Masculinity – what it means and how it came to be – has for years been a point of discussion on college campuses. More recently, the conversation has spread to the general public. The New York Times posed the question in 2019: what is “toxic masculinity?”
East Tennessee State University’s Dr. Elwood Watson is addressing these and other
important questions in “Talkin’ to You, Bro!: Liberate your mind from the confusing, ambiguous messages of
contemporary masculinity,” a book released earlier this fall.
The book offers a new outlook on manhood in current culture, Watson said, and aims
to help men understand their lives and how they fit into the world’s confusing and
occasionally harmful definition of masculinity. Many aspects of men’s lives are covered
in the book, including work, relationships, mental health and self-care.
Watson, a professor in the Department of History at ETSU, has taught at the university since 1997. He has published on a wide array
of topics in book chapters and journal articles and delivered numerous conference
presentations. His previous book was “Keepin’ It Real: Essays on Race in Contemporary
America.”