ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IT’S REALLY NOT THE SAME AT ALL, BUT WRITING BOOKS IS PROBABLY the closest I will ever come to being pregnant and giving birth. The gestation in this case takes years and is likewise always idiosyncratic, a marvelous brew of agitation, worry, and wonder. Like human conception, a book is a joyfully joint enterprise. My debt is great to many colleagues, friends, and family members who have accompanied me in the course of this project, which was originally conceived as a presentation at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2013. The theme that year was “Animals.” After initially responding, “I don’t do animals,” it occurred to me that, well, perhaps I do.

For their insights, cajoling, invitations to lecture, reading of drafts, every manner of critique, and friendship throughout the period this book came to life, my thanks to Mickey Ackerman, Elia Aguilar, Josefina Alcazar, Sara Amin, Peter Andreas, Non Arkaraprasertkul (), Miguel Armenta, Omar Awan, Roger Bartra, Victoria Bernal, Federico Besserer, Po Bhattacharyya, Stanley Brandes, Lundy Braun, Susan Brownell, Matti Bunzl, Cai Yifeng (), Sylvia Chant, Nitsan Chorev, Beshara Doumani, Fan Ke (), Paja Faudree, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Michael Flood, William Freedberg, Lina Fruzzetti, Agustín Fuentes, Frances Hasso, Patrick Heller, Gilbert Herdt, Lung-hua Hu (), Marcia Inhorn, Dan Kahn, Sarah Kahn, Mark Kepple, David Kertzer, Tim Kessler, Max Kohlenberg, Louise Lamphere, Bradley Levinson, Minhua Ling, Tanya Luhrmann, Catherine Lutz, Rolf Malungo de Souza, Alice Mandel, Clara Mantini-Briggs, Hannah Marshall, Katherine Mason, Michelle McKenzie, Bob Mercer, Shaylih Muehlmann, Nefissa Naguib, Lynne Nakano, Robin Nelson, Ruben Oliven, Sherry Ortner, Pan Tianshu (), Ernesto Persechino, David Rand, Lucía Rayas, Clara Eugenia Rojas Blanco, Noha Sadek, Robert Sapolsky, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Shao Jing (), Susan Short, Daniel Smith, Michael Steinberg, Edward Steinfeld, Sun Huizhu (), Ivonne Szasz, Josh Taub, Brendan Thornton, Lingzhen Wang (), Wang Mengqi, Angela Wai-ching Wong, Ken Wong, and Carol Worthman.

I became friends with several of the people named above when I contacted them because I didn’t agree with arguments they had made and I wanted to discuss our diverging perspectives. In some cases, I still don’t go along with their thinking; but in the book I do try to engage sincerely with them, and I am especially appreciative of their patience in trying to help me understand why I am the one who’s still mistaken. Long may such dialogues thrive.

I offer special recognition of two individuals who for several decades have been essential in establishing and guiding the academic field of feminist men and masculinities studies. Michael Kimmel and Raewyn Connell have made inequality the center of these studies, as they inspired new generations of scholars and activists. Your global impact has been profound conceptually and institutionally and I have enormously benefited from your counsel and assistance.

For granting me interviews—the best were really conversations—in the course of this research, my appreciation especially to Sául Alveano, Daniel Armenta, Miguel Armenta, Richard Bribiescas, Martha Delgado, Frans de Waal, Fili Fernández, Tina Garnanez, Deborah Gordon, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Li Gangwu (), Norma López, Daniel Morales, Demond Mullins, Richard Rosenthal, Marcos Ruvalcaba, Gabriel Saavedra, Henry Tricks, Yang Luxia (), and Zhu Wenbing ().

To Brown University undergraduates who assisted with transcription, bibliographic research, statistical analysis, and language tips, your help was invaluable: Kevin Dhali, Drew Hawkinson, Silvina Hernández, Iván Hofman, Paula Martínez Gutiérrez, Alan Mendoza Sosa, Max Song, Brenton Stokes, Daphne Xu, and Wen (Elaine) Wen ().

To my agent Gail Ross and all her team, especially Dara Kay and Katie Zanecchia, your enthusiasm and vision for the project were key. To TJ Kelleher, who first brought the book to Basic; Eric Hanney, who improved the argument in each chapter; Kaitlin Carruthers-Busser for handling production; Katherine Streckfus for superb copyediting; and everyone else at Basic, from editing to promotion, my deep thanks.

Thanks also to audiences for their questions and comments, especially in Chicago, Ciudad Juárez, Durham, Hong Kong, Irvine, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nanjing, New Haven, New York City, Oslo, Porto Alegre, Providence, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Shanghai, Suva, Vancouver, and Wollongong. I am grateful as well for the Brown China Initiative and for Brown University research funds that provided critical financial support.

My deepest appreciation to my children, Maya Gutmann-McKenzie and Liliana Gutmann-McKenzie: you define the best of life. To Nancy O’Connor and Bob O’Connor, for the best of times. To Ana Amuchástegui, Charles Briggs, and Ángeles Clemente, por estar presentes, siempre. To my mother, Ann Oliver, and my cousin Debby Rosenkrantz, for the moral compasses you show in life.

And to Deborah Kahn, for your infinite grace, compassion, and rock-steady character. I am beholden to you in all ways.

My brothers, Rick Goldman and Rob Goldman, have had my back since I was three, and that has never changed. Together with treasured friends Todd Winkler, Jeffrey Lesser, Pedro Lewin, Paco Ferrándiz, and Terry Hopkins, for decades you have each shown me how to live as a good man, a good father, a good husband, and a good person. I’m not big on the concept of male bonding, but you are my menschen, and I dedicate this book to you with my love and gratitude.