Ames author Calvin Thomas will discuss society’s expectation of masculinity and how it relates to the male body during a reading downtown.

Thomas will be reading from his book Male Matters: Masculinity, Anxiety, & the Male Body on the Line during a reading at Big Table Books, 330 Main St., Thursday evening.

“There is a need by society to present the body as powerful and invulnerable. The body must be shown in sports or warfare, and that must be shown with competition and power,” Thomas said. “Outside of these settings they are feminized, in a sense, in mainstream representations.”

He said the anxiety he examines is that the male body might not be powerful, or it might not be invulnerable, and how the idea of masculinity is placed on women.

“For instance, at the beginning of the film Terminator we see Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body naked in a vulnerable state, but he very soon demonstrates he is invulnerable; whereas when women’s bodies are being displayed, they are portrayed as objects to look at,” Thomas said.

Thomas is originally from Georgia, but makes his home in Ames. He teaches critical theory and gender studies in the English department at the University of Northern Iowa. He has taught at Syracuse and did his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

His book uses French feminism, psychoanalytic theory and historical examples of how the body has been displaced to explore male identity, creativity and dislocation at the end of the twentieth century.

This includes the role the male body plays in producing language, Thomas said. “I’m exploring the way the language comes out of the body. Certain male writers seem to have an anxiety about language.”

Cheryl McGough, publicist for Big Table Books, said of Thursday’s reading, “It’s an opportunity to get to know him. It’s the hometown aspect that we like. Several people from the university have noted that he is coming.

“It is sort of an unusual book for us to feature because it is critical theory book.”

She said the store tries to feature about three authors each month. Later this month the store will feature Dan O’Brien who will be reading from his book Brendan Prairie.

“We try to keep a variety of different interests basically so that the community has a chance to hear different things that are going on. We are a community-owned store and try to provide to the community,” McGough said.

Big Table Books will present the reading by Thomas at 7:30. It is free and open to the public.