Models Of Masculinity Research Articles

Configuraciones de masculinidad en los bailes al estilo huapanguero merequetengue en Guanajuato: Una aproximación queer desde la autoetnografía

Este estudio analiza la participación de los hombres y la performance de las masculinidades a través de la práctica social y dancística del huapanguero merequetengue en el estado mexicano de Guanajuato. A partir de una descripción densa se identifican tres modelos distintos de masculinidad observados en los mensajes corporales de los bailarines. En segundo lugar, y recurriendo al método autoetnográfico, se ofrece una interpretación de las dinámicas socioafectivas que se desarrollan gracias a la práctica músico-dancística del huapango merequetengue. Finalmente se debaten los aportes de la perspectiva queer, a fin de destacar el papel que la subjetividad juega en el proceso de investigación.

Bruce Lee as gladiator: Celebrity, vernacular stoicism and cinema

This article situates Bruce Lee’s films and star persona in the context of wider patterns in global genre cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. I argue for a connection between the Western reception of Lee’s films and those of the mid-century Italian sword and sandal films, beginning with the Colosseum fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris that concludes Way of the Dragon (1972). From the dojo fights of Fist of Fury (1972), through the tournament structure in Enter the Dragon (1973), to his statistically led re-animation in the EA Sports UFC 3 (2018) videogame, Bruce Lee can be usefully considered as a gladiator. Bruce Lee, as fighter, performer and star persona, contributes to the enduring gladiatorial archetype that is an embedded feature in the Western visual imaginary. Furthermore, I argue that the gladiator archetype itself shifted because of Lee’s onscreen roles and the discourse that surrounds his star persona. In order to map these shifts and patterns of confluence, I chart three main points of impact that Lee has had on the gladiatorial archetype using his Western-facing roles on film and television, namely the television series Longstreet (1971–1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973). First, I consider the inclusion of martial arts and, second, the opening up of the field of representation to different models of masculinity, including a leaner body type and a non-White – in this case, ethnically Chinese – gladiator. The third point is the emphasis on a popular, or vernacular, stoicism. Ultimately, I elucidate the relationship between the gladiator, Bruce Lee, and philosophy, arguing that Lee embodies a vernacular stoicism that has become one of the defining features of the post-millennial gladiator and notions of heroic masculinity in popular culture more widely.

The negotiation of masculinity and identity through clothing choices among Russian speakers in Canada

Using information interviews conducted with Russian-speaking men living in Toronto and vicinity this article interrogates the understanding of fashion among immigrants from former Soviet Union and Russia. Using a hypothesis that Russian-speaking men conceptualize their male identity differently from both their Canadian counterparts and Russian men living in Russia this article investigates how fashion choices affect negotiation of identity of these men in Canada. Using art historical methodologies, historical analysis and qualitative research I look at the interviewee’s contributions as a reflection of masculinity in transitions assuming that the forming of masculine identity is a constantly changing process. In each society the hegemonic model of masculinity categorizes groups of men in relation to each other through ‘normalizing’ the definition of masculinity and defining its standards and proper manifestations. This is particularly true of societies where the military culture has an increased presence and an important role to play. Contemporary Russia epitomizes the commanding and rigid nature of the masculinist regime where hegemonic masculinity is firmly established and thoroughly institutionalized.

Ambiguity as Dream Mentation: Supermasculinity and Ambivalence in American Dreams

AbstractAmbiguity, this paper argues, is not merely a property of dream imagery, but ignites a process that is dreaming thinking. When images are ambiguous, the mind cannot fix on a single meaning. Hence dream ambiguity catalyzes a play of possible meanings that implicitly raises questions, not only about personal memories but also about those cultural models that these memories evoke. Dream thinking, then, renders people's ongoing subjective reactions to culture into images. Through data from a 2004 to 2009 study of Northwest American student dreams and life histories, I propose that people think within dreams by representing daily ambivalences as visual ambiguities. Excerpts from this dream study illustrate seven types of visual ambiguity in dreams. Implicit in this taxonomy is a method of cultural dream interpretation that I present through an analysis of a full dream from a young man, Clarence. Through this analysis I show how ambiguities in Clarence's dream represent his ambivalence about an American masculinity model—one that may underlie the school shootings that are now so common in the United States.

‘Who Bravely Fights, and Like Achilles Bleeds': The Ideal of the Front‐Line Soldier during the Long Eighteenth Century

AbstractAugmenting recent efforts to recover a broader spectrum of eighteenth‐century attitudes towards martial models of masculinity, this article challenges traditional arguments that eighteenth‐century Britain either rejected or softened martial ideals by examining the period's under‐explored veneration of the sanguinary front‐line soldier. Connecting examples from literature and material culture, it demonstrates that eighteenth‐century artists valorised Achilles, literature's most bloodthirsty hero, as the archetype for this battlefield figure and made anachronistic comparisons with Homer's hero the subject of numerous encomiums on successive eighteenth‐century leaders. The conclusion outlines the persistence of this British cult of Achilles from the nineteenth century to the twenty‐first.

Machismo and anabolic steroid misuse among young Latino sexual minority men

Latino sexual minority men (SMM) have elevated anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) misuse in comparison to their heterosexual and non-Latino peers. Within a gender role framework, desire to present as masculine through heightened muscularity may be related to increased AAS misuse. To assess the association between AAS misuse and a culturally-distinct masculinity, this study examined the relationship of two aspects of machismo, traditional machismo and caballerismo, with AAS misuse in the past month. Participants were 141 young adult Latino SMM recruited from the San Diego area. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire online in English or Spanish, which included measures of machismo and AAS misuse. Out of 141 participants, 27 reported AAS misuse (19.1%). Traditional machismo was positively associated with AAS misuse and caballerismo was negatively associated with AAS misuse. Traditional machismo, which emphasizes dominance, may be positively associated with AAS misuse due to its facilitation of muscle development, which could enable physical intimidation; greater musculature may also counteract assumptions about femininity and sexual orientation. Caballerismo may be negatively associated with AAS by providing a flexible masculinity model that emphasizes social cohesion over dominance. Future AAS misuse interventions could include values-based work and cognitive restructuring of masculinity schemas.

Resignation, violence and filing complaint: social representations of the male aggressor from the perspective of the female victim of aggression.

The scope of this study is to analyze the social representations of the male aggressor from the perspective of the female victim of aggression. It is a qualitative and representational study conducted, using free narrative as the data-gathering tool, with twenty women who were under the protection of the Reference Center in Natal in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. ALCESTE 2010 software was used to analyze the textual data. Three thematic categories were developed for the purpose: i) The imprisonment of women; ii) Violence and its significance; iii) Breaking the cycle of violence. From the perspective of the female victim of aggression, the social representations of the behavior of the male aggressor are entrenched in the social role of males in the family and in society. In this way, it represents a model of dominant masculinity that in turn reinforces family structures and the repetition of roles.

Modelo e indicadores de masculinidad igualitaria en la ficción televisiva gallega: caso de Fontealba y Serramoura de Televisión de Galicia

Desde los television studies, la ficción ambientada en la realidad coetánea del receptor constituye un espacio privilegiado para consolidar la normativa social, pero también para visibilizar nuevas tendencias. Con el objetivo general de contribuir al campo de los masculinity studies, este artículo analiza dos series dramáticas de éxito de la Televisión de Galicia (TVG) de 2017 como relatos de proximidad que podrían representar nuevas masculinidades alternativas al modelo tradicional. Para ello, se ha evaluado el tipo de masculinidad dominante en estas producciones televisivas a partir del análisis de la caracterización y las interacciones sociales de sus principales personajes masculinos. La metodología aplicada ha incluido una lectura en profundidad y el mapeo de relaciones paradigmáticas entre personajes, junto con el análisis de contenido multivariable que ha permitido observar correlaciones entre la edad y clase social de los personajes y los tipos de masculinidad. Los resultados sostienen una mayor afinidad a la masculinidad hegemónica conforme aumenta el poder ejercido por el personaje en el ámbito público o laboral. Se establece una correlación entre clase social y modelo de masculinidad, no así para la variable de edad. Y aunque se representan diferentes aproximaciones a modelos de masculinidad más igualitarios, los personajes que las sustentan se disocian de la esfera laboral como ámbito fundamental de construcción identitaria. Todo ello nos lleva a concluir que, a pesar de la creciente diversidad en la representación de las masculinidades en la ficción televisiva analizada, el modelo patriarcal definido desde el ámbito de lo público sigue siendo el hegemónico.

Being a Father: A Broken Masculinity or a Better One? An Autoethnography from a First-time Father Perspective

The current neoliberal society is built upon a patriarchal system in which new types of masculinities have a difficult time thriving. In this paper, I draw upon my own experiences as a Spanish neophyte father and how it shifts away from models of hegemonic masculinity. In doing so, I am forming a new model of masculinity to explore neoliberal discourses and how these determine my emotions, feelings and personal identity. Methodologically, I make use of a critical lens and an autoethnographic approach, interlinking personal and social aspects. In the results, I reflect upon a normal day in my life as a father and my relationship with my son, and the way in which it is affected by the hegemonic masculinity. The text is presented as an opportunity to rethink the importance of changing patriarchal prejudices and to deepen the knowledge of the role that masculinity plays in the paternal experience.

In the Log Cabin with My Favorite Player: Appreciating Traditional American Masculinity Through Homoerotic Language in Baseball Fandom

On the website r/NYYankees, a sub-forum (“subreddit”) of Reddit is devoted to the Major League Baseball team New York Yankees, with its predominantly male users showing their appreciation for baseball heroes by expressing erotic desires towards the players. When a player performs well, the subreddit is filled with admiration of desires to become the player’s intimate lover―explicitly expressed by “male” fans. This paper explains the phenomenon of young male fans’ desire for the now-lost model of traditional masculinity of domination and control, displayed in the context of baseball players’ dominant performances. The discrepancy between a fan’s non-homosexual real-world self and his homoerotic language on the subreddit is explained using the “performative fandom” theory, developed by Osborne and Coombs borrowing Butler’s notion of performativity. This paper suggests how this desire for traditional masculinity serves as recognition to the collapse of masculinity in the modern American society.

‘Daddy, I'm falling for a monster’: Women, Sex, and Sacrifice in Contemporary Paranormal Romance

This paper examines a key trope within much contemporary paranormal romance: the absence, or ineffectiveness, of the father. The first part of the essay develops an analysis of this aspect of the genre (in the Twilight Saga especially) through the work of René Girard, Luce Irigaray, and Juliet MacCannell. Of particular importance here is the extent to which Twilight and similar narratives stage female self-sacrifice as a pre-condition for the redemption of the hero and the restoration of patriarchal bonds initially compromised by some crisis in the effective functioning of paternal authority. The second section extends this analysis to consider ways in which paranormal romances featuring werewolves and vampires shift away from this conservative and reductivist romance paradigm so as to affirm and contest heteronormative, paternalistic models of masculinity and sexual desire.

NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF MASCULINITY IN NOLLYWOOD: A READING OF IKECHUWKU ONYEKA’S MR AND MRS

Masculinity is a social construct that defines man‟s social relation within the gender hierarchy in society. Over the years, gender has narrowly been screwed to depict feminism which in itself struggles towards negotiating social power for the feminine gender. However, in doing this, feminism has subtly achieved an ideological imaging of the male as brutish, savage, demonic, power obsessed and most of all domineering. This has gradually become a mainstream narrative through which masculinity is understood. Thus the average man is seen as potentially violent, power obsessed, chauvinistic and domineering. The implication is that masculinity in itself is a social havoc. This forms the core of this research. The researcher in this work disputes this negative construct of the masculine model as a social menace. The researcher argued that while the afore mentioned negative traits exist, that they are individual social disorder which in itself does not represent masculinity as a generic social construct. The researcher used the qualitative research method with particular resort to the case study approach for his data collection and analysis. The research is hinged on the „Social role theory of Sex‟ .

A Farewell to the Iberian Spanish Macho? An Analysis of Masculinity in Spain. Conversations with Experts

The traditional model of masculinity in Spain (the so-called Spanish Macho) is heir to a long tradition of understanding how masculinity is framed as an omnipotent model assuming that “a man has license to do whatever he wants”. This idealized behavioral pattern is slowly changing in Spain, as it accompanies the transformations in Spanish society. Certain public policies have provided momentum for a change in the way that the issue of gender in general and gender violence in particular are approached. A study carried out under the auspices of the University of Valencia between 2013 and 2015 interviewed experts and activists from an association of men seeking equality with women in an attempt to analyze the present situation and, above all, and to examine the future of masculinity in Spain as it relates to the gains made in favor of feminism. Using the opinions of several actors as a basis, certain questions emerge and the difficulties confronting this process are revealed: Is a rupture with traditional models possible? What is the present status of the coexistence between the most traditional and the most egalitarian approaches?

The Construction of Masculinity in Bryce Echenique’s Un mundo para Julius

Bryce Echenique’s novel has been read as an illustration of the decadence of Peru’s mid twentieth-century oligarchy, which presages their fall and, alternatively, as a celebration of oral language. By concentrating on gender analysis, the present study draws on the novel’s orality to argue that, in spite of its seemingly arbitrary structure, Un mundo para Julius narrates, in a consistent, linear fashion, the protagonist’s crisis of masculine identification in the years leading up to his arrival at puberty. This crisis is triggered by the protagonist’s loss of his father in infancy, which leaves him without a clear masculine model. Julius’ quest to define a sensitive, aware masculinity capable of diverging from the machista extremes represented by his older brothers and stepfather illustrates the ways in which Bryce Echenique portrays masculinity as a construct, where changes in the details of how men present themselves may yield different gender identifications, and where femininity is defined by its relationship to oligarchical masculinity.

SYNOWIE STASIA. FORMY MĘSKOŚCI KOLONIALNEJ W POWIEŚCIACH MŁODZIEŻOWYCH FERDYNANDA ANTONIEGO OSSENDOWSKIEGO

Tekst Synowie Stasia. Męskości kolonialne w powieściach młodzieżowych Ferdynanda Antoniego Ossendowskiego stanowi analizę wątków inicjacyjnych w trzech tekstach narracyjnych popularnego prozaika z czasów dwudziestolecia międzywojennego: powieści W poleskiej dżungli, Mali zwycięzcy i Skarb Wysp Andamańskich. Odwołując się do teorii postkolonialnej oraz analizy dyskursów ideologicznych Drugiej Rzeczpospolitej, autor bada powieściowe reprezentacje odmiennych kultur oraz obowiązujące wówczas w Polsce i za granicą wzorce męskości oraz sposoby ich adaptacji na potrzeby literatury dla dzieci i młodzieży.

Entre golpes y empujones, la comunicación afectiva entre varones universitarios

En este trabajo se explora la comunicación afectiva de un grupo de estudiantes varones universitarios de Tabasco, a partir del análisis de la interacción que establecen entre sí en el escenario académico, considerando el lenguaje que utilizan y la percepción que tienen respecto a las prescripciones sociales para el género masculino. Para ello se realizó un taller donde reflexionaron experiencias respecto a sus relaciones interpersonales y se observó el comportamiento cuando se encontraban entre varones durante la jornada escolar. Se identificó que la comunicación afectiva de los participantes se manifiesta a través de golpes, empujones y obscenidades, vinculándose al sistema heteronormativo de la sociedad patriarcal; las emociones que menos demuestran en un espacio público son la tristeza y el cariño, debido a que les representa un signo de inferioridad. Se concluye que la Universidad se convierte en un espacio de interacción afectiva que reproduce el modelo hegemónico de la masculinidad.

The construction of Palestinian Muslim masculinities in two novels by Laila Halaby and Randa Jarrar

ABSTRACTPast, and more significantly, post 9/11 Anglo-American political and popular culture representations of Arab Muslim masculinities in general and Palestinian masculinities in particular as evil, violent and terrorizing produced the myth of the Arab Muslim masculine evil: an ahistorical image of Arab and Muslim men that reduces them to a few negative, sometimes contradictory, characteristics. An understanding of politics and cultural productions as inextricably linked can explain the reasons behind the strength and sustainability of these negative stereotypes. In addition, it explains why Arab American writers find fiction an appropriate medium to produce diverse images of Arabs, Muslims and Arab Americans. This article draws primarily on Daniel Monterescu’s models of hegemonic Palestinian masculinities which follow Raewyn Connell’s model of hierarchical masculinities to explore the ways by which Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan (2003) and Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home (2008) offer complex Palestinian Muslim masculinities, particularly in the domestic sphere. These masculinities are positioned within specific historical, socio-political and cultural realities, which are not solely governed by narrow definitions of Islam. Palestinian Muslim masculinities in both novels challenge monolithic and essentialist representations of Arab Muslim men in general and Palestinian men, particularly after the events of 9/11.

The Salience of “Hegemonic Masculinity”

This article argues that the concept of “hegemonic masculinity” remains highly salient to critical masculinities studies. The author outlines Raewyn Connell's initial formulation of the concept, how that initial model of hegemonic masculinity has been historically misinterpreted, the reformulation of the concept by Connell and Messerschmidt, and the recent scholarly amplification of the concept. The author concludes that Connell’s original emphasis on the legitimation of unequal gender relations remains essential to both the concept and to the field of critical masculinities studies.

Smokeless Tobacco and the Rural Teen: How Culture and Masculinity Contribute to Adolescent Use

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. Smokeless tobacco (SLT) is primarily used by younger, rural males and often in the presence of other males. This formative study examined how hegemonic masculinity and male norms can lead to initiation and continued use of SLT by rural adolescent males and females. Survey data collected from high school sophomores in 4 rural high schools (n = 293) explores perceptions of masculinity and male norms’ contribution to SLT uptake and use. About 22.5% of total sample reported lifetime use (34.4% male, 13.7% female), 10.9% reported past-month use (20.0% male, 4.2% female). Logistic regressions show a one-unit increase in adherence to traditional perceptions of masculinity more than doubled the odds of ever using SLT and significantly increased odds of 30-day use. Having male household family members who uses SLT significantly increased the odds of lifetime and 30-day SLT use for both genders, while having male family members who smoke cigarettes was not a significant correlate. Recognition of health warnings on SLT packaging was negatively associated with SLT use for both genders. Implications for inclusion of masculinity and male role models in SLT prevention intervention strategies are discussed.

Gender Equality and UN Sustainable Development Goals: Priorities and Correlations in the Top Business Schools’ Communication and Legitimation Strategies

Gender equality is still an issue in business schools, since women in MBAs classrooms, in faculty and in management teams have low representation. Challenges caused by lack of financial aids, salaries gap and a very masculine model avoid a better gender balance in the business graduate schools, which, globally, should lead women personal and professional development. The main objective of this research is to analyse business schools communication priorities related to gender equality projects and policies in their sustainability reports, considering these as a fundamental tool for corporate legitimacy. Through a content analysis of the sustainable reports of the top 50 business schools of the world, we elaborate a “Codes Frequency Report” focusing on “Goal 4: quality of education” (in relation with scholarships and grants allocation) and “Goal 5: gender equality” and we explore the correlations with the schools’ ranking positions, the price of the MBA programmes, the percentage of female MBA students, of female faculty members and women in board of directors in the different geographical areas as Europe, US and Asia. Results show that gender equality related topics are a source of positive impact and legitimacy for top business schools.