Sumerau weaves sociological theory, empirical findings, and pointed interviews and anecdotes to bring her core arguments to life. Simultaneously comprehensible and complex, this book shines in its integration of social psychological theory on gender and identity, criminological perspectives on violence, and a deep yet succinct understanding of the meaning of manhood—as good, as white, as sexual, and as potentially violent by definition.

By centering the justifications, excuses, and perspectives of those located most closely to the hegemonic ideal—white, cisgender, heterosexual men from the middle- to upper-class—Sumerau adds depth to quantitative renderings of masculinity and violence that may drop the jaw of even seasoned gender and crime scholars.

In particular, I am struck by the normalness with which the participants deny the existence of sexual and domestic violence and their selective framing of “real violence” as the acts of “other” types of men (e.g., poor men) from whom they must protect women and girls. How they navigate the tension between accepting that to be a man is to be dominant and aggressive, and that (“real”) violence is a serious social problem, seems to land them in a place of apathy, where gender roles and dynamics are “just the way things are” due to either biology or divine creation.

The dismissal of their need to confront violence in themselves and in society provides a window into the indifference and selective silence (particularly around “women’s” issues) that perpetuates some of the most pressing social problems of the day. Sumerau digs to the root of violence for those who identify as men, and for those who bear the brunt of the consequences of its enactment (e.g., women, LGBTQ+ individuals). I strongly recommend this text to researchers and instructors in the areas of gender and violence, masculinities, and beyond.