Abstract
In Manhood on the Line: Working-Class Masculinities in the American Heartland, Stephen Meyer offers a window into the working conditions and relations of the Midwestern auto shop floor in the early and mid-twentieth century. Meyer argues that it was here that a new notion of white, working-class masculinity emerged as white men responded to the emasculating nature of assembly line work and the threat of an increased presence of women and African Americans. To support this argument, Meyer draws upon a host of resources, from oral histories of autoworkers to grievance records and shop newspapers. In doing so, Meyer paints a vivid image of the nature of the work environment and the complexities of labor, gender, and race relations during this period.
The book begins by describing how the dull and externally controlled nature of assembly line work undermined both the “rough” and “respectable” masculine cultures that existed among working-class white men at the turn of the twentieth century. In response to their new working conditions, men soon began engaging in subtle forms of rebellion (e.g., soldering) and violent struggles for unionization. Often explicitly motivated by a desire to escape the dehumanizing nature of assembly line work and to improve working conditions, Meyer argues these acts were also imbued with gendered meaning. Through their struggles against a new form of production, working-class white men began to carve out a new masculine space and culture on the auto shop floor via fighting, drinking, and horseplay among workers.
As the struggle for unionization came mostly to an end after Ford Motor Company signed an agreement with the United Auto Workers in 1941, Meyer describes how white male autoworkers took to defending this new masculine space against the “invasion” of women and African Americans during the Second World War. The shop floor soon became a hypersexualized environment, as white male workers told graphic stories about their sexual encounters, hung up erotic pictures, and sexually harassed women workers. At the same time, racial tension grew, as white workers actively sought to preserve their status by opposing the appointment of a growing number of African American men and women workers to assembly line work. Recounting specific complaints brought before union boards, Meyer illustrates how the union often helped solidify this sexist, racist, and violent culture of the shop floor by frequently failing to defend the rights of women and African American autoworkers.
In the last few pages of the book, Meyer briefly explores the emergence of Revolutionary Union Movements among African American autoworkers during the 1960s as well as a series of successful sexual assault lawsuits during the 1970s. Together, these movements allowed women and African Americans to make inroads into better positions and represented successful challenges to white men’s privileged positions and hypersexual behaviors on the shop floor. Despite this, Meyer concludes by arguing that, as automobile manufacturing jobs have left the country, the masculine culture created on the shop floor persists among white working-class men, which they uphold through less productive endeavors, such as the passive consumption of violent sports.
The rich storytelling makes this book an incredibly engaging and exciting read, often invoking feelings of anger and disgust. At times, however, the narrative seems to drift from the larger argument, making it unclear why particular stories are necessary for understanding working-class masculinity during this period. For example, chapter 3 explores the factory spy network during the 1920s and 1930s. While interesting and important for understanding the perils of unionization during this period, the chapter would have benefited from more consistent and explicit analysis of these networks’ contribution to workers’ notions of masculinity. Also, Meyer begins his analysis with the relationship between respectable and rough working-class masculinity. However, along the way, the focus shifts almost exclusively toward the rough elements of working-class masculinity, leaving the reader to wonder if and how notions of respectability continued to operate among working-class white men. Despite these critiques, Manhood on the Line does an excellent job, helping the reader to understand the importance of the emergence of white working-class masculinity in the automotive factory through an examination of the complex relations between labor, race, and gender, during the twentieth century. As such, I would highly suggest this book especially for anyone interested in understanding white working-class masculinity as well as anyone interested in labor history.