard Wrangham, Demonic Males (Bloomsbury, 1996)
A good overview of why patriarchy is universal, how it’s partly rooted in female biology and why so-called ‘toxic’ masculine traits are actually attractive to women.
Simon Baron-Cohen, The Essential Difference: Men, Women and The Extreme Male Brain (Penguin, 2004)
A clear summary of two decades of research into male vs. female brains, what they look like at their extremes and how this relates to autism (a condition affecting many right-wing young men).
Doreen Kimura, Sex and Cognition (MIT, 2000)
An overview of the neural and hormonal bases of sex differences in behaviour and problem-solving ability.
Anne Campbell, A Mind of Her Own: The Evolutionary Psychology of Women (OUP, 2013)
Probably the best summary of how sexual selection, not natural selection, shapes the sexes: what do women choose in men and why?
David Gilmore, Manhood in the Making (Yale, 1990)
The first cross-cultural study of manhood and the first to emphasise the universality of the three Ps: procreate, protect and provide.
Michael Walsh, Last Stands (St. Martin’s Press, 2020)
What makes men choose death over dishonour? A classical music critic writes a brilliant tribute to his soldier father.
Carlin Barton, Roman Honour (University of California Press, 2001)
A fascinating account of the spiritual and emotional life of ancient Romans.
G. C. Dilsaver, Celebrating God-Given Gender (Imageo Dei Press, 2017)
Dilsaver shows how the male abdication of authority facilitated feminism: ‘the new liberated woman was the perfect mate for the new ever-adolescent male.’
Dietrich von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: Love and the Meaning of Intimacy (Sophia, 1992)
Pope Pius XII called Dietrich von Hildebrand ‘the 20th-century Doctor of the Church’, and this is a brief but brilliant summary of the spiritual meaning of sexual differences.
I haven’t included any fiction on this list, but Shakespeare’s tragedies eclipse everything else.
Baron-Cohen’s work on autism has been invaluable. His findings on the link between mothers with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and babies with autism, have been furthered our understanding of what causes autism. More research is needed in the area of women with autism (I am one). This area is in danger of being dominated by LGBTQ researchers, attempting to push their particular agenda.