Masculine Pattern Research Articles

Sexual Orientation, Sexual Arousal, and Finger Length Ratios in Women

In general, women show physiological sexual arousal to both sexes. However, compared with heterosexual women, homosexual women are more aroused to their preferred sex, a pattern typically found in men. We hypothesized that homosexual women’s male-typical arousal is due to their sex-atypical masculinization during prenatal development. We measured the sexual responses of 199 women (including 67 homosexual women) via their genital arousal and pupil dilation to female and male sexual stimuli. Our main marker of masculinization was the ratio of the index to ring finger, which we expected to be lower (a masculine pattern) in homosexual women due to increased levels of prenatal androgens. We further measured observer- and self-ratings of psychological masculinity–femininity as possible proxies of prenatal androgenization. Homosexual women responded more strongly to female stimuli than male stimuli and therefore had more male-typical sexual responses than heterosexual women. However, they did not have more male-typical digit ratios, even though this difference became stronger if analyses were restricted to white participants. Still, variation in women's digit ratios did not account for the link between their sexual orientation and their male-typical sexual responses. Furthermore, homosexual women reported and displayed more masculinity than heterosexual women, but their masculinity was not associated with their male-typical sexual arousal. Thus, women’s sexual and behavioral traits, and potential anatomical traits, are possibly masculinized at different stages of gestation.

Gender-biased office culture in Croatian PR industry: why feminine sectors practice masculine patterns?

PurposeThis paper aimed to research attitudes of women working in the Croatian public relations (PR) industry regarding office culture (networking, banter, dress codes, etc.).Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses Bourdieu's habitus theory and analyses the experiences of women working in the Croatian PR industry with a focus on office culture. The study is based on 21 in-depth interviews with women working in the Croatian PR industry. Thematic analysis has been used to analyse data.FindingsAlthough female employees (76.84%) dominate the PR industry in Croatia, the so-called masculine patterns still prevail in the PR sector. Results show that women are often exposed to gender discrimination but at the same time, they also perpetuate gender-based prejudices.Practical implicationsEmployees in the PR industry should consider working on their own gender stereotypes that impact their patterns of behaviour. Relinquishment of the ideas of patriarchal essentialism would consequently change career progression opportunities, and it would particularly improve networking among women, which could lead to career advancement opportunities.Social implicationsStructural changes are needed in society to avoid women perpetuating inequality through masculine behaviour and unrealistic expectations that many women cannot meet.OriginalityTo the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first paper that explores gender-biased office culture in the Croatian PR industry. In doing so, the paper also applies Bourdieu's habitus theory, thus contributing to studying cultural masculinities from a Croatian perspective. The paper also introduces the concept of gender-biased behaviour.

Spóźniona zmysłowość w twórczości filmowej Mohsena Machmalbafa

The Belated Sensuality in the Films by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. From Apology of Heroic Masculinity to Female Alternative Narratives – Return to the Roots of Aesthetics as a Way of Knowledge This article aims to describe the transformation in the films by Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf who started his career as a propaganda filmmaker in the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran. He continued his artistic search adopting polemic attitude and the new strategies based on sensual perception entered his cinema, that emphasized humans’ phenomenological reality, not theological imaginings. Instead of resorting to the traditional cinematic ploys of oppositional filmmakers, such as subversive dialogue, or political symbolism, in movies Gabbeh (1996) and Silence (1998) Makhmalbaf choses the pleasure of the interacting senses. These alternative performative strategies are characterized by individualized narration and their protagonists are far from the patterns of hegemonic masculinity and femininity.

Sketching the New Man Out: Ellen Wood's Exploration of Victorian Masculinity

ABSTRACT In ways similar to other sensation novelists, Mrs Henry (Ellen) Wood questioned some ideological foundations of the Victorian shaping of gender models. Besides exposing the discontents of women trapped into fixed roles, she interrogated models of Victorian masculinity to envisage the possibility of new masculine roles and behavioural patterns. Drawing on gender theories, this article explores Wood's thought-provoking characterisation of men, examining some strategies she adopted in her fiction to question dominant male figures, such as the authoritative husband and the strict paterfamilias. While raising doubts on the desirability of the strength and self-assurance associated with these figures, Wood sketched out alternative male characters endowed with “feminine” virtues like patience and gentleness, or liable to be dominated by assertive and commanding women. Examples from different Wood works are offered to explain this combined process of deconstruction and rethinking of the abstract category of man. The second part of the article focuses on Roland Yorke (1869), a novel that bears evidence of the author's exploration of problematic aspects of Victorian masculinity, of her effective use of irony and her efforts to delineate alternative figures which, though never well-wrought, pave the way to future conceptualisations of the New Man.

Challenging Hegemony Through Narrative: Centering Women’s Experiences and Establishing a Sis-Science Culture Through a Women-Only Doping Forum

Understandings of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) and their use has largely been conceptualized through the lens of male hegemonic patterns, treating women’s doping as a threat to the “natural” gender order. This article focuses on an exclusive, women-only online IPED forum. It aims to describe and analyze how this new forum was met within the broader doping community, and how issues related to IPED use and gender are addressed by women when their views are not backgrounded by potential male commentators and misogynistic discourses. The results show that first-hand knowledge is disseminated by women, which contributes to the foundation of a women’s ethnopharmacological (sub)culture. Women, their bodies, and experiences become the standard and the “unspoken” norm in the discussions. The secluded space allows women to challenge patterns of hegemonic masculinity, while building and reinforcing women’s experiences, bodies, and expertise as the standard. This stresses the importance of moving beyond hegemonic conceptualizations to understand the ongoing socio-cultural changes to the gender balance of IPED use and to center women’s doping experiences, and the risks associated with use. This has implications for the formation and development of both this community and of a “sis-science” based on women’s knowledge and experience.

Provider love in an informal settlement: Men's relationships with providing women and implications for HIV in Kampala, Uganda.

Uganda has made progress in controlling the HIV epidemic since it first emerged in the 1980s. While new infections in the country are higher among women, men in urban areas face a higher risk of AIDS-related mortality due to starting treatment later and taking medication inconsistently. While gender analyses have been used to describe women's HIV vulnerability, less is known about how masculinity, and especially different forms of masculinity, affect men's vulnerability. This study reports on data from an ethnography (2016-2019) with low-income men in urban Uganda. This study uses gender and power theory to describe how men's relationships with female sex workers in an informal settlement in urban Kampala, Uganda are characterized by female providers ("provider love") and male dependents. Young men in this sample, largely jobless, rely on their relationships for daily survival. As gender roles reverse, young men find themselves unable to attain masculine ideals as expected of Baganda men. Instead, men in this sample face less power in their relationships, a loss of masculine respectability, and diminished reputations in the community. These intersections of gender, economic struggle, power, and intimacy reconfigure men's HIV vulnerability in this setting. Public health programming on HIV/AIDS for men should consider different patterns of masculinity, power, and economic struggle and how they impact HIV outcomes.

A PATTERNS OF MASCULINITIES IN DISCOURSE OF REPORTS ASSESSING CONDITION OF POLISH STARTUPS ORGANISATIONS

The purpose of this article is discourse analysis of masculinity created in reports assessing the current condition of Polish startups. The analysis covered reports published by the Startup Poland foundation from 2015-2019. This text is an attempt to apply the heuristic framework of integrative gender theories to interpret the results of the research, and explain how the discursively masculinity was constructed. Startups as innovative professional structures belonging to the knowledge-based economy model are an example of organizations typical of the information society. Numerous studies report changes (crises) occurring among the practiced male patterns (especially those typical for the countries of the global North). The results of the analysis show that despite these reports, the largest startup organizations striving to produce innovative solutions and using modern solutions, on the discursive surface, are associated with cultural patterns of hegemonic masculinity. Polish startups, on a structural and symbolic dimensions, are a highly masculine spaces. However, due to the practice of achieving hegemony, they (startups) can be interpreted in terms of cooperative or hybrid masculinity.

Romance, companionship and masculinities in establishing relationships by Mexican Mormon men

The contradictory pressures that Mormon belief and practice create for men’s gender identity and sexuality give reason to reconsider the concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’. Starting from Connell’s conceptualisation, this article analyses narratives by 25 Mexican Mormon men of establishing ‘romantic’ relationships. Participants were recruited through three different Mormon organisations in Mexico City. I explore emotional/affective notions constitutive of masculinity at play in their narratives and how they influenced the experiences and trajectories of their romantic relationships. I argue that relationships framed by hegemonic Mormon masculinity incorporate ‘traditional’ elements associated with long-lasting Judaeo-Christian normativity, such as (self-) control over physical attraction and marriage as the only context for it, simultaneously emphasising modern/post-modern forms of masculinity through ideas of love, companionship and emotional connection. The incorporation of these affective notions in the analysis can expand the concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, illuminating ways in which men adopt, negotiate or contest hegemonic patterns of masculinity.

Does ethnicity count when contextualizing the low proportion of women in STEM in Serbia?

PurposeThe aim of this article is to explore the perceptions of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in two ethnic groups (majority Serb and minority Hungarian) in a multiethnic region – Vojvodina, in Serbia – from an intersectional perspective.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study was implemented, capitalizing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with university faculty members from two ethnic groups working in a multiethnic region of Serbia (Vojvodina) in the STEM field of studies. Intersectionality as a theoretical approach was applied to reveal the interconnectedness between gender, ethnicity and field of studies.FindingsThe intersectional analysis indicates that minority Hungarian women are more conservative and less inclusive toward other women in STEM, thus they continue to build and enforce gender-based stereotypes. Their lack of inclusiveness is due to having had to overcome a situation of “double jeopardy” (Almquist, 1975) when building a career in STEM, being both members of an ethnic minority and women in STEM. Majority Serb women have adopted masculine patterns of behavior, try to blend in, and become “one of the boys” (Powell and Sang, 2015) in order to diminish the gender penalty and be seen as equal to men. Both minority and majority women agreed that deeply rooted gender stereotypes prevent women from choosing a career in STEM and identified the need for more inclusive education programs at all levels and for more female role models in STEM.Originality/valueThe study contributes by increasing understanding of ethnic minority and majority women's issues in STEM studies in Serbia from an intersectional perspective. It may be relevant to policy makers and contribute to the development of policy recommendations that steer more women in general and ethnic minority women specifically toward STEM, with the ultimate goal of enabling Serbia to develop not only socially but also economically. The paper contributes to the limited research on the STEM-related career experiences of ethnic minority Hungarian women and majority Serb women in Serbia and in the Western Balkans in general.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ «Я-КОНЦЕПЦИИ» РОССИЙСКИХ ЖЕНЩИН-СОТРУДНИКОВ ПОЛИЦИИ

The article presents data from an empirical study of the features of the “I-concept” of Russian female police officers. An increasing number of women realise themselves in professions traditionally seen as those suitable principally for men, including working in the police. The authors consider the socio-psychological issue of transformation of gender-role behavior and related stereotypes, which contributes to a blurring of the boundaries between male and female in the structure of the psyche of the person, and naturally causes a transformation of the «I-concept» of female police officers. Differences in the cognitive component of the “I-concept” of female police officers and civil women were revealed: women working outside military forces are more likely to think of themselves in an aesthetic and family context, while female police officers imagine themselves in a social and professional context, which is more typical for the “I-concept” of male type. The proportion of female police officers using male-type behavior and strategies to identify themselves “I am a police officer” is significantly larger than the proportion of civilian women who prefer masculine patterns of behavior when identifying with their organization. The cognitive component of the “I-concept” of female police officers is characterized by the pronounced ambivalence in the family and socio-professional spheres. Given the priority of the family sphere in the “I-concept”, professional activity and its effectiveness become a secondary and tertiary concern, or the priority of the police service in the “I-concept” of female police officers assigns only the second and third role to the family sphere. Statistically significant differences were revealed in the structure of self-esteem, self-sympathy and self-acceptance of women of two groups, namely: female police officers are more self-confident, their self-respect is based on faith in themselves and their strength, independence, their reliance on their abilities, skills and capacities manifested against a backdrop of unstable auto-sympathy and a high need for social approval, prevailing focusing on social norms and success criteria. In contrast, civilian women have higher self-esteem, an active life position concerning themselves and society, trust and a positive attitude towards themselves, and awareness of their creative potential for a productive life and activity.

Ethnic minority and majority female academic staff members perspectives on women in stem in Serbia

The paper aims to fill the gap in the scholarly literature regarding the way in which the intersection of ethnicity, gender and scientific fields shapes women?s narratives about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in a multiethnic environment in Serbia. A qualitative study was conducted, capitalizing on in-depth, semi-structured of twenty semi-structured interviews conducted with university professors from ethnic minority and majority comminties, working in STEM and social sciences and humanities (SSH) field of studies in two state universiteis in Serbia. The findings indicate that ethnic minority female professors from STEM are less open to female students and colleagues in their domains and do not see the need for more women in STEM. This attitude can be traced back to these women having to overcome a ?double jeopardy? and ?symbolic violence? in a very male-dominated field, as they belong to ethnic minority and hat to deal with the lack of or with the denial of recources within institutions. Equal abilities of men and women in STEM was a topic occurring mostly in the narratives of the majority women who mostly adopted a masculine patterns of behavior and tried to become ?one of the boys?. Both minority and majority women agreed that deeply rooted gender stereotypes prevent women from choosing a career in STEM. The research identified the need for more inclusive education programs on all levels and for female role models to steer more women towards STEM.

Searching for the “Roots” of Masculinity in Primates and the Human Evolutionary Past

The reconstruction and prioritization of masculinity in human evolution (and thus human nature) is often rooted in reference to other primates and the hominin fossil and archaeological record. And it almost always involves violence. Whether it be the “demonic males” hypothesis, the trope of aggressive alpha maleness and sexual coercion, or gender-biased representations of toolmaking, hunting, and fierce encounters between different populations of the genus Homo in the Pleistocene, a particular pattern of masculinity (maleness)—and violence—permeates most popular discourse and much of the academic discourse. While there are some significant sexual differences and divergent strategies among our closest cousins, and the fossil record does offer important insights into the development and deployment of gender, much of the data do not fit seamlessly with typical assumptions. In fact, much in our contemporary understandings of other primate behavior and the hominins either contradicts or complexifies assumptions and assertions about the origins and “ancestral” patterns of contemporary human masculinity and its associated violence. This paper articulates what we do and do not know about maleness in primates and past humans and offers some possibilities for how such information might assist in elaborating more integrative understandings of the complexities of human masculinities.

Teacher immunity in professional identity: reflection on male ielts teachers’ homosocial fabrics in 2 iranian ethnographic institutions

As a new concept in language teacher psychology, language teacher immunity is a strong indicator of how teachers behave and respond in the face of disturbances which has a profound effect on teachers' profession. So, as it is apparent, research on language teacher immunity is in its embryonic stage and this qualitative study tried to fill the gap in the existing literature by using Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling to develop an in-depth understanding the experiences of five IELTS male teachers from two ethnographic sites. And due to research and critical studies into men and masculinity has originated as one of the most emerging areas of sociological investigation, on a macro-level of ethnography, this research study concentrated on male IELTS teachers to see the interpretations about masculinity, homosocial relations and desire to make their own professional identity and on the micro-level, the ethos varies at each institution. To achieve the research objectives and answer the questions of this ethnographic study, three data collection techniques were utilized to generate information, namely document collection, classroom observations, and interviews. The findings of this comparative ethnography revealed that in the IELTS situation, “the Visionary” and “The Spark plug” should be placed in two separate groups of immunity (productive and adaptive) to increase the categories of immunity to 5 in this context. So, by adding masculinity patterns, which changed from physicality into knowledge-discipline and socialization-patronage in this study, it was concluded that those who were in productive and adaptive immunity category were not homogeneous due to the fact that they were complicit and approached themselves to the hegemonic masculinity with slight changes that the researchers could not separate them in their immunity.

„Spóźniony, zakłopotany spadkobierca”. Męskie inicjacje w cieniu łagru, purgi, totemicznej krwi

What this article attempts to gauge are the possibilities stemming from combining two methodologies: masculinity studies (as a part of gender studies) and ecocriticism/environmental studies. The material for the analysis is the novel by Sergei Lebedev, Oblivion. The author of the article reconstructs the hegemonic pattern of male initiation present in the novel and related with post-communist inheritance of Grandfather II, one of the novel’s characters. Overcoming the imposed pattern of masculinity (authoritative, totalitarian) takes a form of journey into subarctic Russia and seeking the traces of gulag camps. Climate-related factors play a significant role in this process: motifs of Purga, of permafrost, and endemic plant species of Ural and Syberia.

Kur’an’da Toplumsal Cinsiyet Bağlaminda Eşcinselliğe Sosyolojik Bakış

Kadın ve erkek arasındaki toplumsal farklılıkları anlatmak üzere kullanılan toplumsal cinsiyet (gender) kavramı, sonradan geleneksel kadın ve erkeklik kalıplarının analizine indirgenmekle eleştirilmiş, kadın ve erkek ikiliminden sıyrılarak farklı cinsiyet biçimi olan ara kimlikleri ve eşcinselliği de içine almıştır. Geleneksel cinsiyet kalıplarının önemini kaybettiği günümüzde eşcinsellik, üçüncü bir toplumsal cinsiyet biçimi olarak kabul görmekte ve desteklenmektedir. Kur’an’ın toplumsal cinsiyete bakışı ise 21. yüzyılın hakim anlayışından farklılık göstermektedir. Bu çalışmanın konusu, toplumsal cinsiyet kavramının Kur’an’daki izdüşümlerini ele almaktadır. Araştırmanın amacı, Kur’an’ın toplumsal cinsiyet bağlamında eşcinselliğe dair algısını sosyolojik olarak incelemektir. Kur’an, fıtrata aykırı olduğu gerekçesiyle eşcinselliği olumsuz bir şekilde tanımlamakta, Lut Peygamber ve kavmine atıfta bulunarak homoseksüel kimliğe çeşitli eleştiriler getirmektedir. Buna göre Lut kavmi, kendilerini fıtrata çağıran peygamberlerine itaatsizlik ederek haddi aşmış, eşcinsel davranışı bireysel bir fiil olmaktan çıkarıp zulme dönüştürmüştür. Kavim, ayrıca fıtratı bozarak eşcinselliği topluluğun bütününe yaymış, böylece nesli ifsad etmiştir.

THE CONSTRUCTS OF MASCULINITY IN THE CULTURE OF RUSSIAN WORKING-CLASS YOUTH

Purpose: The study is aimed to research the means and patterns of masculinity constructing in the working-class culture of modern Russia. Both the practices of producing its multiple forms in daily interaction and the stable structures of social inequality, which consolidate gender order at the institutional level, have been considered. The article also provides an analytical review of current studies of the working-class masculinity regimes in post-industrial societies.
 Methodology: The empirical base of the research is represented by the mass survey of 1534 respondents living in the Ural Federal District of Russia. The participants were working-class young people aged 16 to 29 years and occupied in the field of industry, technical maintenance, and customer service. The processing of research results was carried out using a statistical package IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20.
 Main Findings: It was found that the remaining structural disproportion between sectors of the economy in the level of remuneration and the gender composition of workers determines translation and reproduction of the male breadwinner pattern that has power in the family on the basis of control over economic resources.
 Applications of this study: The results of the study can be used in the teaching of sociology, gender studies, and cultural studies; it can also be applied by local policymakers while developing social policy programs targeted on the regarded social group.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: In the current research we have examined a specific group at the intersection of three stratification features: social class (the working class representatives), gender (men’s and women’s view of the masculine construct) and age (the youth of three age cohorts). The attention was paid both to the cultural production of multiple forms of masculinity and to the continued dominance of social inequality and suppression’ structures.

Heteronormativity, Masculinity and Prejudice in Mobile Apps: The Case of Grindr in a Brazilian City

ABSTRACT In this study our goal was to examine the masculinity associated to heteronormativity in a gay app from the users’ point of view, which was made through an inductive study based on semistructured interviews with app users. Main results suggest that Grindr is used as a contemporary form of sociability, mainly because it provides comfort and distance from segregated spaces. At the same time, it allows discretion in sexual encounters, which only happen between “equals”: white, young, athletic, handsome, and not effeminate men, and all those who differ from this profile are repelled. Heteronormativity imposes a pattern of masculinity that has overwhelmed everyone indiscriminately. Those who do not fit this profile can only be resigned to a secondary role at virtual community. Thus, technologies like this can aggravate marginalization of those already on the society fringes if forms of sociability continue to reproduce the oppression of prevailing heteronormativity.

ALEXTIMIA E MASCULINIDADES

Resumo: Os homens cresceram ouvindo expressões violentas tais como: ‘seja forte’, ‘não seja uma menininha’, ‘homem não chora’. Violência em forma de ideias; conceitos que formaram toda uma mentalidade, a cultura do machão. É este o cenário que persiste na sociedade: um jeito equivocado de como devem ser os homens. Homens que se constroem por meio da negação dos sentimentos. A negação de tudo o que não for considerado como “supostamente” masculino resulta na violência ao feminino, a fim de manter a virilidade e o padrão social de masculinidade. A “mitologia” por trás destas masculinidades é o macho, moldado num estereótipo tóxico, que produz posturas errôneas, inadequadas e agressivas. O macho, por exemplo, acredita que não pode dispensar mulher nenhuma, que deve estar sempre pronto ao sexo ou que tudo deve ser resolvido na brutalidade. Poder, controle e propriedade são aspectos hegemônicos que compõem um lugar ocupado pelos homens, mas, na realidade, revelam outra realidade, a da tristeza, solidão, abandono e medo. Muito embora o ideal masculino ainda seja perseguido pela maioria dos homens, a desconstrução deste tipo de masculinidade já está em curso, com a consequente saída de cena do macho. É neste contexto que apresentamos o conceito de Alexitimia, isto é, a dificuldade em reconhecer os sentimentos; e faremos isso nos debruçando sobre os estudos das masculinidades hegemônicas e tóxicas.
 Palavras-chave: Alexitimia; masculinidades; hegemonias; toxicidade.

Self-reported competence in female and male nursing students in the light of theories of hegemonic masculinity and femininity.

In most parts of the world, nursing historically has been considered an occupation for women. Gender stereotypes are associated with the nursing profession. The aim was to describe and compare the self-reported competence in female and male nursing students. The students were also compared according to their different background college educations. The theoretical framework of hegemonic masculinity and femininity was used. A cross-sectional design with a questionnaire was used at two points in time, 2012 and 2017. Nursing students completed a questionnaire on graduation from a 3-year university nursing program from 12 universities/university colleges in Sweden. In total, 1810 students were participating, 1577 female and 227 male students. The Nurse Professional Competence scale was used for data collection. There were statistically significant differences in the self-reported competence between female and male students (t tests and ANOVAs). These differences are in agreement with the patterns of hegemonic masculinity and femininity. Female students estimated their competence in giving value-based nursing care as higher than males. Male students estimated their competence in development and leadership higher than females. The pattern of hegemonic masculinity and femininity could be identified. This indicates a difference in power between female and male students. The study addresses the self-reported competence of female and male nursing students. The results indicated that male students possibly looked on themselves as superior to the female students. In order to change the image of nursing as a woman´s work, the self-images should be discussed in nursing education as well as in college education. Women interested in development, research, and leadership and men interested in nursing care and administration must feel that nursing is a suitable profession for them. The stereotypical image of nursing as a women's work is a barrier to nurses' professional development.

“Don’t Give Up! Don’t Give in!” Gender in International Relations and “Curious” Feminist Questions

“Don’t Give Up! Don’t Give in!” Gender in International Relations and “Curious” Feminist Questions