A discursive psychological framework for analyzing men and masculinities.

Abstract

This article aims to describe and promote a discursive psychological approach to studying men and masculinity. It begins by showcasing some of our own research in this area, before moving on to compare and contrast the central tenets of this approach with those underpinning one of the mainstays of North American scholarship on men and masculinity: the gender role strain paradigm. We argue that, despite significant points of overlap, discursive psychology differs from the gender role strain paradigm in several key respects, including its treatment of variability, its theory of ideology, and its model of the social actor. We claim that, in line with the precepts of discursive psychology, gender researchers need to pay closer attention to the nuances of men’s talk and to see masculinitie sa spractical accomplishments, rather than the (inevitable) playing-out of particular role prescriptions.