Masculinity In Context Research Articles

A trifecta trajectory of moral taint contagion: Women (church) leaders making work dirty

AbstractThis article offers insights into the dynamic and complex nature of moral taint, specifically taint that emanates at the individual level, triggered by gender, and the trajectory of this moral taint at work. Through a qualitative study of women church leaders, it explores how gender might serve as a trigger of moral taint to dirty the work. The women church leaders are perceived to be morally questionable and a source of disgust. Their gender triggers moral taint. This moral taint creates the risk of a reverse trifecta of taint contagion from the women toward the occupation, institution, and stakeholders. Others respond to the women with disgust, deflecting and protecting against contamination. The women leaders perform gendered dirty work in this sacredly masculine context and their leadership privilege is unstable, immoral, and contested because of their gender. We offer a conceptualization of gendered dirty work(ers) and suggest research avenues for women in leadership.

Homophobic beliefs and attitudes among mid-adolescent boys: exploring the ideas of hybrid masculinities.

Homophobia is well-documented as key to social regulation of masculine behavior and practices in Western settings. Yet, empirical data from a number of Western settings has shown a decline in overt homophobic attitudes in the past decade, leading some to suggest that the nature of masculinities is also changing. However, theorizing on the changing nature of masculinities among adolescents has received limited quantitative attention. Research is needed to better understand shifts in adolescent masculinities in contemporary Western settings. In this paper, we investigate the application of one newer approach to explore masculinities in context - hybrid masculinities - in a sample of cisgender, heterosexual, mid-adolescent boys in one province in Western Canada (N = 873, mean age (SD) = 14.39 (0.37)). Data were collected from nine cohorts of grade 9 youth over a 10-year period (2013-2022) as part of the baseline survey of an ongoing evaluation of a gender-transformative healthy relationships program. We hypothesized that if the ideas of hybrid masculinities held in our sample, we would find that overt homophobic attitudes and adherence to related patriarchal norms (e.g., avoidance of femininity) would decline over this period, but that the use of homophobic name-calling would remain differentiated in terms of to whom it was directed (e.g., a friend, someone they thought was gay). We did find a significant decline in homophobic attitudes and norms related to emotional restriction and avoidance of femininity over the 10-year period, but also found that homophobic name-calling remained differentiated, with significantly higher name-calling toward a friend than toward someone the youth thought was gay. Thus, our hypotheses were supported. We discuss the implications of our findings for future theory and research on understanding adolescent masculinities in context.

Experiences of Health Professionals regarding Youth Suicide Attempts: A Study on the Context of Gender and Hegemonic Masculinity in Turkey

In preventing youth suicides, health professionals’ evaluations and experiences regarding youth suicide attempts are important. This study was aimed at discovering the evaluations and experiences of health professionals regarding youth suicide attempts in the context of gender and hegemonic masculinity. Within the scope of the study, the qualitative research method and phenomenological design were used and 12 health professionals in Ankara Turkey. The data collected using the semi-structured interview form were analyzed with the MAXQDA. The following two main themes emerged in the study: (a) gender and hegemonic masculinity as factors leading to oppression on young people (b) caring for young people who have attempted suicide; experiences. Consequently, health professionals stated that gender, and hegemonic masculinity patterns were effective in youth suicide attempts, that they were faced with ethical dilemmas while intervening with young people, that young people were exposed to violence perpetrated by their relatives, and that young people experienced such emotions as pain, compassion, empathy, and stress during all these processes. Studies in the future should include prevention studies on the evaluations and experiences of health and social service professionals regarding youth suicide attempts in different social contexts, their coping styles and social services.

Career Progression of Women: Does Work-life Balance Matter?

The study empirically examined the influence of work-life balance practices on the Career Progression of Women at the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP). Given the reliance on an explanatory research design, the study utilized a structured questionnaire for gathering the primary data quantitatively from 209 randomly selected participants. A second-order model was configured in SMART PLS for testing the directional hypotheses formulated. The results indicated that work-life balance practices have a moderately significant positive predictor on both career goal progress and promotion speed. However, it significantly predicts a weak positive variance in professional development ability of career progression. The practical implication is that the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection through its agency, must continually provide favorable work-life balance practices for its female staff to make female workers happy, satisfied, and progress in their various careers. The study offers a better theoretical understanding of how work-life balance, if handled well, may influence female workers' career progression, even in a situation where men predominate, as per role theory. Empirically, the study enriches the theoretical understanding of how work-life balance, if properly managed, would affect female workers in progression in their careers even in a masculine context, as established by the role theory in Sub-Saharan country-context.

Personhood, Masculinity, and Male-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence

Most international violence research that are firmly rooted in the ontology and cultural background of individualism make rash generalisations about violence and human nature by taking the examples of self and gender concepts in Western settings as the only reference point for their claims. Based on the understanding of self in Western cultures, many social psychological studies have over the years blamed interpersonal violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV), on perpetrators’ self-image. For example, while some studies indicate that people with low self-esteem are more likely to turn violent in order to gain esteem, others have theorised that individuals with inflated (high) self-esteem are more susceptible to use violence, particularly when the inflated self is threatened in interpersonal relationships. A growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship also traces the aetiology of IPV and the propensity for men to commit violence against women to the internalisation, endorsement and enactment of culturally defined male gender role. Despite the valuable contributions of these studies, there are significant challenges inherent in research that make broad universal claims about self and violence at the expense of culture and context. One of the most important phenomena that seems underexplored, overlooked or neglected in the context of violence research is how culture-specific notions of personhood and masculinity shapes male-perpetrated IPV. In this article, I explore the centrality of context and culture-specificities of personhood and masculinity in understanding male-perpetrated IPV. I discuss how the dialogical relationship between men’s psychological sense of who they are (personhood) and cultural notions of masculinity provides new insights for understanding violence research in context. I argue that, rather than a threat to a person’s dispositional self, the social pain of unfavourable third-party communal evaluations of masculine inadequacy threatens a man’s relational sense of personhood, and consequently provoke the use of violence towards the source of the threat in intimate relationships in Ghana.

Masculinities in context: how food insecurity shapes conjugal dynamics in northwestern Benin

ABSTRACT Further place-based empirical research on food insecurity and masculinities is necessary, particularly in West Africa, where notions of agrarian masculinity remain entrenched and rigid gender norms dictate the division of labour and household organization. Responding to the calls for more empirical research at this nexus in rural Africa, we draw on focus group and interview data collected in the Atacora region of Benin. We find that men’s identities as household breadwinners are being undermined by worsening food insecurity, which is contributing to growing inequality in the gendered division of labour. The result is a fraught renegotiation of gender roles within the household, wherein men attempt to reassert their masculinity and dominance in the gender hierarchy through violence. By engaging in a nuanced place-based analysis, our study explains how food insecurity in subsistence farming contexts intersects with masculinities to reproduce inequality and violence against women within the household.

Military sexual trauma: Exploring the moderating role of restrictive emotionality among male veterans.

Objective: Military Sexual Trauma (MST) has been found to be positively associated with mental health outcomes, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depressive symptoms, symptoms of anxiety, and insomnia severity (Jenkins et al., 2015; O'Brien & Sher, 2013). Male survivors of MST face unique challenges, including concerns associated with hypermasculinity (e.g., restrictive emotionality [RE]). Men with high RE (difficulty expressing emotions) report more negative mental health outcomes compared to men with low RE (Good et al., 1995). The present study investigated whether RE moderated the relationship between MST and negative mental health outcomes, while controlling for combat exposure (CE) and age to further assess confounding variables. Method: One hundred thirty-four adult male veterans in behavioral health treatment at a large VA medical center in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States were recruited. Participants provided self-reported data on MST and symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and insomnia, as well as their endorsement of restrictive emotionality. PROCESS v3.3 (Hayes, 2017) regression analytic method was used to test main and interaction effects. Results: MST was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms and insomnia severity-but not depressive symptoms or symptoms of anxiety. RE also moderated the relationship between MST and PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and insomnia, after controlling for CE and age. Conclusion: These findings suggest that restricting emotions has a negative influence on men's mental health functioning. Therefore, assessing male veterans' experiences of expressing their emotions within the context of masculinity and their military training will likely have implications on trauma processing and treatment outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender stereotypes explain different mental prototypes of male and female leaders

Previous research has demonstrated that social stereotypes associated with women's gender can preclude them from leadership positions. It remains unclear whether these stereotypes affect how people perceive male and female leaders, however. To examine people's stereotypes, we extracted their mental representations of male and female leaders and typical men/women (referred to as nonleaders) using reverse correlation. We then asked perceivers to rate these prototypes’ apparent leadership ability and traits related to power and warmth across contexts that represented typically masculine, feminine, or neutral domains. Leaders in a feminine context appeared more leaderlike than nonleaders, but as equally leaderlike in neutral and masculine contexts. Moreover, female leader faces appeared more powerful than female nonleader faces but male leader and nonleader faces appeared equally powerful. Male leaders were perceived as warmer than male nonleaders, however, whereas female leaders and nonleaders were perceived as equally warm. Thus, people’s gender, social stereotypes, and the context in which leaders are judged influence how people conceive of male and female leaders, with counterstereotypical attributes distinguishing leaders within their gender.

Impact of regional cultures on business performance of women entrepreneurs with reference to small and medium enterprises in Pakistan

Women entrepreneurs’ role is considered crucial for the overall economic development and growth. Entrepreneurship is embedded in the cultural norms and values of the society, and it affects the way individual define their behaviour, activities in terms of risk taking proactiveness. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the two cultural dimensions of Hofstede’s model i.e., Masculinity and Individualism on the business performance of women entrepreneurs with special reference to small and medium enterprises. The Masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement while individualism indicates greater importance on attaining personal goals. The study intends to analyze the relationship of women entrepreneurship with cultural dimensions, Individualism and Masculinity in Pakistan’s two culturally diversified regions, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad, home to large numbers of women entrepreneurs. To capture the diversity of these regions by using the technique of purposive sampling, a sample of 374 was collected, 51% participants from the capital city and 49% belonged to Gilgit-Baltistan. The findings indicate that regional cultures within the context of Masculinity and Individualism have significant but antagonistic influences on the business performance of women entrepreneurs.

Assimilation Undercuts Authenticity: A Consequence of Women’s Masculine Self-Presentation in Masculine Contexts

We tested whether women’s sense of authenticity can be compromised by the expression of masculine characteristics and whether feelings of authenticity directly or indirectly connect masculine expression to a diminished sense of interest in a science position. In Study 1 ( N = 105), we randomly assigned female undergraduates to present themselves as possessing traditionally high masculine characteristics or possessing non-masculine characteristics. They recorded a video “interview” for a science laboratory position and reported on their feelings of authenticity. Women in the masculine-expression condition reported less authenticity, which was in turn associated with less interest in the position. Study 2 ( N = 240 women) showed that expressing masculine characteristics in a written “application” led to lower levels of authenticity and, in turn, less interest in the position. This effect occurred most strongly among women relatively high in feminine identification and low in masculine identification. These studies indicate that women who express masculine characteristics in science settings may experience less authenticity, which can in turn contribute to diminished interest in a science position. These findings suggest that efforts to improve women’s experiences in stereotypically masculine settings should focus on mitigating psychological connections between gender and success in those settings. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684320947648

LGBTS TRIBUNE EXPERIENCES IN TURKEY: ANALYSIS OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY

Ponte Academic JournalFeb 2020, Volume 76, Issue 2 LGBTS TRIBUNE EXPERIENCES IN TURKEY: ANALYSIS OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITYAuthor(s): İrem Kavasoglu ,Egemen Hanimoglu, Gizem EroglanJ. Ponte - Feb 2020 - Volume 76 - Issue 2 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2020.2.17 Abstract:Because it contains power relations within itself, use of space has important implications for the analysis of the gender regime. Tribunes as heterosexist and homophobic spaces building the meaning and value of football, a male dominant game, are discriminatory and violent for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual (LGBT) identities. This study aims to analyze LGBT’s experience of tribunes and their perception of tribunes within the context of hegemonic masculinity. In this research which uses phenomenology from qualitative research method, data were collected by interview method. Participants of the study consist of eight individuals in total including two trans-men, one trans-woman, one lesbian and four gays men. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed by content analysis method. Content analysis resulted in 3 themes. The findings of the research show that the tribunes are the spaces where the hegemonic masculinity values are produced, and a sense of fear, violence and discrimination exist for LGBT’s. For this reason, LGBT’s either go to tribunes by hiding their identities or they can never go to these spaces because of their identities. According to the participants, it is very important not to create a sovereign identity and to increase women’s visibility in tribunes in order to make tribunes LGBT friendly. As a result, tribunes exclude LGBT’s as heterosexist, homophobic, violent and discriminatory spaces. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

An approach to teaching my son about biblical manhood

ABSTRACTIn the current American context, societal norms and constructs of masculinity are evolving and becoming more flexible; thus, there has been an increased effort to define masculinity. Multiple voices, ranging from popular culture to scholarship, are attempting to describe and shape the various constructs of manhood and masculinity. One recent approach, the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men (2018), has described these societal changes and also provided an initial evaluation of what constitutes healthy masculinity. As a father and a theologian, I do not object to the task of prescribing what is “healthy masculinity,” but I place the locus of authority in biblical truth rather than modern psychology. And as a Christian father, I use a practice of catechesis, a series of questions with memorized responses, to provide a structure for how my son understands the world and his role in it. “What is biblical manhood? A biblical man is a leader, lover, provider, and protector.” This article will describe my catechetical approach to biblical manhood that is rooted in rich narratives and explicit doctrinal teaching. While some might recoil at this definition of manhood as reinforcing traditional and abusive constructs of masculinity, I would argue that many criticisms of “traditional masculinity” are justified because “traditional masculinity” is not healthy biblical masculinity. I intend to show how biblical masculinity differs from both modern psychological constructs and “traditional masculinity”, and that it has value for instructing children in how to navigate the social setting of confused masculinities.

Why are Women Less Likely to Negotiate? The Influence of Expectancy Considerations and Contextual Framing on Gender Differences in the Initiation of Negotiation

AbstractAccording to social role theory, women are less likely to initiate negotiations and have lower expectancies about negotiation success because the feminine gender role is inconsistent with the negotiator role. However, gender differences should be amplified in masculine contexts (with even more inconsistency between the negotiator role and the feminine gender role) and reduced in feminine contexts (with more consistency between the negotiator role and the feminine gender role). We showed in Study 1 (N = 1,306 students) that negotiators’ expectancies about being successful in negotiations mediated the effect of gender on real retrospective negotiation behavior. In Study 2, an online scenario experiment (N = 167 students and employees), we found that the framing of the negotiation context (feminine vs. masculine) moderated the mediation effect. We provide implications for theory, practice, and research methods by unearthing mechanisms and moderators of gender differences in the area of negotiations.

Searching and Researching for Located Narratives as Data of the ‘Other’

In social science research, methodology plays a significant role in constructing and shaping knowledge; the domain of methodology is equally contested and politicised. Therefore, studying gender and disability has been challenging, as it carries a Western, masculine and objective context. The paper tries to argue that the notions of gender and disability demand a more contextualised and embedded methodologies, which can highlight the possibility of multiple truths and situated knowledge of the marginalised. It also voices a need for a more indigenous methodology to address the questions on gender and disability in India; however, it does neither reject the western canons of work nor the non-indigenous researchers but opens up a more embedded way of thinking.

Roma: Silence, Language, and the Ambiguous Power of Affect

FQ's new books editor Carla Marcantonio reflects upon her experience serving as Netflix's official translator for Yalitza Aparicio, the Indigenous Mexican woman who plays the housekeeper in director Alfonso Cuarón's Roma. Marcantonio explores themes that emerged over the course of the film's promotional campaign, ranging from the expected (the film's social impact and depiction of a makeshift matriarchy) to those less discussed, such as the film's significant political context and critique of patriarchy, masculinity, and violence. In closing, she offers a counter-argument to the interpretation that Cuarón denies Cleo her agency by limiting her spoken lines, arguing that Cuarón's masterful use of cinematic language allows Cleo's voice to come through loud and clear.

Negotiation Contexts: How and Why They Shape Women's and Men's Decision to Negotiate

AbstractIn the substantial body of research on gender differences in the initiation of negotiation, the findings consistently favor men (Kugler et al., 2018). We propose that this research itself is gendered because negotiation research has traditionally focused on masculine negotiation contexts. In the current study, we replicate the gender effect in initiating negotiations (favoring men) and provide an empirically based selection of “masculine,” “feminine,” and “neutral” negotiation contexts, which can be used for future negotiation research. We show that the negotiation context shapes gender differences such that in specific social contexts, women tend to have even higher initiation intentions compared to men. Negotiation contexts generally seem to differ regarding their affordance to negotiate. We offer a possible explanation for gender effects on initiation intentions by uncovering the mediating role of expectancy considerations across all negotiation contexts, especially in masculine contexts, and instrumentality considerations in specific masculine and feminine contexts.

The hegemonic gender order in politics

PurposeDespite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions, they are still underrepresented in politics. The studies that primarily focus on women’s underrepresentation in politics neglect the role of gender as a category that structures and makes sense of social practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms that regulate the contemporary gender order in politics through discourse analysis and the contribution of the critical feminist perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 30 biographical interviews with Italian politicians and focuses on the account of their political experiences and on the meanings attributed to these.FindingsThe results of this paper underline the tendency to either absolve or blame women for gender inequality in politics through different interpretative repertoires: “Women’s disinterest toward politics,” “Politics as masculine context” and “Politics–family unbalance.” The analysis allowed to unravel the way in which the discursive practices create and reproduce the hegemonic gender order in politics.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to 30 qualitative interviews, and so results cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper highlight the importance of exploring issues relating to the gender gap in politics and stress the need to implement actions to promote gender equality in politics.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to an understanding of women’s underrepresentation in politics and offers causes for reflection on a phenomenon that has profound implications for our society.

Loss of Control: Experiences of Depression in Thai Men

In comparison to Thai women, Thai men do not seek care or treatment for depressive symptoms. The literature on men with depression reports that depressive symptoms are viewed as unmasculine. However, little is known about how Thai men experience depression. This qualitative study aimed to understand how Thai men understand having a depressive disorder. Twenty-one male patients were recruited from a psychiatric out-patient clinic and a university hospital in northeastern Thailand. The patients lived with major depressive disorder for at least one year. Data were collected by in-depth interviews and were tape-recorded. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by content analysis. Six themes emerged which were related to masculinity: (a) a loss of control, (b) feeling upside-down, (c) personal weakness, (d) a lack of understanding, (e) social isolation, and (f) a wish to lean on something. The findings are discussed in the context of existing research on depression in men and within the context of masculinity. Recommendations for future research on male depression and implications for clinical practice with men are presented.

Modeling of customer­oriented construction project management using the gender logic systems

The specificity of the feminine and masculine contexts of managing the customer needs in the construction project is highlighted. It is substantiated that the customer-oriented context of the gender logic systems of construction project management allows improving existing management approaches on the platform of values, which is wider than the traditional “triangle of design constraints” (time, cost, quality). The existing gender cognitive gap of project management standards (PMBOK, PMBOK Construction) is described in terms of defining the place and role of customers. The gender-balanced model of the customer-oriented system of construction project management in the parameters of processes, methods and tools of project management is proposed. The developed corresponding matrix, which includes analytical tools for managing the customer needs, deepens the integration of participatory (feminine) management in the “body of knowledge” of the РМВОК. The dynamics of application of customer-oriented project activities at different phases of a construction project life cycle is taken into account. The customer-oriented components of the characteristics of the corresponding processes were formulated by extrapolating the feminine logic system into the matrix of customer-sensitive construction project management processes. The correlation between the feminine customer management system and the formation of a qualitative context of architectural and planning decisions of construction projects is demonstrated. The results of customer-oriented modeling are discussed on an example of Construction Project Management Office (СPМО). Four phases of client-orientation are revealed: “І – customer interest (to hear his voice)”; “ІІ – implementation of “individual customer requirements” in architectural and spatial, design and technical solutions”; “ІІІ – customer-oriented execution of construction and installation work”; “IV – loyal customer of the company-developer”. The proposed evaluation tool will allow the top management of the companies-developers, СРМО С to carry out a self-assessment of progress in the development of client-oriented construction project management and to choose the actions necessary to move from “initiation” to ”completion” of the project.

‘Embrace the masculine; attenuate the feminine’ – gender, identity work and entrepreneurial legitimation in the nascent context

This article critically analyses how gender bias impacts upon women’s efforts to legitimate nascent ventures. Given the importance of founder identity as a proxy for entrepreneurial legitimacy at nascency, we explore the identity work women undertake when seeking to claim legitimacy for their emerging ventures in a prevailing context of masculinity. In so doing, we challenge taken for granted norms pertaining to legitimacy and question the basis upon which that knowledge is claimed. In effect, debates regarding entrepreneurial legitimacy are presented as gender neutral yet, entrepreneurship is a gender biased activity. Thus, we argue it is essential to recognize how gendered assumptions impinge upon the quest for legitimacy. To illustrate our analysis, we use retrospective and real time empirical evidence evaluating legitimating strategies as they unfold, our findings reveal tensions between feminine identities such as ‘wife’ and ‘mother’ and those of the prototypical entrepreneur. This dissonance prompted women to undertake specific forms of identity work to bridge the gap between femininity, legitimacy and entrepreneurship. We conclude by arguing that the pursuit of entrepreneurial legitimacy during nascency is a gendered process which disadvantages women and has the potential to negatively impact upon the future prospects of their fledgling ventures.