You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The only way you really change is to do analysis.
You may be wondering why these two authors and their rather different books (one a collection of interviews, the other a memoir) are being reviewed in JAPA. And why by me—neither a fan of Stern, a bit too raunchy for my taste, nor of Springsteen, whose music was not a part of my generational experience. Plus, they both struck me—a committed feminist since my late 20s—as hypermasculine. Stern for his relentless focus on sex and intimate body parts, and Springsteen for no better reason than his “bandana and biceps” routine on stage.
You may imagine my surprise, as a result, when I discovered each in print—and my even greater shock at the reversal of my expectations. The differences between their books (in structure, style, and genre) pale in comparison to what they share: qualities of introspection and insight that call into question the norms of American masculinity while offering a significant alternative. What follows is my journey through the lives of these two men, as expressed in their own words, in terms of their subversion of (what I will call) cultural masculinity and how they achieved such a remarkable transformation.1
I will begin with Stern, whom I encountered in 2019, when I happened on a CNN interview. He was talking about his childhood, failed
I highly recommend Howard Stern's interview of Bruce Springsteen on HBO, as a means of forming your own conclusions.
first marriage, and the depression that ensued. It was when he commented on how psychoanalysis had “changed his life” that my ears began to prick up. Wait, did Howard Stern, the shock-jock radio host of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s just say that? Not Fartman! He even expressed embarrassment about his previous books, Miss America and Private Parts , which he advised viewers to burn. It was about the same time that the New York Times Magazine ran a cover story on his new book and NPR's Terry Gross featured him