Masculinity Studies Research Articles

French Catholic Men at War 1939–1940: A Study of Faith and Masculinity in the Field

ABSTRACTThis article contributes to the burgeoning scholarship on the intersection of gender and religious faith and practice and engages with new interpretations of the feminisation thesis. Specifically, it sheds light on French Catholic masculinities through a unique body of sources, letters written by soldiers, lay and religious, to the Carmel of Lisieux from the mobilisation in September 1939 to the defeat in June 1940. The correspondents were devotees of the most loved saint of the modern era, Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–97). The letters reveal the deep resonance of Theresian teaching and the ways in which men in the field consciously aimed to model a female saint known as the Little Flower. The material under review points to the limitations of strictly binary gendered interpretations of expressions of belief. Ordinary Catholic men embraced popular devotional practices that have been labelled as ‘feminised’. The evidence suggests, further, that there was a fluidity between masculine and feminine Catholic identities and that there were multiple non‐binary possibilities for the articulation of Catholic manhood at this time.

Eighteenth‐century queer studies, revisited

AbstractThis review essays opens with concerns over “crisis” that have spurred widespread panic about the state and future of the humanities. Crisis, I suggest, is the rallying call for new directions in and reinvention of 18th‐century queer studies. By advocating for recuperative histories wherein crisis is a motivational force that pushes 18th‐century queer studies to be further self‐reflexive and intersectional, I examine three potent trends and their portents for 18th‐century studies: masculinity studies, the nexus of queer and disability studies, and trans studies. I close with a continued call for examinations of queerness and race as they might enlighten the long 18th century. This article ultimately surveys current terrains of 18th‐century queer studies and its commitments to evolve inclusively, dynamically, and unapologetically.

Supporting Fiamalu’s education: a case study of affective alliances and Pacific Islander masculinity

ABSTRACT Aspirations are embedded in social alliances and affectively realised. This article presents a longitudinal case study of the support and pastoral care in place for one Samoan-Australian male, Fiamalu, during his final year of compulsory schooling. Fiamalu’s path to higher education was precarious for numerous reasons, including losing both his parents in the months preceding his last year of compulsory schooling. Drawing on theories of affect, the analysis focuses on the dynamics of the affective alliance between Fiamalu’s elder sister and his year-level coordinator who supported Fiamalu. Fiamalu’s story furthers understandings of the diverse ways disadvantaged students can be supported. Furthermore, as Fiamalu was supported, he simultaneously remained committed to supporting those close to him, providing insight into the ways in which support is often reciprocal and intertwined with empathy.

The Unrealized Potential of Body-Reflexive Practices

Raewyn Connell’s work foregrounds bodies in a way that challenges the social-constructionist orientation that has dominated much of the critical research on masculinities. Yet, her concept of “body-reflexive practices” is one of the least explored aspects of her work. In this commentary, I argue that body-reflexive practices, as the concept is developed inThe Men and the Boys, points in the direction of a potentially productive convergence between masculinity studies and new materialist theories. In its engagement with the nature of bodies underlying the cultural construction of gender, Connell’s work maintains a relevance that has been largely unappreciated. This is especially the case for boys and young men as they develop masculinities in negotiation with their corporeal capacities.

The Unrealized Potential of Body-Reflexive Practices

Raewyn Connell’s work foregrounds bodies in a way that challenges the social-constructionist orientation that has dominated much of the critical research on masculinities. Yet, her concept of “body-reflexive practices” is one of the least explored aspects of her work. In this commentary, I argue that body-reflexive practices, as the concept is developed in The Men and the Boys, points in the direction of a potentially productive convergence between masculinity studies and new materialist theories. In its engagement with the nature of bodies underlying the cultural construction of gender, Connell’s work maintains a relevance that has been largely unappreciated. This is especially the case for boys and young men as they develop masculinities in negotiation with their corporeal capacities.

Influence of Provider Gender on Mental Health Stigma.

This study examined gender differences in mental health providers' stigma toward people with mental illness. As part of a larger professional education needs assessment at a VA healthcare system, 77 mental health providers of various disciplines completed a self-report measure of stigma towards people with various mental health diagnoses. Results indicated that male mental health providers hold significantly more stigmatizing views toward people with schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is consistent with provider gender differences found in other areas of study and theories of stigma and masculinity. These results can be used to build on stigma reduction interventions. Future research should continue to examine the underlying reasons for gender differences among providers.

Representations of masculinity in two stories by Carlos Casares

The study of masculinity and its representation is especially fascinating in Spanish and Galician literature of the mid-20th century. In the two stories to be analyzed in this essay, “O xogo da Guerra” (“The War Game”) and “Agarda longa ao sol” (“Long Wait under the Sun”) — both written by Carlos Casares (Ourense 1941-Nigrán, Pontevedra 2002)—the versions of masculinity displayed by male characters can be considered as denunciations of the model that Franco wished to impose: made in his image, disciplined, cold, and violent. Manhood in Casares is characterized by an ability to accept nonconformity and to assume a reality that conflicts with masculine epistemology as it is known. The new man is ready to absorb a new reality and free a society consumed by hatred, pushing it towards democracy and understanding. Galicia and its people are the main protagonists of these transformations.

Beyond the boundary: the sandpapergate scandal and the limits of transnational masculinity

The public outrage expressed when Australian cricket players admitted to cheating during a Test match by using sandpaper to alter the surface of the match ball was, for some observers, matched by an incredulity captured in variants of the question, ‘how did they think they could get away with it?’ Drawing upon insights from recent work within masculinity studies, this essay offers an explanation into how the players could overlook the severity of their action as both an affront to the code of cricket and in regard to the response it would bring. The players are seen to be functionaries within an organizational network of ‘transnational men’, which characteristically tends to provide those within its institutional framework with a sense of impunity towards ethically questionable conduct. The essay also provides a means for questioning the wider cultural and organizational environment that gave rise to the Sandpapergate episode, by considering cricket as an ‘unsustainable institution of men’.

For Whom Does the Clock Tick?: Male Repro-Temporality in Fertility Campaigns, Scientific Literature, and Commercial Accounts

Sperm swimming in circles or a lone sperm cell with two heads: male reproductive aging is increasingly equated with poor sperm quality, the prevalence of offspring learning disabilities even schizophrenia. To discuss the construction of a male biological clock, this article asks: how does the biological clock intervene in men’s reproductive bodies. And secondly: how is male repro-temporality visually and rhetorically invoked in fertility campaigns, in medical scientific accounts and in the marketing material of one elective sperm-freezing company? Situated within an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, the article draws upon biomedicalization theory (e.g. Clarke et al. 2003), reproductive masculinity studies (e.g. Daniels 2006; Almeling and Waggoner 2013), and social scientific theorizing of time and temporality (e.g. Amir 2006; van de Wiel 2014a; 2014b) to discuss the emergence of male repro-temporality. This article contributes to the interdisciplinary scholarly agenda on time and temporality by theorizing the emergence of a male biological clock as a type of repro-temporality that, in its discursive and aesthetic framing, portrays male reproductive aging as involving loss and disability. The article concludes that while the biological clock derives its temporal force from the logic of decay, it simultaneously cements heteronormative ideals of the nuclear family, re-naturalizes the genetic unit, and situates men as proactive and modern in their anticipation of future infertility.

Marking men, affect and care work: a study of middle-class Bengali masculinity in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland

ABSTRACT This article examines Pulitizer prize-winning Indian American writer Jhumpa Lahiri's engagement with masculinity and care-work in The Lowland (2013). Situated in a middle-class Bengali family, the novel revolves around the individualistic aspirations and intellectual motivations of the three main characters – the two brothers Subhash, Udayan and the woman they eventually marry, Gauri. This article first draws attention to the cultural archive of middle-class intellectual Bengali masculinity and then proceeds to delineate Lahiri's inscription of Bengali middle-class masculinity through her specific focus on Subhash's feeling masculinity. Affect theory is considered a necessary heuristic to situate this theoretical examination and further unpack Subhash's complication of reproductive heteronormativity. In doing so, this article also considers the gendered nature of care-work within the Bengali heteronormative family while at the same time positing Subhash's masculinity as a case in point, where naturalised gendered ideas are successfully blurred. By no means representative of all kinds of middle-class Bengali masculinities, this article's focus on Subhash's masculinity mainly situates a road map to theoretically mark heteronormative middle-class masculinity through the lens of affect theory.

The internet’s “transnational” boyfriend: digital (re)presentations of celebrity men

ABSTRACT This article explores online (re)presentations of famous men and masculinities, and the surrounding concept of “the internet’s boyfriend”. The work examines how such discourse is shaped by global dynamics, structural racism, an “economy of visibility”, and demand for depictions of “difference.” Drawing on studies of celebrity, masculinities, marketing, and digital culture, I analyse how three famous men who are publicly desired and/or admired are (re)presented in digital spheres—memes, videos, articles, and accumulative discourse. Focusing on (re)presentations of Timothée Chalamet, Idris Elba, and Bong Joon-ho, I scrutinise how famous men are transnationally remediated in ways that can reinforce, resist, and rupture Anglo-Western normative notions of desirable masculinity. Culturally specific and hybridised ideas, identities, and ideologies that are projected onto such men online reveal the entanglements of issues concerning sexuality, (non)whiteness, exoticisation, nationality, masculinity, celebrity, and global media. Although “the internet’s boyfriend” is not always white, he is often someone who grew up in, identifies with, and is praised within, Western cultures. This article explicates how and why online (re)presentations of famous men in a transnational media landscape are couched in common narratives which include them being claimed as an (inter)national treasure, attractive to Anglophiles, and (re)presented as eccentric and exoticised Others.

Masculinities in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Ireland

The study of masculinities in Irish history is a relatively new but thriving field of inquiry. This collection, based on two symposia in 2016 and 2017 funded by the Irish Research Council, brings t...

The educational potential of video games in the deconstruction of hegemonic masculinity through the VIGLIAM method (Video Games Literacy From Alternative Masculinities)

Generally, male video game characters represent a hegemonic masculinity based on a patriarchal system that shows as a protagonist and dominant a white, western, heterosexual, wealthy male, disabled man and anti-ecologist. Videogames are one of the most consumed entertainment industry products worldwide. For students, video games are spaces where to find their masculine identity. Therefore, education must include video games. Video games are used as an educational resource for the improvement of the teaching-learning process of students. However, the aim of this study is to propose a didactic method untitled VIGLIAM (acronym for Video Games Literacy from Alternative Masculinities). From this method, firstly, students deconstruct critically the hegemonic masculinity of the characters in video games. Secondly, students build critically and creatively alternative masculinities that promote a fairer and more equal society. From this way, students develop empowering and empathetic skills from categories as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, body and nature. In short, this research is part of masculinities studies in the area of education and it is fundamental in the light of the emergence of posmachism that arises given the possibility of the loss of male privilege.

‘They make time for you’: upwardly mobile working-class boys and understanding the dimensions of nurturing and supportive student–teacher relationships

ABSTRACT Improving the academic and social outcomes of boys – specifically boys from low-SES backgrounds – remains of international importance. With this in mind, research continues to document the ways in which relational learning is integral for the well-being of students, specifically those students in disadvantaged school contexts. This paper focuses on relational learning as an important resource that marginalised young men draw upon, informing their future orientation towards higher education beyond their compulsory schooling. Within studies of men and masculinities, the affective turn has recently played a significant role in how we understand men as relational. Focusing upon a cohort of boys from some of the poorest urban regions in Australia, the paper addresses how their affective relationships with teachers contribute not only to their conception of themselves as learners but also their general well-being, confidence and aspirations. Through highlighting two trends in the data – Teacher as Persistent Nurturer and Teacher as Supporter – the research presented extends two lines of inquiry. First, understanding student–teacher relationships in disadvantaged educational contexts and, second, the importance of positive student–teacher relationships for working-class boys who have historically disengaged from their education.

A gang of ironworkers with the scent of blood: A participation observation of male dominance and its historical trajectories at Swedish semi-professional ice hockey events

Ice hockey has traditionally been a male-dominated culture that has both promoted and legitimised masculine dominance and gender inequality. The question is, how might ice hockey games, or other male-dominated sports, be organised differently and thus become more gender equal? Our ambition in this article is to initiate a discussion about how the construction of gender in ice hockey events operationalises or opposes the dominance of men and the marginalisation of women. The specific purpose is to identify techniques that configure men/masculinities as dominant in the ice hockey culture. Taking critical studies of men and masculinities as the point of departure, with a specific focus on the situational aspects of gender construction, this case study makes use of participatory observations of eight qualification games in Swedish semi-professional ice hockey. Our results show that men and certain types of masculinity dominate in the events framing the game and how this links the ice hockey players and the club with the local body-worker culture and its industrial, economic and historical context. Identification with these men is ideally created amongst male spectators, given that children and women do not have the same obvious place in the event’s narrative. Some clubs seek to include women and children in their matches, which affects both the atmosphere and the situation. By focusing on the events’ introductions and general narratives, and how they make use of a (masculine) version of the place’s past in the present, we discuss how the ice hockey culture contributes to the current hegemony of men and masculinities.

Men and masculinities: a continuing debate on change

ABSTRACT One of the debates currently unfolding in the field of critical men and masculinities studies concerns whether and how men and masculinities are changing. Engaging in critical discussions with scholars working with theorizations of inclusive and hybrid masculinities, this article aims to move these discussions, and relevant research, forward. The article canvasses how scholars discuss ‘change’ towards inclusive and hybrid masculinities, the conditions that allegedly facilitate this, and their views regarding wider systems of inequality and hierarchies between men and women, and among men. The article suggests that to understand change in all its complexity, more attention should be placed on the underlying conditions that encourage change among some men. It further proposes a multi-layered intersectional analysis that takes into careful consideration how axes of social identity intersect and affect opportunities for engagement with more inclusive or hybrid masculinities, and highlights the important role that contextual, situational, and interactional conditions may play in affecting the repertoire of possible manifestations and configurations of masculinity.

Boys and bullying in primary school: Young masculinities and the negotiation of power

In this article, we draw on data from focus group discussions to examine the ways in which some young boys in a South African township primary school construct and negotiate hegemonic masculinity through bullying, and other forms of violence, within the school. Deviating from the simplistic victim-bully binary, we draw from critical masculinity studies to show how younger boys exert power over girls through violence but are, themselves, also victims of violence which, they say, is perpetrated by girls. Boys are often identified as bullies at school, but when we gave them the opportunity to talk about what it meant to be a bully, we gained a far more complex picture of how bullying behaviour manifests between learners at school. Indeed, our participants’ accounts of violence at school gave us great insights into the complexities of gender violence and highlighted the broader socio-cultural and economic conditions that produce it. We conclude that it is vital to understand the mechanisms of gender power relations among primary school learners, if primary school violence prevention interventions are to be effective.

Anxious postcolonial masculinity in online video games: race, gender and colonialism in Indian digital spaces

This article examines representative games from Zapak.com: India’s most-popular gaming website (highest number of daily visitors) to conceptualize the relationship between masculinity and colonialism within digital geographies, in postcolonial spaces. Three of the four games chosen here, Sleeping at the Meeting, Zombie Pirate and Yoga Teacher, are representative of games categorized as ‘Girl’s Games’ on Zapak.com: where the ludic engagement is limited to dressing and undressing of white women in a variety of professional or social contexts. The fourth game Bipasha’s Beach Blaze is a continuation of such reductive stereotyping, albeit in the different but culturally significant site of Bollywood. The four games were selected using a case-study methodology and represent discrete but related artifacts. Following a survey of key literature, the authors address the limitations of traditional game studies approaches and propose a replicable methodology located at the intersection of two epistemic frames: one of critical masculinity studies and the other of ludology. Through analyzing the strategic ideologies behind the production, circulation and the game-play of these digital artifacts we argue that Zapak.com not only enables online sexism but also becomes a representative digital space where anxious performances of postcolonial masculinity – that has its historical basis in India’s colonial legacy – can be materialized. Further in highlighting the status of these ‘Girl’s Games’ as artifacts that do not allow for any substantial ludic or narrative involvement – we emphasize the need to constantly interrogate digital spaces as sites where hegemonic ideologies about race, gender and colonialism are reproduced and reified.

Resistance or Complicity? Chinese Canadian Men Negotiating Whiteness and Masculinity in the Canadian Prairies

In this essay, I critically analyze the practice of masculinity negotiation based on data collected through a qualitative study of hegemonic masculinity. Reflecting some dynamics of the historical subordination of Chinese masculinity in Canada, the Chinese Albertan males who participated in the research framed a somatic white masculinity, via which they discursively displaced themselves from the domain of the masculine. Some of them employed sport-participation to negotiate their masculine statuses. Underscoring whiteness as a material aspect of masculinity that cannot be performatively constructed by Chinese men, I argue that masculinity negotiation does not constitute an equitable means of resistance, as the very practice entrenches an archetypal masculine subject with whiteness at its centre. Through this discussion, I wish to incite conceptualizations of resistance in more critical terms.

¿Y los hombres? Producción científica y contenidos formativos sobre trabajo social y masculinidades en España

El género es una categoría de análisis que las ciencias sociales en general y el trabajo social en particular incorporan en sus prácticas e investigaciones con diferentes resultados e intensidad. Los Men’s Studies analizan las masculinidades, entendidas como conjunto de valores y comportamientos que una sociedad impone en relación a cómo “debe ser un hombre”. A pesar de que una determinada forma de ejercer la masculinidad es un “factor de riesgo”, que conlleva vulnerabilidades no solo para las mujeres, sino también para los propios hombres, mujer y género se utilizan, en muchas ocasiones, como sinónimos. Mediante un análisis bibliométrico y documental, se constata que en España, por un lado, el estudio de las masculinidades no se ha incorporado a los contenidos curriculares de 36 titulaciones de Grado en Trabajo Social; por otro lado, las revistas científicas más importantes sobre trabajo social tampoco han publicado artículos sobre intervención social con hombres. Se propone la inclusión de esta línea de trabajo para ofrecer una visión holística de los estudios de género y su aplicación al trabajo social.