Little Samsons

Abstract

This article tells the stories of 2 little boys, one a contemporary boy who falls off his bicycle in New York City, the other the mythical biblical hero Samson. I use these 2 stories to explore the role of abandonment in the formation, in boys, of a gendered sense of self. I argue that boys and men evolve under the shadow of parental and societal abandonment, a selective process where some aspects of personhood are accepted while others are refused recognition. Through subtle as well as sometimes dramatic abandonments, boys are stirred to negate their vulnerabilities and take care of themselves, with lifelong consequences.