This book studies some of the important myths of masculinity in popular culture, including the western, the horror film, rock music and pornography. The book begins with an assessment of some of the key theoretical issues in gender studies and cultural studies, including identification between subject and text, and the debate over the male subject position and female object position in patriarchal culture.

The author also makes use of an unusually wide-ranging theoretical background, derived from feminism, anthropology, psychology, Marxism and sociology. The book argues that popular culture does not simply present tales of male heroism and conquest, but also gives us highly complex and ambivalent images of men. The hero turns into the anti-hero; feminine and homoerotic material leak in; the male is often shown as the victim.

Thus popular culture does not simply express male hegemony, but also reveals many images of male defeat, damage and confusion.