These Boys from the Golden Age. Remarks on Benjamin B. Roberts’ Sex and Drugs before Rock ’n’ Roll: Youth Culture and Masculinity during Holland’s Golden Age

This article deals with the book Sex and Drugs before Rock ’n’ Roll. Youth Culture and Masculinity during Holland’s Golden Age by Benjamin B. Roberts (Amsterdam University Press 2012), a detailed study of one generation of young Dutchmen who reached their adulthood ca. 1620-1630. The author analyzes their lifestyles and expressions of masculinity, concentrating on phenomena such as grooming, clothing, alcohol consumption, violent behavior, sexual life, tobacco smoking and other types of recreation and leisure. Young men of that time rebelled and broke from the previous social norms and systems of values, e. g. by adopting various military codes of behavior. The book in question constitutes a fairly stereotypical vision of masculinity, leaving little space for individuals thinking and acting outside the box. Roberts’ study is nevertheless a pioneering one, and the author rightly chooses to present a consistent group portrait instead of a random sampling. The life of young men from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time would provide a useful point of comparison, but unfortunately has not yet been the subject of any detailed research.

This article deals with the book Sex and Drugs before Rock ’n’ Roll. Youth Culture and Masculinity during Holland’s Golden Age by Benjamin B. Roberts (Amsterdam University Press 2012), a detailed study of one generation of young Dutchmen who reached their adulthood ca. 1620-1630. The author analyzes their lifestyles and expressions of masculinity, concentrating on phenomena such as grooming, clothing, alcohol consumption, violent behavior, sexual life, tobacco smoking and other types of recreation and leisure. Young men of that time rebelled and broke from the previous social norms and systems of values, e. g. by adopting various military codes of behavior. The book in question constitutes a fairly stereotypical vision of masculinity, leaving little space for individuals thinking and acting outside the box. Roberts’ study is nevertheless a pioneering one, and the author rightly chooses to present a consistent group portrait instead of a random sampling. The life of young men from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time would provide a useful point of comparison, but unfortunately has not yet been the subject of any detailed research.