Showing papers in "Men and Masculinities in 2005"
TL;DR: The idea of transnational business masculinity is explored in life-history interviews with Australian managers as discussed by the authors, who tend to treat their life as an enterprise and self-consciously manage bodies and emotions as well as finances.
Abstract: The idea of “transnational business masculinity” is explored in life-history interviews with Australian managers. Their world is male-dominated but has a strong consciousness of change. An intense and stressful labor process creates multiple linkages among managers and subjects them to mutual scrutiny, a force for gender conservatism. In a context of affluence and anxiety, managers tend to treat their life as an enterprise and self-consciously manage bodies and emotions as well as finances. Economic globalization has heightened their insecurity and changed older patterns of business; different modes of participating in transnational business can be identified. Managerial masculinity is still centrally related to power, but changes from older bourgeois masculinity can also be detected: tolerance of diversity and heightened uncertainty about one’s place in the world and gender order. Some support is found for the transnational business masculinity hypothesis, but a spectrum of gender patterns must be recogn...
327 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of constructions of self in the mediated world of men's prisons explores "manliness" as the prison coping strategy par excellence, and demonstrates that the notion of patriarchy, although in need of refinement, is not irrelevant to the predominantly male environment, and it is now widely accepted that men can be its victims as well as its perpetrators.
Abstract: This article, which is part of a wider ethnographic study of constructions of self in the mediated world of men’s prisons, explores “manliness” as the prison coping strategy par excellence. That masculinity is likely to become more extreme in men’s prisons is unsurprising, but the origins and nature of the “hypermasculine” culture and the precise means by which hierarchies of domination are created and maintained have yet to be thoroughly explored. Indeed, although men constitute the vast majority of prisoners worldwide, most studies treat the gender of their subjects as incidental and assume that in men’s prisons, the normal rules of patriarchy do not apply. However, as this article demonstrates, the notion of patriarchy, although in need of refinement, is not irrelevant to the predominantly male environment, and it is now widely accepted that men can be its victims as well as its perpetrators.
199 citations
TL;DR: A new scale to measure adolescent boys' internalization of masculine norms as evidenced by their attitudes and beliefs about what constitutes appropriate behavior for males is presented in this paper, where a new scale is used to measure adolescents' internalisation of masculine norm.
Abstract: This article presents a new scale to measure adolescent boys’internalization of masculine norms as evidenced by their attitudes and beliefs about what constitutes appropriate behavior for males wit...
169 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a preliminary study of a mass-scale study of age relations between men and women is presented, and the authors conclude that age relations have much to offer to the scholarship of men.
Abstract: Studies of manhood neglect the old just as social gerontology avoids theorizing masculinity, but theories of age relations have much to offer to the scholarship of men. Preliminary study of a mass-...
150 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that Butler's formulations of performativity and subversion express a lack of clarity and engender a number of problems with respect to agency, action, interaction, and social change.
Abstract: The study of masculinities has not escaped the influence of Judith Butler’s writings on gender, performativity, and subversion. However, this article suggests that Butler’s formulations of performativity and subversion express a lack of clarity and engender a number of problems with respect to agency, action, interaction, and social change. This article argues for reformulating performativity and subversion in a more explicitly sociological frame to render the concepts more useful for examining agency and subjectivity in the study of masculinities. The writings of Erving Goffman suggest ways to reclaim the socially constructed agency of “performance” from the mire of “performativity,” with the latter’s apparent disappearance of subjective action. This article suggests reworking subversion away from parody and resignification toward a consideration of resources for subjectivity and challenges to prevailing social structures. In this way, performativity and subversion may be set more convincingly within a s...
140 citations
TL;DR: Men's bodies and body image have attracted increasing attention from researchers and popular press journalists during the past decade as discussed by the authors, and Western culture tends to identify men's body image as problematic.
Abstract: Men’s bodies and body image have attracted increasing attention from researchers and popular press journalists during the past decade. Arguably, Western culture tends to identify men’s body image i...
132 citations
TL;DR: Many straight men experience and demonstrate "queer masculinity" defined here as ways of being masculine outside hetero-normative constructions of masculinity that disrupt, or have the potential to t...
Abstract: Many straight men experience and demonstrate “queer masculinity,” defined here as ways of being masculine outside hetero-normative constructions of masculinity that disrupt, or have the potential t...
93 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors look at the contribution that has been made by the sociology of embodiment to the study of older people and suggest reasons why older gay men appear to be marginal to gay culture.
Abstract: One of the aims of this article is to look at the contribution that has been made by the sociology of embodiment to the study of older people. Researchers within this field have pointed to the ways in which negative perceptions of ageing bodies reflect attitudes toward older people and are factors leading to their marginalization within many contemporary Western societies. We hope to develop this idea further by investigating attitudes of gay men toward ageing bodies and, from this, to suggest reasons why older gay men appear to be marginal to gay culture. In so doing, we shall be drawing comparisons between older women and older gay men with particular reference to the work of Tseelon.
83 citations
TL;DR: Men's magazines attempt to escape this disorder by offering individual men a shared sense of direction by constructing a masculinization of intimacy, whereby intimacy is incorporated into a schema broadly consistent with grounded theory as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: As certainties dissolve, meanings around heterosexual relationships become increasingly puzzling. Recent changes in academic/media recognition of “what it means to be a man” exacerbate this predicament. Men’s magazines attempt to escape this disorder by offering individual men a shared sense of direction. The present study looks for evidence of this in six issues of For Him Magazine (FHM) and six issues of Loaded, using a form of qualitative research closely related to grounded theory. Along with the simultaneous construction of certainty and uncertainty around intimate relationships, the analysis reveals two themes: the “sexual mode of production” stresses the practices of management, rationalization, and science and “relationship utopia” envisages a fulfilling sex life for the reader via his accomplishment of intimacy. The study concludes that the magazines move readers from chaos to control by constructing a masculinization of intimacy, whereby intimacy is incorporated into a schema broadly consistent ...
71 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that bullying is inherent in ruling-class boys' education, and that it is an important part of making ruling class boys' men "hardening" and "sending away".
Abstract: Recent events in a ruling-class boys’ boarding school college in Sydney prompted public discussion about “bullying.” Debate ranged between those seeing an endemic problemto be cured and those who saw minor, unfortunate, and atypical incidents in a system where bullying is under control. It is argued here that such practice is inherent in ruling-class boys’ education. It is an important part of making ruling-class men. Using life-history methods with available biographical material, the article shows thatruling-class schooling of boys in boarding schools involves “sending away” and initial loneliness, bonding in groups demanding allegiance, attachment to tradition, subjection to hierarchy and progress upward through it, group ridiculing and punishment of sensitiveness and close relationships, severe sanctions against difference, brutal bodily discipline, and inculcating competitive individualism. Brutalization and “hardening” are essential to all these processes and are characteristic of ruling-class masculinity.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore processes by which masculinities change in the Norwegian forestry industry, using examples from the Norwegian forest industry, which has traditionally been one of the most masculine rural work activities a...
Abstract: This article explores processes by which masculinities change, using examples from the Norwegian forestry industry. Forestry has traditionally been one of the most masculine rural work activities a...
TL;DR: The MANI II (Men's Attitude Norms Inventory-II) as mentioned in this paper is a measure of South African male attitude towards women, which is based on the MANI I.
Abstract: This article describes the development of the Male Attitude Norms Inventory-II (MANI II). Empirical findings and theoretical debate contributed toward the development of a measure of South African ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore some of the concepts and embodiments of masculinity that are manifest among transmen, and explore how transmen possess an undeniable masculinity, while typically (though not always) maleness is conferred with the penis.
Abstract: Where does masculinity come from? How is masculinity expressed? How is it perceived? What does it mean to be masculine or to have masculinity? The definition of masculinity remains elusive. While typically (though not always), maleness is conferred with the penis—anaccidentof birth—masculinityis often held to be “difficult to achieve.” Rites of passage, behavioral conventions, social roles, and political institutions have all been examined as sources for the production of masculinity. Female-to-male (FTM) transgendered and transsexual individuals, sometimes also called transmen, do not follow the traditional prescriptive paths to maleness, yet they often possess an undeniable masculinity. Through personal observation, literature review, and survey research, this article explores some of the concepts and embodiments of masculinity that are manifest among transmen. Some additional sources are Halberstam (Female Masculinity), Devor (Gender Blending), and Cromwell (Transmen and FTMs). These works are contrast...
TL;DR: Gender and military studies focus on Western postconscription societies, overlooking the significance of military service to gender order in the larger society as discussed by the authors, and are concerned with the military's changi...
Abstract: Gender and military studies focus on Western postconscription societies, overlooking the significance of military service to gender order in the larger society. Concerned with the military’s changi...
TL;DR: In this article, the role of media representations in the every day construction of ideologies of masculinity in contemporary Japan is examined, and it is argued that such advertisements have participated in the representational circumscription of the visual codes of masculinity, and through this representational regime have reflected and reproduced a dominant gender ideology.
Abstract: This article focuses on the marketing of “genki” energy health drinks to consider the role of media representations in the every day construction of ideologies of masculinity in contemporary Japan. It is shown that advertisements for these drinks have employed two dominant sets of images of Japanese men and masculinity, portraying either work- and company-based needs for energy and mental acuity or the (masculine) physical strength needed to compete successfully, overcome obstacles, or defeat foes. It is argued that such advertisements have participated in the representational circumscription of the visual codes of masculinity in contemporary Japan, and through this representational regime have reflected and reproduced a dominant gender ideology that sanctions a powerful, corporatist, middle-class masculinity.
TL;DR: Examination of fathers’ home health care work, including specific health care, medical advocacy, administration/financial management, and emotion work, points to the value and the necessity of further systematic investigation of the often invisible health Care work that fathers may do when their children are ill.
Abstract: This report is based on qualitative interviews studying the health care work described by sixteen fathers whose children had been diagnosed with cancer. Childhood cancers are important diseases that are growing in incidence. Greater life expectancy is associated with intense treatment protocols, which often include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and sometimes bone marrow transplants. Parents or parental figures play a significant role in the treatment in the home, in the outpatient clinic, and in the hospital. But very little is known about the health care work done by fathers or mothers when their children have cancer. This article examines fathers’ home health care work, including specific health care, medical advocacy, administration/financial management, and emotion work. It points to the value and the necessity of further systematic investigation of the often invisible health care work that fathers may do when their children are ill.
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with three self-identified gay black men and the purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of how these men defined life satisfaction.
Abstract: This qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with three self-identified gay black men. The purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of how these men defined life satisfaction ...
TL;DR: The authors used the gay male clubs of the 1970s to discuss masculinity, performance, and spatial configuration, and the reciprocity between space and program as conceptual frame and the individual's practices as intervention are important parts of this article.
Abstract: This article serves as an inquiry into masculine space: it uses the gay male clubs of the 1970s to discuss masculinity, performance, and spatial configuration. Within these spaces, gay men underwent a conversion (public to the other men at the clubs, private to society at large); they inverted dominant culture for their own purposes, projecting, acting on, and maybe even transcending their imaginings and desires. The reciprocity between space and program as conceptual frame and the individual’s practices as intervention are important parts of this article.
TL;DR: A close reading of texts taken from the often-overlooked field of creative writing and film can reveal a radical perspective on the problems of British society, seeing sport and the social and cultural conditions that sustain it as a conservative force to be confronted in the drive to modernize.
Abstract: Modernization and decline were matters of intense debate and concern in the Britain of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Among the many strands that made up the debate were the issues of gender and masculinity. This article examines them by means of a close reading of texts taken from the often-overlooked field of creative writing and film. In both the novel and film of This Sporting Life, attention is turned to questions of sporting heroism, social class and change, and, particularly, male-female relationships. The texts reveal a radical perspective on the problems of British society, seeing sport and the social and cultural conditions that sustain it as a conservative force to be confronted in the drive to modernize.
TL;DR: In this paper, the representation of the male body in contemporary British cinema has been studied and a short exploration of how 1990s representations of masculinity in British cinema differed from those of the previous decade.
Abstract: This article is a study of the representation of the male body in contemporary British cinema. It starts with a short exploration of how 1990s representations of masculinity in British cinema differed from those of the previous decade. A brief analysis of Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game and of some of the recent roles of actor Hugh Grant in mainstream cinema leads to a more detailed case study of Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and his role in Peter Greenaway’s film The Pillow Book. Relevant background on both actor and director reveals an overt awareness of and interest in the male body. The film’s approach to masculinity and its focus on the male integral nude question some of the, by now, tired conceptions that have surrounded many debates on male representation, such as the emphasis on the activity/passivity binary, the (male) gaze, or narcissism.
TL;DR: A recent collection of eighteen articles from the Colloquium on Masculinities in Southern Africa at the University of Natal as mentioned in this paper is a good starting point for this work.
Abstract: Even if the International Association for Studies of Men (IASOM) is in hiatus, internationalization of critical studies of men and masculinities proceeds apace, if any prognostications can be drawn from this recent study of masculinities in Southern Africa. The collection ranges widely over recent historical approaches, contemporary social science, and a smattering of psychology. Contributions are divided into four relatively coherent sections. One of the few drawbacks of this collection is brevity; each piece is hardly longer than it would take to deliver in a conference setting, which is the origin of the collection, after all. It began as a 1997 Colloquium on Masculinities in Southern Africa at the University of Natal. Twenty-nine papers, primarily from South African scholars, were presented. This collection of eighteen articles was mostly drawn from this event, but the conference feel remains. I would have liked more detail in several of the pieces, more development of the ideas, and more answers to the questions raised, but that is a mild criticism; the articles succeeded in drawing me in and making me want more. The answers will come if the quality of the scholarship is any indication of the future of Southern African studies of men and masculinities. It is interesting to note which theorists are most consistently cited here. It appears that Australian R. W. Connell carries the day, since his theory of hegemonic masculinity (originally cowritten with his colleagues Carrigan and Lee in the 1985 Theory and Society article “Toward a New Sociology of Masculinity”) appears in nearly every article in the collection. One wonders how it is that in the seventeen years since that publication, no one else has had nearly so much effect on this burgeoning field. I was particularly surprised that more references were not found to the high-quality writings by British scholars, even though Morrell mentions in his introduction that “the British approach is more helpful for an understanding of race in South Africa because it is more sensitive to the overlap of class and race.” But his next sentence is key; he notes that both the British and U.S. approaches are limited because they deal with “race as a minority unit of analysis” (p. 11), in other words, as an interesting but not particularly central variation, instead of the bedrock foundation that race is in Southern Africa. This collection begins to transform theory through that lens.