Constructing the Normative : Male Subjects and Others in the Dystopias of Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth

Baker, Brian (2005) Constructing the Normative : Male Subjects and Others in the Dystopias of Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth. Extrapolation, 46 (4). pp. 439-452. ISSN 0014-5483

Abstract

This article explores the representation of masculinity in the work of Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth, and in particular their novel Gladiator-at-Law (1954). The article suggests that the critique of corporate capitalism offered by the novel is accompanied by a re-statement of a heroic, reactionary masculinity which seeks to offset economic displacement with gender domination.