Masculine Field Research Articles

Mind the (Feminine) Gap

Abstract The field of femininities has arguably existed for over six decades, but it was not until 2024 that a journal emerged as a home for scholarship in the field. In contrast, the field of masculinities has had a journal since 1998. Likely owing to the greater number of academic structures supporting the field, scholars produce masculinity research at a rate 2.77 times higher than femininity research, and they face negative career consequences when focusing their research on femininity or using methods deemed to be feminine. In this article, we explore the potential reasons for, and consequences of, this ‘feminine gap,’ with a focus on femmephobic processes of knowledge production and the masculinization of expertise. We then introduce the Journal of Femininities as a partial remedy to this gap through its aim to provide a home for femininities scholarship and a reexamination of the world through a feminine lens of inquiry.

LI DOR ZAYEND Û NETEWE(TÎ)YÊ JINA KURD DI BERHEMÊN ELIYÊ EVDILREHMANÎ DA

Nationalism is a masculine field and is based on “the unity of brothers”. However, there is an important participation of women in national projects. Women play an important role in the construction, strengthening and continuity of nationalism, both through active participation and through cultural and ideological involvement. Therefore, women attract the attention of national movements and discourses and become an indispensable subject of nationalism. This situation is also seen in the works of Eliyê Evdilrehman. In this context, in order to verify this claim, three works of Eliyê Evdilrehman, named Xatê Xanim, Şer Li Çîya, Gundê Mêrxasan, in which he tries to create a national identity with nationalist discourse and equip his readers with a Kurdish consciousness, have been examined. As a result, it was seen that the author presented the Kurdish woman as a national representation with her different roles and characteristics. The author characterises Kurdish women as rulers, leaders, warriors, resisters, advisors to men, biological carriers, carriers of culture and honour and idealises them as strong, free, intelligent and visionary. The author has glorified the Kurdish woman greatly, but he has done so by using sexist language and attributing masculine behavior and characteristics to women. Therefore, ironically and paradoxically, the glorification of Kurdish women in the works studied served to reproduce the patriarchy embedded in the Kurdish language and society.

The Impact of Gender Stereotype on Womens Career Choice and Relevant Factors

Women have always been treated unfairly in society because of their gender. Society often has biases on the working and studying ability of female. Gender stereotype, which is the origin of these bias, may significantly affect behavior and cognition of women. This suggested that the fact of women and men showed different career patterns might be influenced by gender stereotypes. These types of biases are not only explicit, but also can be implicitly associated to peoples mind. Both explicit and implicit stereotypes may cause negative impacts on career choices of women, as women might believe themselves as untalented in specific fields, which are referred to the masculine fields. People live in a social world, so that when they betray the gender stereotype, they might feel threatened on their social identity. Although gender stereotypes may all have negative effects towards all womens selection of career, the impacts can have a variety of extents under different conditions. Most previous studies mentioned in this report are cross-sectional studies and did not include interventions. Therefore, the comparison between distinct influential factors and the dynamic changes of stereotype across different periods remain unclear. In future research, longitudinal and intervention studies should be conducted to further understand the negative impacts of gender stereotype.

Masculinity in Scandinavian tech entrepreneurship: male technology entrepreneurs negotiating gender (in)equality

PurposeBoth entrepreneurship and technology are significantly gendered, and when combined in technology entrepreneurship, they make up a fundamentally masculine field. This article investigates men tech entrepreneurs' negotiations of gender and gender (in)equality. The purpose is to gain knowledge on masculinity in tech entrepreneurship and to explore what role this might play in any change towards more gender-equal entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Swedish and Norwegian male tech entrepreneurs in tech incubators. The interviews dealt with gender (in)equality and masculinity in tech entrepreneurship. The data were coded in NVivo and inductively analysed using thematic analysis. We apply a social constructivist understanding of gender.FindingsWe categorise the male entrepreneurs' views of gender equality along “privileged”, “paradoxical” and “potential” articulations of gender (in)equality. Building on these articulations, we discuss the potential entrepreneurial men and masculinities could have for changing gender inequality in the Scandinavian tech entrepreneurship context. The findings are applicable to several entrepreneurial contexts.Originality/valueThe study contributes to further the theoretical understanding of tech entrepreneurship as a gendered phenomenon, its dynamics and its potential for change, particularly in promoting gender equality in tech entrepreneurship. Empirically, it investigates the perceptions about gender (in)equality and gender as negotiated concepts amongst male tech entrepreneurs.

The Interplay of Climate and Disaster in Men's Stories of the 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake in Aotearoa New Zealand1

This paper contributes to the emerging field of men, masculinities, and disasters by drawing on narratives of men's accounts of the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, including how stories of the earthquake intersect with experiences and understandings of extreme weather and climate change. A qualitative methodology was employed, and semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 19 men who experienced the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. This article offers an examination of the complexity of disaster experiences and recovery, as well as how people make sense of hazards and risks. We argue that ongoing exposure to climate hazards informed participant's responses to other infrequent natural hazard events, such as the Kaikōura earthquake. The research identified that men construct their own understandings and responses to natural hazards through a hierarchy of risk perception and probability based on personal experience.

Reducing the gender gap on adolescents’ interest in study fields: The impact of perceived changes in ingroup gender norms and gender prototypicality

Despite some progress towards gender equality in Western societies, traditional gender norms still shape career choices, perpetuating a gender gap where girls are more likely to pursue traditionally feminine fields like healthcare, elementary education, and domestic roles (HEED), while boys are drawn to masculine domains such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This research investigates whether, and under which conditions, the perception that gender norms are progressively changing towards less gender dichotomy can reduce this gender gap in academic fields. We recruited a sample of 642 high-school students (394 women and 248 men), and experimentally manipulated both the salience of changes in gender norm (stability vs change) and participants’ gender prototypicality. The main dependent variable was participants’ interest in stereotypically feminine (HEED) and masculine (STEM) academic fields. The results indicated a slight decrease in the gender gap for stereotypically feminine fields (HEED) among participants who saw themselves as typical members of their gender group, but no significant change was observed for stereotypically masculine fields (STEM). These findings suggest that shifting perceptions of gender norms may have a limited effect on modifying traditional educational and career choices, underscoring the resilience of entrenched gender stereotypes.

‘Iron women’ dislodging ‘provider masculinities’: Why Connell’s framework of Hegemonic Masculinities is ‘useful but unhelpful’?

Since its introduction into the field of men and masculinities, Connell’s theoretical framework of hegemonic masculinities has been widely applied even in contexts outside the Western gender order for which it was originally intended. The framework has found application even in the context of IsiXhosa manhood in South Africa. In this paper, I seek to contest the wholesale applicability of this framework in rural and poverty-stricken contexts such as the Eastern Cape, South Africa and perhaps peel off this generalized application of hegemonic masculinities in contexts outside the Western gender order. I rely on newspaper reports, personal observations and anecdotes - as a resident in the Eastern Cape - about rural women who sell scrap metal by the roadside to illustrate the unhelpfulness of wholesale application of Connell’s framework in this context. In conclusion, I advocate for ‘dominance without hegemony’ as a more suitable theoretical framework to theorize masculinities in areas with high poverty rather than Connell’s ‘hegemonic masculinities’.

“Boys Love Boy Toys”: a qualitative study exploring the role of fathers in young boys’ gendered toy preferences

Children come to understand the concept of gender and learn to differentiate roles and norms on the basis of gender in early childhood. By interacting with individuals in their social contexts (i.e., family and peers), children are taught about gender norms and expectations, and as a result, learn to negotiate their own identities within different contexts. Parents have an especially important role in how children come to understand their own gender identity, as they have the ability to shape their childrens’ behaviors by endorsing certain gender stereotypes (e.g., girls wear pink, and boys play with trucks). For young boys, their fathers are a key socialization agent in their gender development, as they convey both implicitly and explicitly, gender-appropriate ways of being. Fathers may endorse ideas of traditional masculinity, which constrain boys to conform to the expected male norms, and discourages them from engaging in perceived feminine behaviors, such as cross-gender play. Accordingly, young boys are often expected to prove their manhood by marking their masculinity against femininity, in a power struggle where they are trying to get their gender right. Based on established and current literature in the field of gender identity development and masculinity in early childhood, this qualitative study aimed to explore young boys’ existing working schema of masculinity and the role that their fathers play in shaping it. Participants included six father–son pairs, with boys (ages 4–6) and their fathers (ages 34–37). Fathers were first asked to complete an adapted version of the Child-Rearing Sex-Role Attitude Scale, which assessed their attitudes and beliefs about gender-related toys, activities, and behaviors. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with the father–son pairs, where they participated in a series of toy-preference activities in a virtual game. Descriptive coding and content analysis were used to analyze the responses boys provided for their toy preferences. Boys reported having a more stereotyped definition of “girl toys” than of “boy toys”, as reflected in their choices of toys that they felt that only girls would like to play with. Fathers’ self-described beliefs reported on the Child-Rearing Sex-Role Attitude Scale were similarly reflected in their behaviours and comments during the interviews with their sons, such that fathers who shared stereotypical beliefs about gender-related behaviours and activities on the scale, engaged in behaviours which corresponded to their beliefs when interacting with their sons. Implications for families and educators are discussed.

Are we (in)visible?: Toward a critical understanding of Asian women faculty experiences in U.S. sport management

ABSTRACT Research question How do Asian women faculty’s intersecting identities influence the ways in which they identify, fulfill, and negotiate their roles in the White and masculine field of sport management? Research method We used collaborative autoethnography in which the researchers themselves were the method and the participants for this study. The purpose of using this method was to use systematic introspection and retrospection to understand the researchers’ collective experiences. Results and Findings We provide four narratives of the researchers as the findings. Themes from the narratives included masculinized, Westernized sport as an oppressive institution, forever unsettled between insider and outsider, gendered and racialized/ethnicized immigrant women. Implications Theoretically, this study extends the use of intersectionality to an understanding of Asian women experiences in the racialized and gendered space of sport. Practical implications include that sport management programs must be designed with Asian and minoritized women in mind and provide relevant resources such as support networks, therapy groups, informal mentoring, and targeted Ph.D. recruiting.

Art History as a New Discipline at the Estonian University in Tartu after the Long 19th Century

The article is the first attempt to present the beginnings of Estonian professional art history in the 1920s in a regional and global context. The author strives to situate the University of Tartu (Dorpat) in the pan-European network of universities, where art history had gradually become regarded as a new discipline during and after the long 19th century. Art history is rooted in the Age of Enlightenment, with Johann Joachim Winckelmann retrospectively named the father of art history. But it was about a half century after his death that art history was incorporated into a general subject of aesthetics taught at universities. It took another fifty years for art history to become a separate discipline in the modern universities of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and another half century to receive a separate chair at the Estonian national university in Tartu. The development of art history as a discipline at the University of Tartu is analysed on a very granular level, based on primary sources from Estonian and Swedish archives. During the 19th century art and its history were used to the ends of national politics and in search of national identities. In Estonia, this was hindered by the activities of another ethnic group, the Baltic-Germans, who had been the ruling class in the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire. The first professor of art history at the Estonian University of Tartu, Helge Kjellin, wanted to bridge the gap between Estonian and Baltic art history. He attempted to merge these two concepts and define the territorial concept of Estonian art from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. He also defined this as a proper field of study for Estonian art historians. However, after his departure from Estonia, art history was neglected and irrelevant for the Estonian University and the Estonian Republic. Science and academic professions were regarded as a masculine field of activity until after the Second World War. Only the lack of men, who had died in the war, enabled women to start seeking a more equal place in the academic world worthy of their intellectual ability. Despite there being many capable female students among those who studied art history with Kjellin, the first female professor of art history in Estonia, Krista Kodres, was elected to the Estonian Academy of Arts only in 2003.

Gendered work in geoscience: Hard work in a masculine field

AbstractBased on the meaning‐making of women geoscientists in their descriptions of work and career experiences, this article explores the gendering of geoscience by analyzing women's hard work as a theoretical concept. Our findings show that the gendered requirements for women in geoscience involve “doing” various forms of hard work, including making one's work visible, asserting one's physical performance, and building social relations. Thus, hard work is found to be gendered in terms of being a perceived requirement shared by female geoscientists. It is a requirement that entails compensating for not being male in masculine organizations and simultaneously prevents women geoscientists from fully engaging in core geoscience work tasks. Hence, by gendering hard work and theoretically defining hard work as the work of the “other”, the study expands the theoretical understanding of the concept by suggesting that women's hard work is gendered and social rather than productive.

Constructing a regime of truth to support palliative care at risk

For decades, Finland, along with many other European countries, has applied austerity politics in which especially the female-dominated spheres of life, such as long-term care, have been the targets of savings. In this societal context, a hospice focusing on particularly demanding palliative care was at risk of redundancies. The article illustrates how a local regime of truth about the hospice was discursively constructed, supported and contested in an influential Finnish newspaper. A regime of truth is formed when a certain discourse becomes dominant, in this case, the good work done in the hospice and the need for its continuity. The data consist of newspaper articles covering the topic of the redundancies that the hospice was facing. The discourse analysis reveals three main gendered discourses: professionalism, de-medicalisation and de-institutionalisation. Professionalism stems from the masculine field of medicine, and the two latter discourses align with female-dominated long-term care, which are located lower in hierarchies of care.

A Study on the Operating Mechanism of Masculinity from the Perspective of Patriarchy through the Theory of Misogyny

The proposal to prevent the feminization of young men has caused a great deal of controversy on social media. With endless and heated discussions about "masculinity", more and more people are beginning to reflect on the logic behind "masculinity" from a patriarchal perspective. However, at present, the research in the field of masculinity is rarely combined with feminist theory and rarely from the perspective of feminism. Therefore, this paper uses theoretical analysis methods through the theory of misogyny to deconstruct traditional masculinity, to analyze the operating mechanism of masculinity from the perspective of a patriarchal society, and to put forward suggestions on how to escape from the trap of masculinity. The study found that under the operation of masculinity norms, gender discrimination has had a reasonable foundation, the logic of misogyny has been strengthened, and the ruling order of patriarchal society has been further consolidated; the prevalence of masculinity in society has led to the extreme of advocating force and violence. Therefore, breaking the mechanism of masculinity requires individuals to have a clear awareness and profound understanding of the logic of misogyny.

Fielding Fractured Masculinities: Implications for Nonrepresentational Educational Research Methodology in the Philosophy of Erin Manning

In this paper, I put Erin Manning’s philosophical project into conversation with gender theory and consider possibilities regarding what it means to theorize masculinities in educational research methodology. To do this, I first speak to the urgency for reconceptualizing masculinities in education, outline how educational researchers have previously theorized the field, and problematize previous work that theorized masculinity as a relatively stable and monolithic identity marker. Following this, I consider what Manning’s process philosophy might offer educational researchers in the field of masculinities. In thinking with masculinities, the ongoing and lived experiences of gender, and Manning, I offer “fractured masculinities,” which theorizes masculinities as multiple, mobile, relational, contextual, intersectional, and fractured.

“Have You Been Recruited Because You Are a Woman or Because You Are Good?” Gendered Humanitarian Diplomats at the United Nations

Abstract This article examines gender equality in humanitarian diplomacy. To date, there has been no discussion of gender in relation to humanitarian diplomacy, which stands in contrast to an existing body of literature on gender and diplomacy. Gender is often discussed in relation to the recipients of humanitarian initiatives, but less is known about how gender impacts aid providers. This article argues that alike diplomacy as a masculine field with homosocial tendencies, these characteristics are also found in humanitarian diplomacy. Based on interviews with staff of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (ocha), this exploratory case study of the UN’s gendered humanitarian diplomacy finds the following: In contrast to the UN’s mission of promoting gender equality, the current practices place men as the norm and women as the exception in the organization’s humanitarian diplomacy.

Gender Inequality and Science Education: Comparison with Brazilian Students in PISA and ENEM

Background: Natural sciences is considered a markedly masculine field of study. Despite the criticisms and changes observed in recent years, the effects on society of male science are still observed in school performance. Objectives: This study proposes to compare the performance inequality based on students’ gender in the contents of natural sciences in Brazil at the end of two learning cycles, lower secondary education (LSE) and upper secondary education or high school (USE). Design: The research was designed to identify the size of the effect on the performance of male and female groups in the International Student Assessment Program (PISA) and in the National High School Exam (ENEM) between 2009 and 2018. Setting and Participants: Public school students who, in the year in which the exam was taken, were in their final year of LSE or USE. Data collection and analysis: PISA performance data were collected from the PISA Data Explorer. From ENEM, they came directly from the database made available by INEP. We applied statistical significance tests to identify differences in performance in the natural sciences test of the two exams. Results: The PISA results indicate that there is no difference in the students’ performance based on gender. In contrast, the ENEM results indicate a difference of 0.3 standard deviations in favour of boys. Conclusions: The results point to an expansion of the gender-based differences in the contents of natural sciences during the EM.

PEDAGOGIA É “COISA DE MULHER”? ESTEREÓTIPOS DE GÊNERO E MASCULINIDADES NA DOCÊNCIA COM CRIANÇAS

The present article aims to analyze the perception of male teachers, managers, and Pedagogy students about teaching children. The qualitative research had as methodological strategy the application of a questionnaire, with semi-structured questions. For the analysis, we used the post-structuralist theoretical contribution from the field of gender studies and masculinities. The results of the research indicate a resistance of women, at least initially, to men who choose the Pedagogy course. We also indicate that the teaching work with children is permeated with prejudice, such as, for example, regarding hygienization. This creates and highlights the stereotype of the pedophile man, since the male body is culturally fixed to violence, as a dangerous identity that would affect male teaching. This, then, becomes an element of distrust and exclusion of the teacher in this type of care with children.Keywords: Gender. Masculinities. Men's Teaching. Stereotypes. Childhood.

Gender differences in the first course in accounting: An achievement goal approach

We examine whether gendered patterns can be observed in first-year students' achievement goals in an introductory accounting course; a question largely overlooked by prior literature. This investigation is motivated by perceptions of accounting as a masculine field involving gender role stereotypes and business schools as competitive and performance-oriented environments. Our findings suggest that male students tend to adopt performance-approach goal, implying that they are more competitive than female students, and that their performance is thus driven by a desire to outperform others. Our findings further suggest that male students' expectations of learning accounting are higher than those of female students. The expectations explain the gender differences in the performance-approach goal. Finally, we find that this performance-approach goal mediates gender differences in course performance depending on the mode of assessment; male students received higher grades for exams but not for teamwork. Overall, our study highlights the importance of considering contextual aspects related to competitiveness, masculinity, and the mode of assessment on an accounting course when addressing students’ achievement goals and expectations of learning accounting. We thus contribute to the understanding of how learning environment, accounting pedagogy, and the broader field of professional accounting intersects with individual student attributes, creating differential learning outcomes.

Intersecciones y entrecruzamientos. Transitando de binarismos a pluralidades

The manuscript presents a review of the theoretical perspectives on intersections and crossings which have opened up discussion on intersections, hybridities, mixtures and fluidities. To the existing field of gender studies, feminists, masculinities and LGTBIQ+, we propose to add the theoretical trajectories of crossing in order to open them up to dialogue, and to apply them in dialogue critically and creatively. We review intellectual proposals from different areas of knowledge: Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Néstor García Canclini, Hommi Bhabha and Nancy Fraser; our aim is to tension the sex- gender normativities which prevail in our cultural order, and which are the basis on which the pluralities which form a part of social life are excluded. The works referred to share this critical attitude to binary thinking: a de-idealisation of the pure, the native, identity, fixedness, the monolithic subject. They do not believe in the fixed categories of modernity, but share the perspective of dynamism, flows and the permanent reconfiguration of otherness/alterity. Our reading of intellectuals translates into some proposals – and questions – to extend the theoretical-conceptual corpus in the field of gender studies.

‘I didn’t realise the variety of people that are climbers’: a sociological exploration of young women’s propensities to engage in indoor rock climbing

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the increasingly popular leisure pursuit of indoor rock climbing amongst young women in the UK. Adopting a Bourdieusian perspective, we draw on the concepts of field, habitus and capital to explore the factors associated with young women’s propensities to start, and continue, engaging in this activity. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with 12 women (aged 18–25), who had been regularly engaging in indoor climbing for at least six months. Thematic analysis of the transcripts led to the construction of three themes: preconceptions of a masculine field; habitual feelings of intimidation and inferiority; and deploying and accruing ‘climbing capital’. The findings indicate that climbing’s deep-rooted classification as a ‘man’s sport’ initially facilitated feelings of intimidation and inferiority amongst the women, inhibiting their propensity to participate. However, having been introduced to climbing (often by men, such as their boyfriends or brothers), the women found that the social aspects of the activity, along with the sense of achievement they felt when participating, meant they re-evaluated their preconceptions of the field. Their access to various forms of capital facilitated their continued engagement in the field.