Male Delivery: Reproduction, Effeminacy, and Pregnant Men in Early Modern Spain (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780826515162)

Using the one-act comedy El parto de Juan Rana (John Frog Gives Birth) as a point of departure, Velasco argues that the figure of the pregnant man in early modern Spanish culture was not merely comic entertainment, but also served an important role as a physical representation of the anxieties about the changing roles of men and women at the time.

Men were increasingly taking over medical duties--especially surrounding childbirth--usually left to women and, as their medical knowledge increased, they became aware of bodies and behaviors--both male and female--that transgressed gender norms. The anxieties about men who acted in ways seen as increasingly womanly (from acting effeminately to participating in homosexual activity) played out in the character of pregnant Juan Rana.

Then, Velasco turns to Hollywood and asks if we might not use the lessons of Juan Rana to help explain why contemporary America is also fascinated by the idea of male pregnancy--think Arnold Schwarzenegger in Junior--and our increasing anxiety over the changing face of masculinity in our own culture.

Author: Sherry Velasco
ISBN-10: 0826515169
ISBN-13: 9780826515162
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/30/2006
Pages: 232
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 8.96h x 6.06w x 0.59d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2006 pg. 157