The Places Where Middle-Aged Single Men Feel Alienated

Abstract

Over the decades since the 1970s, feminist geography has challenged the exclusion of women from the production of geographical knowledge. With the emergence of feminist geography, gender perspectives have attracted considerable attention. However, men who feel alienated by changing gender roles have not received much attention. The purpose of this article is to elucidate the empirical situation of the masculinity of geographical knowledge by highlighting the major characteristics of alienated middle-aged single men in contemporary Japan.In the introductory section, an overview and the significance of feminist geography are discussed. This is followed by a discussion of the importance of men's studies within gender research in geography. The development of men's studies has enabled an interrogation of masculinity from varied angles.The second section is devoted to an explanation of the interview method employed in the article and its limitations. The informants are ten single men, aged 35-64. Their narratives are quoted as evidence of their alienation.The third section interprets the concrete places within which middle-aged single men feel alienated. The specific contents of these places of alienation are presented as follows:1. In rural areas, where they do not play an important role within patriarchy, they are not regarded as 'full-fledged' men.2. At the workplace, where they are unable to participate in male bonding which is a feature of homosocial workspaces.3. At home, where the lack of women results in their homes being labelled as 'dirty', as men are considered to lack the ability to do housework.4. In contemporary gendered urban spaces, where despite an image of these spaces allowing diversity, middle-aged single men feel suppressed.The evidence from the research points to the above four factors being the main considerations underlying the alienation of single and middle-aged men.Based upon the discussion of the preceding sections, the fourth section interprets the meanings of space and place from the standpoint of men who feel alienated, with reference to feminist geography. Firstly, it is noted that place in humanistic geography, which has been criticized by feminist geography as having a masculinist bias, alienates middle-aged single men, as well as women. Moreover, feminist geography points out that the notion of space in Marxist geography is also gendered. This paper draws attention to the fact that gendered space does not privilege all men, but just those men who meet certain conditions of masculinity.The final section discusses the conclusion reached, that hegemonic masculinity in geographical knowledge oppresses not only women, but also men. Therefore, it follows that we need to elucidate differences among men.