Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man is a 1999

1999 in literature

The year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...

 book by feminist

Feminism

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

 author Susan Faludi

Susan Faludi

Susan C. Faludi is an American feminist, journalist and author. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1991, for a report on the leveraged buyout of Safeway Stores, Inc., a report that the Pulitzer Prize committee thought showed the "human costs of high finance".-Biographical...

, her followup to Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women is the title of a 1991 nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize winner Susan Faludi, which argues for the existence of a media driven "backlash" against the feminist advances of the 1970s...

. The book addresses the state of masculinity

Masculinity

Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...

 in late 20th Century America.

The chapters of the book explore various topics including job losses from the closure of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard

Long Beach Naval Shipyard

thumb|right|300px|Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1993The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles and approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport.The Long Beach...

, hazing

Hazing

Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....

 at The Citadel

The Citadel (military college)

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...

, the effects on the local Dawg Pound

Dawg Pound

The Dawg Pound is the name of the bleacher section behind the east end zone in Cleveland Browns Stadium, the home field of the Cleveland Browns. It is known for its extremely zealous fan base.-Formation:...

 fan base as the original Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 pondered a move to Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, the rise of the Promise Keepers

Promise Keepers

Promise Keepers is an international conservative Christian organization for men. While it originated in the United States, it is now world-wide...

 movement, male roles in the 1960s New Left

New Left

The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...

, the My Lai Massacre

My Lai Massacre

The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...

, the making of the film Rambo: First Blood

First Blood

First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...

, the Waco Siege

Waco Siege

The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993, and ended violently 50 days later on April 19. The siege began when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located east-northeast of Waco,...

 and the making of the subsequent documentary film Waco: The Rules of Engagement

Waco: The Rules of Engagement

Waco: The Rules of Engagement is a 1997 documentary directed by William Gazecki about the conflict in 1993 between the Branch Davidians, a non-mainstream Christian group led by David Koresh, and the FBI. It was nominated for an Academy Award....

, the Project Apollo

Project Apollo

The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...

 moon landings, and men in the pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

 industry.

The common theme that runs through the book is that men have attempted to live up to the expectations of masculinity established in post-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 America, only to find society not living up to its end of the bargain as globalization

Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...

, downsizing and other economic pressures have made it difficult for men to live up to their expected roles as providers. At the same time she applies a feminist critique to these expectations, while noting that the feminist critique of the rise of an ornamental

Ornamental

Ornamental may refer to:*Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration*Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work*Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qualities...

culture applies to men as much as women: As the culture has shifted toward an ornamental one in which awards, popular culture symbols of ideal masculinity, and economic bottom lines have become the societal norms of success, ordinary men are losing self-esteem and a sense of purpose. In particular she links the problems of many men today with abusive or absent fathers when growing up, and is critical of the rise of a corporate "organization man" culture in the 1950s and 1960s, which led to absent fathers failing to provide a positive, nurturing environment to their children, and then to failed expectations as companies laid off longtime loyal employees during the 1980s and 1990s.