The Influence of Masculinity and the Moderating Role of Religion on the Workplace Well-Being of Factory Workers in China.

Quan Gao,Xiaomei Cai,Orlando Woods

doi:10.3390/ijerph18126250

Abstract

This paper explores how the intersection of masculinity and religion shapes workplace well-being by focusing on Christianity and the social construction of masculinity among factory workers in a city in China. While existing work on public and occupational health has respectively acknowledged masculinity’s influences on health and the religious and spiritual dimensions of well-being, there have been limited efforts to examine how variegated, and especially religious, masculinities influence people’s well-being in the workplace. Drawing on ethnography and in-depth interviews with 52 factory workers and 8 church leaders and factory managers, we found that: (1) Variegated masculinities were integrated into the factory labor regime to produce docile and productive bodies of workers. In particular, the militarized and masculine cultures in China’s factories largely deprived workers of their dignity and undermined their well-being. These toxic masculinities were associated with workers’ depression and suicidal behavior. (2) Christianity not only provided social and spiritual support for vulnerable factory workers, but also enabled them to construct a morally superior Christian manhood that phytologically empowered them and enhanced their resilience to exploitation. This paper highlights not only the gender mechanism of well-being, but also the ways religion mediates the social-psychological construction of masculinity.

Highlights

We argue that the lack of engagement in religion’s influences on masculinity and health leads to a failure to address the spiritual dimensions of health, and the variegated forms of masculinity
Evangelization is evident in the city that this paper focuses on, as it accommodates a large number of migrant workers
We have identified three forms of masculinities on the factory floor of Company A: (1) the hierarchical and hegemonic masculinity performed by managers who use verbal and physical violence to control workers; (2) the protested masculinity that male assembly workers utilize with rebellious and aggressive practices to defend their deprived dignity and masculinity; (3) Christian masculinity where Christian workers attempt to constitute a morally superior subject to fend off both hierarchical and protested masculinities and to reframe their experience of exploitation

Summary

Introduction

Since 2010, more than 10 young male factory workers have committed suicide at an electronics manufacturing company located in China. These suicide events exposed the notoriously militaristic, masculine, and highly exploitative factory management system and focused world-wide attention onto the psychological well-being of Chinese factory workers. Whilst the suicides frequently happened amongst men, the assembly line work was stereotypically considered a women’s job [1,2]. With this in mind, the gender politics of masculinity underlying factory workers’ suicidal behavior warrants closer examination

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion