Masculine Role Research Articles

Liberté, Égalité, Sororité: The Regime of the Sister in Graffigny’s Lettres d’une Péruvienne

The three editions of Francoise de Graffigny's Lettres d'une Peruvienne published since the late twentieth century are each adorned with vastly different covers. The first (1983) depicts a European woman writing a letter, the second (1993) illustrates the moment when the heroine, Zilia, becomes a property owner, and the third (2005) highlights the protagonist's exotic Otherness with a cartoon drawing of a native woman in traditional Peruvian garb in the foreground surrounded by aristocratic, European onlookers. Such varied choices in cover art for this novel signal a tension of representation inherent to the novel itself, that is, the variations in cover art demonstrate an opposition between on the one hand, an assertion of feminine and proto-feminist autonomy and, on the other, an exoticist subordination to the object of the male gaze. The space between feminine autonomy and female objectification serves as the basis for a narrative of the changing role of women in eighteenth-century France. As family politics evolve, masculine roles change dramatically; the father's importance wanes to the point of impotence while the son joins with his brothers to take the place of the fallen father. And yet, the place of women within this familial schema changes very little. The change in the woman's role can largely be summed up by substituting an adjective: the woman's role, which is always maternal, shifts simply from bad to good. (1) Olympe de Gouges famously recorded this perspectival shift in the postscript to her Declaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne when she wrote that the female sex was autrefois meprisable et respecte, et depuis la revolution, respectable et meprise. (2) In her seminal work, The Regime of the Brother: After the Patriarchy, Juliet Flower MacCannell argues that the fall of patriarchy sees the rise of a Regime of the Brother--an exclusively masculine regime which excludes female participation in the public sphere.-1 Despite this regime's denial of female agency, Graffigny's novel proposes an alternative to the brothers takeover. In the absence of fathers, Zilia instead constructs a new, egalitarian family based on sibling-like relationships, inventing a new role for the woman--that of the independent, enlightened sister. In this article, I argue that the Lettres provides a striking counter-example to a fraternal refusal of patriarchy. Zilia's unique form of refusal offers the sister as well as the brother as the inheritors of paternal legacy. Looking at how the heroine translates her body first through the Peruvian form of writing, then through her letters in French, I demonstrate how she disentangles the various threads that construct identity, creating in the process the possibility for a new, female identity that is not anchored in any masculine system. Rewriting the Family The central plot of the Lettres focuses on Zilia's journey as recounted through letters to her long lost Peruvian lover, Aza. She is wrested away from her native village by Spaniards on the day she is to marry her beloved King of the Incan empire. While being transported to Europe, a group of Frenchmen seize the boat on which she is held captive, and she meets Deterville, the French aristocrat who cares for her and becomes her most trusted friend. Much to Deterville's chagrin, Zilia refuses his offers of marriage, insisting on her eternal bond to Aza. Given her exoticism and the travel-like narrative, many critics tend to read the Lettres against Montesquieu's Lettres persanes, (4) Indeed, Graffigny invites this comparison in the foreword when she famously asks, Comment peut-on etre Persan? In Julia Douthwaites important work on Graffigny's text, she makes exactly this association. Comparing Zilia to the wealthy and educated Persian men (Rica and Usbek) she writes, because the preliterate, victimized Peruvian enjoys no such privileges, ethical issues dominate her narrative. (5) While Douthwaites reading allows us to assess the state of female writing in early modern France, it also downplays the heroine's agency within the text. …

Performing Gender on YouTube

The contemporary online environment is often touted as a democratic space, open to perspectives that might regularly be excluded from professionally-controlled media platforms. However, females are underrepresented on YouTube, a popular video-sharing internet social media platform. This underrepresentation of women suggests that gender matters on YouTube. In order to contribute to research on gender dynamics on YouTube, this study focuses on the most-subscribed female YouTuber, Jenna Mourey. The first part investigates the degree to which Mourey's YouTube reception could be understood as misogynistic and hostile. To this end, comments on Mourey's top-ten videos were compared to viewer comments on the top-ten videos of a male counterpart: Ryan Higa. The second part of the study focuses on the content and style of Mourey's video oeuvre in order to contribute to research on YouTubers who successfully negotiate a hostile environment. Mourey's tendency to perform gender extremes—both masculine and feminine roles—is an ongoing feature of her videos, allowing her to simultaneously critique and benefit from traditional gender roles. This two-part study of gender on YouTube thus both supports research describing harsh responses to women on video-sharing sites and offers one YouTube performer's strategy for achieving success in this environment.

Gender difference in the health risk perception of radiation from Fukushima in Japan: The role of hegemonic masculinity

This paper presents the preliminary findings of gender difference in the perception of radiation risk in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. In-depth interviews were conducted with the residents of Fukushima and other parts of Japan in November 2011 and July 2012. Compared to mothers, fathers in general expressed less concern for radiation. Fathers prioritized their responsibilities as the breadwinner for their families and saw radiation risk as a threat to economic stability and masculine identity. As a result, mothers' health concerns were dismissed, and they were prevented from taking preventive actions. The social norms in the dominant institutions such as corporations and the government influenced men's perception of radiation risk. The findings illustrate the importance of sociocultural context in which meanings of health risk are constructed.

Narrating Fatherhood and Masculinities in Senegal: The Case of Naffissatou Diallo in <em>A Dakar Childhood</em>

Fatherhood and masculinity are interconnected concepts that define and shape gender systems in Africa. Ideologies of manhood and the place of men in society are deeply rooted in socio-cultural ideologies that give prominence to men in various African communities. Men are valued as decision-makers and breadwinners—providing food and shelter for their families. However, the performativity of masculinity obscures femininity and other gendered subjects, which inadvertently fosters gender hierarchies in Africa. I will focus on Naffisatou Diallo’s autobiography, A Dakar Childhood (1982), where Diallo succinctly depicts the role of father-hood and masculinity in pre-independence Senegal by craftily narrating her father’s role not just in child-raising, but also in the functionality of the family unit. I argue that Diallo’s narration of the father-daughter relationship goes beyond child-rearing to reveal intricate gender division and disparity that shape the stratification of Senegalese society. Being male and masculine is a valued social construct that inevitably functions to delegitimize other gendered subjects like women and children in Senegal.

"Men and Masculinity at Work: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice"

Although men constitute the majority of most workforces, comparatively little organizational research has examined the roles of men and masculinity within organizational culture and behavior. This session will complicate and deepen our understanding of men and masculinity in the workplace by addressing the following questions: what is the meaning and relevance of masculinity in the workplace? What is meant by a masculine organizational culture? What are some benefits—to individuals and organizations—of masculinity in the workplace? What are some potential consequences? To what extent can an understanding and application of masculinity theory help us to identify, or even challenge, inequality in the workplace? First, Alyson Byrne and Julian Barling examine marital well-being among wives who out-earn their husbands. Second, Thorsten Busch, Florence Chee, and Alison Harvey analyze gendered hostilities perpetuated via digital media as a matter of corporate social responsibility. Following the theme of institu...

Gender and Chinese History: Transformative Encounters ed. by Beverly Bossler

Reviewed by: Gender and Chinese History: Transformative Encounters ed. by Beverly Bossler Anne E. McLaren (bio) Beverly Bossler, editor. Gender and Chinese History: Transformative Encounters. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015. xii, 266 pp. Hardcover, $50.00, isbn 978-0-295-99470-3. Gender and Chinese History: Transformative Encounters offers an illuminating set of studies on gendered encounters at specific moments in Chinese history from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Arranged in rough chronological order, the chapters span the early eighteenth century through to the contemporary period. Each contributing author enlists a particular case study to present a set of intriguing encounters between men and women, different social classes, Han Chinese and other ethnic groups, and, in one case, Europeans and Chinese. In her introduction, Beverly Bossler provides a timely overview of several decades of work on the study of gender in Chinese history. We are reminded of earlier contributions that challenged Eurocentric notions of gender and established the importance of the relational nature of male and female roles within Chinese kinship and status systems. Chinese “patriarchal” institutions have been fruitfully studied from the perspective of female participants. We now know much more about women’s roles in local economies and in household management, female influence at court, women’s property and legal rights, and the role of women in writing and publishing. The cults of “the chaste widow” and “the faithful maiden” have been intensively studied. The new topics of masculinity, homosexuality, and nonconventional sex roles are now routinely included in studies of “gender” in China. The first chapter, by Ann Waltner, discusses a Chinese bridal procession as re-created in the European imagination, seeking to assess early Western understandings of the gendered nature of Chinese ritual. The image is an engraving in the monumental encyclopedic work on China by French Jesuit Jean Baptiste du Halde (1679–1743). According to Waltner, this engraving was produced by A. Humblot (ca. 1700–1758), who had access to Chinese illustrations and encyclopedias brought back from China, most likely from Canton. Waltner suggests that the illustrative matter from which the wedding procession was derived could well include illustrations devised in China specifically for the export market to the West. This helps to account for the “exoticized” aesthetics of Humblot’s engraving. Unfortunately, the image provided in this volume is the wrong one. It turns out to be the funeral procession and not the bridal procession (see fig. 1.1 on p. 24). The reader will notice immediately the large coffin beneath the central canopy and will look in vain for the details of the bridal procession set out here (pp. 28–30).1 The two images are clearly companion pieces with a similar style of composition. It would have been instructive to consider them both together. One finds the same curved procession with similar musicians and entertainers. However, the bridal sedan is markedly smaller than the gigantic canopied coffin in the funeral procession. The processions also travel in opposite directions. The giant coffin travels [End Page 113] from the lower right to the upper left, where one sees a tunnel in a large mound awaiting its occupant. The wedding procession begins in the upper left and zigzags toward the marital home at the bottom right. One could even speculate that the funeral procession is bearing a “male” coffin (it is large and grand) while the marriage procession, with its (small) sedan chair at the center and female riders on horseback, is coded “female.” Such considerations could have enriched this chapter, which is otherwise detailed and insightful. Literati men commonly reproduced works of female instruction. Guotong Li discusses one such male, Lan Dingyuan (1680–1733), who served as magistrate of counties in Guangdong Province as well as a term as political advisor in Taiwan. While Lan’s Women’s Learning is a conventional type of instructional text, Li examines his intentions through the lens of ethnicity. Lan Dingyuan was descended from both Han Chinese and Fujian She people. In his life work he vigorously promoted the sinicization of non-Chinese populations, believing that the promotion of female “virtue” along Confucian lines was an essential aspect of good governance in the borderlands. For this...

Um Bando de louco: Corinthians and masculinity in Boleiros and Linha de passe

The recent success of teams like Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, champion of the 2012 Copa Libertadores de America and the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, exhibits the excellence of Brazilian soccer in today's global society. Even though these triumphs convey the country's pride for its unique style of play, the famed team from Sao Paulo and many of its followers uphold traditional masculine roles through aggressive stadium behavior, the presence of violent hooligans, and an obsession for glory. Films such as Boleiros--era uma vez o futebol (1998) directed by Ugo Giorgetti, and Linha de passe (2008) directed by Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, present Sao Paulo's most popular club and its societal impact. The following study analyzes the presentation of Corinthians and its fans in the aforementioned films and pro poses that the team's success unites Brazilians, specifically those of the lower class, while also fortifying a patriarchal Brazil. Currently Brazil holds five World Cup titles, more than any other country. Janet Lever suggests that the success of the Brazilian game creates a national pride and serves as a unifying force in the country. Furthermore she concludes that soccer in metropolises like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro assist in eliminating the social distance created by the diverse ethnic, nation al, and religious backgrounds of the population (Lever 14, 48). Notwithstanding that soccer in Brazil helps to unify the nation, it also contributes to the establishment of a heteronormative society. R. W. Connell suggests that people's specific behavior constitutes their masculinity. She explains that violence, domination, athleticism and sexual conquest represent typical masculine characteristics (67). Presently, sport tends to define masculinity more than any other phenomenon and according to Juan Jose Sebreli, sporting competitions in patriarchal societies like Spain, Italy, and Latin America institute traditional virile roles such as aggression, physical strength, toughness, an obsession to win, boasting, and the desire to dominate the inferior (Connell 54; 253-54). Furthermore, Connell proposes that the institutional organization of public sporting events and men's sporting prowess undermine feminist rhetoric while also strengthening the notion of masculine supremacy and governing power (54). Even though bodily performances of male athletes often symbolize male dominance on the field of play, the spectator also displays traditional male roles. In particular, Soccer hooligans violently participate in sporting events in and outside stadiums. These fervent fan groups, known as Torcidas organizadas in Brazil, regularly provoke turmoil during soccer matches and in many cases kill rival members (Sebreli 49; Dunning 156). Sebreli adds that these youth subcultures typically exhibit sexist, nationalistic, and aggressive male traits (70). Although various studies propose that factors such as social status, region al differences, contrasting religious beliefs, and contradicting political views contribute to conflict between rival fans, many hooligans act aggressively in order to defend their team, territory/stadium, and masculine identity (Dunning 148, 155, 158; Dunning, Murphy, Waddington 218-24; Silva 1). Moreover, Dunning proposes that men living in patriarchal societies are expected to fight to defend family and country and these traits carry over into soccer spectacles (155). Humberto Abarca and Mauricio Sepulveda come to similar conclusions in their research over barras bravas in Chile. The study equates the hooligans to warriors participating in battle to protect their homeland while also striving to prove their excellence and superiority against rivals, both factors similarly demonstrating traditional masculine characteristics (165-67). In Brazil, press coverage recognizes spectators as an important, if not influential, aspect of the game, although many times this increased media attention is due to violence (Lever 84). …

Two-Spirit Literature: Decolonizing Race and Gender Binaries

Two-Spirit Literature: Decolonizing Race and Gender Binaries

Are Self-Reported Symptoms in Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome Contaminated by Socially Desirable Responding?

Aim: To assess the proposed relationship between chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) and socially desirable responding measures in men. Background: One of the most widely used measures of CP/CPPS is the National Institutes of Health chronic prostatitis symptom index (NIH-CPSI), which uses patients' self-reports. There has been no investigation that explored the accuracy of self-reported NIH-CPSI symptoms. Methods: Two groups of men were compared: a study group with CP/CPPS (n=54) and randomly selected controls (n=58). The study group participants filled out their questionnaires during face-to-face interviews with their physicians, and the controls sent their responses to an anonymous clinical researcher. Both groups filled out the NIH-CPSI and the measurement of social desirability with three subscales: deliberate manipulation of symptoms (impression management) and two unconscious self-deception scales. The relationships between these measures were analyzed. Results: Multiple regression analyses found that high impression management and low self-deceptive denial were important predictors of pain scores but only low self-deceptive enhancement was a predictor of urinary symptoms within the study group. In total, the extent to which the three social desirability scales predict NIH-CPSI subscale scores was up to 21%. Conclusion: The underreporting of urinary symptoms may appear because of the perceived masculine roles in men. Contrary to expected, increased pain scores may indicate that men want the clinician to take their complaints seriously and that they do not perceive a threat to their masculinity in this context. In general, the results of the primary dimensions of the NIH-CPSI should be used and interpreted with caution.

Adolescent boys' science aspirations: Masculinity, capital, and power

There is widespread international concern about post-16 participation rates in science, with women's under-representation constituting a particular issue. This paper contributes to these debates through a novel, critical examination of the role of masculinity within boys' negotiations of science aspirations. Drawing on a UK longitudinal study of children's science and career aspirations from age 10 to 14 (including a survey of over 9,000 (Year 6, age 10/11) and 5,600 (Year 8, age 12/13) pupils in England and repeat individual interviews with 92 children (at age 10/11) and 85 (age 12/13), the paper focuses in-depth on repeat interviews with 37 boys. We identify five discursive performances of masculinity, which are related to the boys' (science) aspirations: two are associated with science/related aspirations (termed “young professors” and “cool/footballer scientists”) and three characterize boys who aspire otherwise (“behaving/achieving” boys; “popular masculinity” boys and “laddish” boys). Classed patterns across these five discourses are then explored through two cross-cutting phenomena, (1) popular constructions of science as “brainy”/“smart” and (2) the uneven social distribution of “science capital,” explaining how each of these are implicated facilitating middle-class boys' identifications from/with science and dissuading working-class boys' aspirations. We argue that these analyses illuminate an orthodoxy of science careers which maps closely on to current patterns of participation in post-16 science and which impacts powerfully on who can/not conceive of a career in science as being “for me.” © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 1–30, 2014

Masculinity under the knife: Filipino men, trafficking and the black organ market in Manila, the Philippines

The Philippines has recently achieved notoriety as one of the top five source countries for commercially provided organs, particularly kidneys, globally. The vast majority of commercial organ providers are economically marginal men, thus throwing into question conventional wisdom regarding the gendered nature of human trafficking in which most trafficked persons are presumed to be female. This article examined the motives of men who sell kidneys in Manila's black organ market and their ongoing negotiations when their aspirations are not fulfilled. I suggest that family considerations figure prominently amongst many of the men, who attempt to use the money from the sale of a kidney as a livelihood or family security strategy. Narratives of economically marginal men in the Philippines about the commercial value of their body parts are situated in discourses of traditional Philippines ideas about masculinity, particularly concerning the male breadwinner and also about heroism. Thus, although an emotionally and relationally complex decision, selling a kidney nonetheless allows these men to attempt to reclaim their masculine roles, but often with contradictory outcomes.

Gender Differences: Examination of the 12-Item Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI-12) in an Older Brazilian Population

ObjectivesAlthough gender is often acknowledged as a determinant of health, measuring its components, other than biological sex, is uncommon. The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) quantifies self-attribution of traits, indicative of gender roles. The BSRI has been used with participants across cultures and countries, but rarely in an older population in Brazil, as we have done in this study. Our primary objective was to determine whether the BSRI-12 can be used to explore gender in an older Brazilian population.MethodsThe BSRI was completed by volunteer participants, all community dwelling adults aged 65+ living in Natal, Brazil. Exploratory factor analysis was performed, followed by a varimax rotation (orthogonal solution) for iteration to examine the underlying gender roles of feminine, masculine, androgynous and undifferentiated, and to validate the BSRI in older adults in Brazil.ResultsThe 278 participants, (80 men, 198 women) were 65–99 years old (average 73.6 for men, 74.7 for women). Age difference between sexes was not significant (p = 0.22). A 12 item version of the BSRI (BSRI-12) previously validated among Spanish seniors was used and showed validity with 5 BSRI-12 items (Cronbach=0.66) loading as feminine, 6 items (Cronbach=0.51) loading onto masculine roles and neither overlapping with the category of biological sex of respondent.ConclusionsAlthough the BSRI-12 appears to be a valid indicator of gender among elderly Brazilians, the gender role status identified with the BSRI-12 was not correlated with being male or female.

Théorie et construction des rapports de genre dans la guérilla kurde de Turquie

Situations of violent conflict are often propitious to the reconfiguration of social relations and, in particular, the renegotiation of masculine and feminine roles. Yet the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) is seen as having gone farther than any other movement in feminizing its recruitment, supplying a complex theoretical foundation for male/female relations and genuinely attempting to apply the resulting principles at the organizational level. But are these quantitative transformations and organizational developments accompanied by distinctive gender relations within the PKK army? Have they dispensed with the sexual division of activist and warrior labor? In fact, the construction of gender relations within guerilla warfare is first and foremost a response to the questions raised by feminine involvement and is ultimately associated with a rationalization of “traditional” practices. Beyond this, it seems necessary to rethink the feminine question in terms of domination within the PKK: from this perspective, the liberation of women appears to be nothing more than the feminine version of the desexualization and submission of activists. ?

‘It can be dangerous for the uterus’: hegemonic masculinity and cooperative recycling in São Paulo, Brazil

This study examines performative social relations, specifically the role of hegemonic masculinity in shaping gendered space. First, by drawing on personal experiences and qualitative data from my research in São Paulo, Brazil, I examine the most salient aspects of hegemonic masculinity in the lives of female recyclers. Second, I suggest that masculine domination is not simply something established by men which aims to oppress women, but hegemonic masculinities can be (re)produced by women. I affirm this notion by exploring the ways in which hegemonic masculinity and common perceptions of social roles, abilities, and inabilities are discursively (re)produced by female recyclers. In particular, I argue that exploring the subordinate position of women is a productive means to gain a deeper understanding of hegemonic masculinity, while also, the concept of hegemonic masculinity is an effective tool for understanding the subordinate role of women. My experiences with the recyclers provide a context through which the fluid, complex, and dynamic nature of hegemonic masculinity can be further revealed.

A Country Bumpkin in Cosmopolitan Shanghai

A Country Bumpkin in Cosmopolitan Shanghai

Traumatic masculinities: the gendered geographies of Georgian IDPs from Abkhazia

Over 200,000 people became internally displaced after several violent conflicts in the early 1990s in Georgia. For many internally displaced persons (IDPs), gender relations have been transformed significantly. This translates to many women taking on the role of breadwinner for their family, which often is accompanied by the process of demasculinization for men. In this article, we examine the construction of masculinities and analyze the gendered processes of displacement and living in post-displacement for Georgian IDPs from Abkhazia. We identify the formation of ‘traumatic masculinities’ as a result of the threats to, though not usurpation of, hegemonic masculinities. Drawing on interviews, we highlight how IDPs conceptualize gender norms and masculinities in Georgia. Despite the disruptions that displacement has brought about, with the subsequent challenges to IDPs' ideal masculine roles, the discourses of hegemonic masculinities still predominate amongst IDPs. We further illustrate this point by identifying two separate gendered discourses of legitimization that attempt to reconcile hegemonic masculinities with the current contexts and circumstances that IDPs face. These new traumatic masculinities do coexist with hegemonic masculinities, although the latter are reformed and redefined as a result of the new contexts and new places within which they are performed.

Millennial masculinity: men in contemporary American cinema

In virtually every aspect of culture-health, marriage, family, morals, politics, sex, race, economics-American men of the past two decades have faced changing social conditions and confronted radical questions about themselves. In Millennial Masculinity: Men in Contemporary American Cinema, editor Timothy Shary collects fourteen contributions that consider male representation in films made at the turn of the century to explore precisely how those questions have been dealt with in cinema. Contributors move beyond the recent wave of in crisis arguments to provide sophisticated and often surprising insight into accessible films. Chapters are arranged in four sections: Performing includes a discussion of Adam Sandler and movies such as Milk; Patriarchal Problems looks at issues of fathers from directors such as Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and David Fincher; Exceptional Sexualities examines male love and sex through movies like Brokeback Mountain and Wedding Crashers; and Facing Race explores masculinity through race in film. Sean Penn, Jackie Chan, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are some of the actors included in these analyses, while themes considered include police thrillers, psychotic killers, gay tensions, fashion sense, and the burgeoning bromance genre. Taken together, the essays in Millennial Masculinity shed light on the high stakes of masculine roles in contemporary American cinema. Film and television scholars as well as readers interested in gender and sexuality in film will appreciate this timely collection. Contributors: Caetlin Benson-Allott, Mike Chopra-Gant, Melvin Donalson, Mark Gallagher, David Greven, Claire Sisco King, Neal King, Gina Marchetti, R. Barton Palmer, Donna Peberdy, Chris Robe, Maria San Filippo, Christopher Sharrett, Timothy Shary, Aaron Taylor

The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on organizational commitment and the moderating role of collectivism and masculinity: evidence from China

This study examines the relationship between employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices and their organizational commitment. Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to analyze survey data on 280 employees from five export-oriented manufacturing firms in China. Employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices towards internal stakeholders were found to relate positively to their organizational commitment. In contrast, employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices to external stakeholders had a nonsignificant or marginally significant impact on organizational commitment. In addition, the collectivism and masculinity orientations of employees were found to moderate this relationship. These findings provide an insight into how corporate social responsibility practices may be utilized to motivate diverse groups of employees within China-based organizations.

Cinderella and her cruel sisters: parenthood, welfare and gender in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008

This paper takes as its starting point the comparative parliamentary time spent discussing the welfare of the child and parenthood provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. While the former commanded over 8 hours of debate – most of which was spent discussing the proposed removal of the words “the child's need for a father” from the legislation – the parenthood provisions generated approximately only one hour of debate. This seems curious, given that the parenthood provisions (which govern the attribution of legal parenthood following certain fertility treatments governed by the legislation) are likely to have much more of a “real life” effect, and given that subtle changes in the wording of the welfare provision from “need for a father” to “need for supportive parenting” are unlikely to make a great deal of difference to actual clinical practice. In contrast, extending legal parenthood to a second female parent from the moment of a child's birth has important symbolic as well as practical legal consequences for two women having a child together. This paper begins by setting this curious scene and explaining why it is problematic. The first part of the paper focusses on the reform of the welfare clause and will contextualize the extensive discussion of this clause in socio-political concerns about assisted reproduction, the role of men and masculinity in family life, and the role of genetics in underpinning these concerns. Against this backdrop, the second part of the paper then analyzes why so little attention was paid to the parenthood provisions, pointing to the “common sense” assumptions which typically shored up the discussions surrounding this part of the legislation. This part of the paper will also draw attention to a number of significant gender-based connotations in the parenthood provisions.

More and Less than Equal

In both social science and medicine, research on reproduction generally focuses on women. In this article, we examine how men's reproductive contributions are understood. We develop an analytic framework that brings together Cynthia Daniels' conceptualization of reproductive masculinity (2006) with a staged view of reproduction, where the stages include the period before conception, conception, gestation, and birth. Drawing on data from two medical sites that are oriented to the period before pregnancy (preconception health care and sperm banks), we examine how gendered knowledge about reproduction produces different reproductive equations in different stages of the reproductive process. We conclude with a new research agenda that emerges from rethinking the role of men and masculinity in reproduction.