… Masculinity, I argue, resides in a cruel optimism that highlights not only the shame of
masculinity, but also the dread that is felt in having been shamed, being shamed, and the possibility…

… Lauren Berlant (2011) calls “cruel optimism”: when an individual pursues … a “masculine
economy” sustained by a cruel optimistic attachment to an ideal and unobtainable masculinity, …

… In this section, we illustrate how the concept of cruel optimism allows us to theorize the
complex attachments to militarism that our encounters with Gurkhas and their families offered …

… In a certain regard, masculinity becomes a kind of cruel optimism. … To be clear, cruel
optimism is remarkably ordinary, and we live with various cruel optimisms on a day to day basis; …

… , carving out genealogies of lesbian desire, along with queer masculinities and femininities.
… Even though I emphasize cruel optimism as part of my cartography of epistemic habits, I do …

… which she lays bare the cruel optimism underlying conventional sentimental novels as well
… but also of the emerging ideals of masculinity and femininity. Revolting against hegemonic …

… His cruel optimism of conforming to masculine gaming ideals has brought him nothing
but the fantasy of a relationship, yet he still clings to it as a core part of his identity. …

… Particularly, it is through these stories that we can see the hegemonic masculinity permeate
within the domain of football and the intended representation of the self of these young …

… Using Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism we would like to think about why entrepreneurs ‘choose
to ride the wave of the system of attachment that they are used to’, to unceasingly …

… of dominance and violence toward other creatures, as well as of “cruel optimism” itself. Wink’s
masculinity leads him not only to certain beliefs about nature and strength that push him to …