Boys and their Toys: Masculinity, Class and Technology in America

"Boys and their Toys," a great title that describes well the subject of this book, is a collection of essays on originally presented at a conference at the Hagley Museum. All of the essays present aspects of technology and masculinity and focus at some level on the role of the workplace. Divided into three major sections--"Manhood in the Workplace," "Learning to Be Men," and "Manhood at Play"--it offers ten chapters on a range of subjects. All of these essays present interesting perspectives on the role of gender in technology and society. Among my personal favorites are Janet Davidson's "`Now We Have Girls in the Office': Clerical Work, Masculinity, and the Refashioning of Gender in a Bureaucratic Age," which explores how the addition of women as office workers in the railroads affected the workplace. She found that male clerks, which had previously enjoyed a close relationship to the masculine work of railroaders on the line not had to find new ways to separate themselves from the women in the office who performed similar work. Hierarchies emerged and efforts to eliminate women from the railroad offices also took place after World War I.Likewise, Ben Shackleford's essay, "Masculinity, the Auto Racing Fraternity, and the Technological Sublime: The Pit Stop as a Celebration of Social Roles," is a fascinating explication of how the rituals of stock car racing have evolved over time, the role of women in it, and the nature of gender in work and play. His discussion of masculine behavior in auto racing, the choreography of the pit stop, and controlled violence of high speed racing is both illuminating and thought provoking.Overall, this is a very interesting and instructive volume. Enjoy!