Unlocking the Iron Cage: Men's Movement, Gender Politics and American Culture Book

Though Robert Bly launched the men's mythopoetic movement in 1981 at a retreat at the Lama Commune in New Mexico, it was his highly popular book Iron John that first brought this movement to national attention. The public reaction, for the most part, has been far from balanced, ranging from bemused or dismissive stories appearing in Sunday supplements and magazines, to outrageous lampoons on television, to open hostility on the part of many feminists. But the truth remains elusive. Why do these middle-class white men gather at rustic camps to beat drums, dance wildly, hold sweat lodge rituals, laugh and cry, and listen to old myths and fairy tales? Based on Michael Schwalbe's three years of experience as a participant and observer at well over a hundred meetings, as well as on numerous interviews with active members, Unlocking the Iron Cage provides a revealing look at who these men are, why the movement appeals to them, what needs it fills, where it succeeds, and where it fails. Schwalbe illuminates the theory behind the mythopoetic movement--which derives largely from Jungian psychology and the archetypal psychology of James Hillman--but for the most part he focuses on the rank-and-file participants. He finds mostly middle-class men trying to cope with fathers who gave little emotional sustenance and with a competitive society they find unsatisfying, who sympathize with many of women's complaints about men and sexism (though Schwalbe also finds that many joined as a reaction to what they saw as feminism's blanket indictment of men), and who are searching for an alternative to the traditional image of a man as rational, tough, ambitious, and in control. Schwalbe finds much of value here. For instance, he highlights the religious appeal of mythopoetic events--its emphasis on finding one's personal truth, its gentle pantheism, its use of ritual to create emotional communion--which give the men the wide, inclusive path to spirituality they want. And he shows how Jungian psychology helps the men to redefine their feminine traits, especially their emotionality, as aspects of "deep masculinity." But he also levels some criticisms. He shows, for example, that the myths the men embrace subtly reinforce the presumptions of male superiority they claim to reject (myths that tend to be devoid of women, or that portray women as beautiful prizes, or hags, or cloying mothers). If the mythopoetic movement seems absurd to an outside observer, it is no more ludicrous than football--with fans shirtless in freezing weather, their faces painted, screaming themselves hoarse--and it is far less damaging to men's image of women or of themselves. In Unlocking the Iron Cage, Michael Schwalbe provides an understanding, insightful account of this often-maligned grass-roots movement, revealing the genuine value it has for many people.Read More