Toxic Masculinity, Casino Capitalism, and America's Favorite Card Game

Poker is a centuries-old American game. Why has it become so popular in the twenty-first century? What does current interest in the game tell us about ourselves and some of our most pressing social issues? In this timely and thought-provoking book, Andrew Manno offers important insights into the intersection of gaming, gender, and capitalism that illuminate how the shift to a casino capitalist economycombined with a culture of toxic masculinityimpacts workers and how it has led to the rise of populism in the United States that manifested in the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

Examines poker as a gendered activity, and specifically how valued characteristics of orthodox masculinity are embedded in the rhetoric of the game, as well as in our larger culture Connects the rise in poker's popularity to the increase of inter-related social problems, such as toxic masculinity, the impact of casino capitalism, and post-industrial worker disenfranchisement Demonstrates how the Poker Mindset protects the status quo and reinforces orthodox masculine gender values, maintaining and exacerbating damaging systems of inequality

Autorentext

Andrew Manno, Ph.D. is a Professor of English at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey. He teaches courses in writing, Women's and Gender Studies, and Men and Masculinities. His research focuses on masculinities and popular culture.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. All In: Poker as a Gendered Space.- 3. On Tilt: The Poker Mindset, Toxic Masculinity, and the Alt-Right.- 4. A Stacked Deck: Casino Capitalism and the Poker Mindset.- 5. Deal Me In: Neoliberal Workers and the Poker Mindset.- 6. Fight, Don't Fold: The Poker Mindset and the Rise of Trumpism.- 7. Conclusion.