Men's Roles in the Family

Abstract

Several recent developments make the study of men's roles in the family a timely undertaking. Women's roles in the family and society have been undergoing radical reconsideration and change since the early 1960's, following the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique in 1963. One decade later, professionals and the American public began thinking about male roles in new ways as well. The first milestone in this new examination of male roles was the publication of five major books on men's liberation in late 1974 and early 1975 (David & Brannon, 1975; Farrell, 1974; Fasteau, 1974; Nichols, 1975; Pleck & Sawyer, 1974). A spate of later popular books followed, as did several publications aimed at more professional audiences. Particularly noteworthy among the latter were the special topical issues on male roles of the Journal of Social Issues (Pleck & Brannon, 1978) and The Counseling Psychologist (Skovholt, Gormally, Schauble, & Davis 1978). The research bibliographies on male sex roles published by the Men's Studies Collection of the M.I.T. Humanities Library (Ferriero, Note 1) and by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grady, Brannon, & Pleck, 1979) are