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Numen, old men : contemporary masculine spiritualities and
the problem of patriarchy
Joseph Gelfer
London ; Oakville, CT : Equinox Pub., 2009
ISBN: 9781845534196
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Book description
Since the early 1990s, there have been various waves of
interest in what is often described as "masculine spirituality". While
diverse, a commonality among these interests has been a concern that
spirituality has become too feminine, and that men's experiences of the
spiritual are being marginalized. Masculine spirituality is therefore about
promoting what it perceives to be authentic masculine characteristics within
a spiritual context. By examining the nature of these characteristics,
Numen, Old Men argues that masculine spirituality is little more than a
thinly veiled patriarchal spirituality. The mythopoetic, evangelical, and to
a lesser extent Catholic men's movements all promote a heteropatriarchal
spirituality by appealing to neo-Jungian archetypes of a combative and
oppressive nature, or understanding men's role as biblically ordained leader
of the family. Numen, Old Men then examines Ken Wilber's integral
spirituality, which aims to honour and transcend both the masculine and
feminine, but which privileges the former to the extent where it becomes
another masculine spirituality, with all its inherent patriarchal problems.
Gay spirituality is then offered as a form of masculine spirituality, which
to a large degree resists patriarchal tendencies, suggesting a queering of
spirituality could be useful for all men, both gay and straight.
About the author
Joseph Gelfer is an Honorary Research Associate at the
School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University.
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