Masculinity In Women Research Articles

De fyrstefødte og fyrsteløse

With a deconstructive method and theoretical starting point in Raewyn Connell’s theory of masculinity as well as various queer theoretical perspectives, this article examines the gender-critical potential of Cecilie Eken’s science-fiction trilogy for children The Karana Galaxy (2018-2019). The thematic interpretation points to an unraveling of conventional gender perceptions in which diversity triumphs over conformity. But does the text indeed break with heteronormative assumptions, or are the descriptions of gender and sexuality (or the lack thereof) more like a modified version of gender binarism? The analysis shows that The Karana Galaxy both transcends and respects the logics of the heterosexual matrix. At the surface level of the text, the genders in the galaxy are defined by compulsory heterosexuality. At the same time, the text’s depiction of female masculinity breaks with these logics. Thus, the text can be interpreted as a homoerotic love relationship between a man and a masculine woman. However, the text’s bid to portray alternative forms of gender identities seems to contradict such a reading. Overall, the article therefore concludes that although the conventional understanding of masculinity and femininity is modified in The Karana Galaxy, the text’s constructions of gender and sexuality are still shaped by binary logics.

Female SUPELTAS’ Masculinity in Malang

This study aims to (1) find out the form of masculinity in women's SUPELTAS in the city of Malang, (2) find out the factors that influence masculinity in women's SUPELTAS in Malang city. This research uses descriptive qualitative approach. Sources of data used are data from interviews and documentation obtained by researchers. Data collection techniques used by researchers namely observation techniques, interviews and and documentation. Data analysis used by researchers is Miles Huberman's data analysis in the form of data reduction, data presentation and conclusion. The results of this study are (1) there are 2 forms of masculinity in SUPELTAS women in the city of Malang, namely masculine personality in the form of being assertive and wise, independent, brave and loud and masculine in appearance in the form of short hair, wearing a hat and wearing pants. (2) Factors that influence masculinity in women's SUPELTAS in Malang city are the SUPELTAS regulations that have been stipulated and forced to live on the streets.

Fashioning Flannel: Wales, Female Masculinity, and Same-Sex Desire in the Novels of Amy Dillwyn

Abstract: This article explores how in her novels of the 1880s, Amy Dillwyn uses Welsh flannel to convey a queer female masculinity that is rough, “savage,” working class, and Welsh. Feminine fashions are divested or destroyed: ballgowns go up in flames, corsets are resisted, girls undress to avoid maternally imposed gender constraints. But fine clothes and jewellery are also eroticized proxies for desired women, who are watched voyeuristically from a distance. Dillwyn often pairs her female protagonists with male doubles, and the final section of the essay traces the comic juxtaposition of a masculine woman with an elaborately dressed dandy. Informed by Jack Halberstam’s theories of female masculinity and shadow feminism, this article also draws on Dillwyn’s life writing and her interest in the social and political dimensions of vestimentary codes.

When he smiles: Attractiveness preferences for male faces expressing emotions.

The impact of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness has been controversial owing to contradictory results, particularly in studies on female preferences. Given that sexually dimorphic facial features, especially more masculine ones, have been previously related to the perception of anger, we investigated the bi-directional influence of emotional expressions and facial masculinity and explored their impact on women's preferences for facial masculinity. We confirmed the effect of facial sexual dimorphism on the perception of emotional cues (happiness and anger) and explored whether smiling or angry expressions influence women's perception of masculinity in male faces. Additionally, we examined women's preferences for emotionally expressive male faces altered along a continuum of masculinity. The results showed that masculinised faces are perceived as angrier, while feminised faces are perceived as happier (Experiment 1), and that angry faces are perceived as more masculine when compared with happy faces (Experiment 2). It is noteworthy that our Experiment 3 uncovered a pivotal finding: women prefer reduced feminisation in happy faces compared with neutral/angry faces. This suggests that the avoidance response observed towards masculinity is attenuated by a smiling expression. The current study introduces a new perspective to be considered when exploring the role of facial masculinity in women's attractiveness preferences.

Discursive Construction At Work: Representation of Masculinity in Women's Magazines of 1980s

Discursive Construction At Work: Representation of Masculinity in Women's Magazines of 1980s

Almost Like the Amazons

The duality concept was central to ancient Andean gender structures. However, testimonies show that these structures included more than two categories, several of which are of a male body engaged in feminine performance. This article suggests another angle from which to explore this gender complexity. Through analysis of visual culture, together with lexical, archaeological, and ethnohistoric sources, I uncover an Andean gender category of the masculine woman warrior. Textual accounts describe this category as involving a female body that is engaged with performance and qualities that were considered masculine. In artistic expressions, the category is also portrayed as a female body with masculine attributes, such as hairstyle and jewelry used typically by men. Another characteristic of the masculine woman category is limited reproductive potential. This study focuses on three masculine woman warriors: Mama Huaco and Chañan Cori Coca from the Inca tradition, documented in colonial texts and artworks, and a Wari masculine woman, woven and painted on textiles and ceramics. My research reveals that some masculine woman warriors were mythologized and worshipped for their prowess in defending their territories, while others may have been mythologized as military leaders.

Editorial Introduction

Editorial Introduction

Ringl + pit: (Un)figuring the New Woman

The photography of Ellen Auerbach and Grete Stern of the studio ringl + pit consistently shirks established advertising formulas. The emphases on traditional gender roles and an exaggerated femininity in conventional Weimar advertisements reaffirm heterosexual male desire and attempt to combat the development of the modern female ‘type’ into the independent and androgynous masculine woman [männliche Frau]. The disparity between media-constructed Weimar-era femininity and the actual ways in which Germans at this time understood their own selves as women and individuals is evidenced by Auerbach and Stern’s advertisements, which challenge such objectifying and sexualizing imagery by suggestive figures in the absence of real bodies, formed from the very goods being sold.Using theoretical frameworks derived from the work of Siegfried Kracauer, this article examines how ringl + pit’s advertisements for artificial silk and other new commercially available goods use substitution techniques to suggest a desire to create one’s self, while acknowledging the power of the commodity in identity formation. Stern and Auerbach’s photographs work as a reflection of their own understanding of the power of the commodity, whose uncanny beauty is revealed through detailed focus on texture and materiality, and surprising reconfigurations. Their revisioning of such materials suggests connotations of identity formation beyond the material being photographed. ringl + pit’s advertisements become semi-blank receptacles that allow numerous modern women, and even non-binary and queer individuals, to see themselves represented as possible consumers for such products, and thus be in control of their own identities.

AMMU’S MAN: RECONNOITERING THE MACHISMO OF VELUTHA IN THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

Machismos, as is the instance with feminineness for women, are publically built gender profiles under which men are pigeonholed. The inferred affiliation between male bodies and machismos or masculinity presents us with an understanding of the sex/gender gap where ‘sex’ is seen as remaining a preeminence and ‘gender’ as a set of facets which are ancillary. New directions in feminist studies have begun to take up this issue of reconsidering or rediscovering masculinity, especially in the context of recent works of Literature. Arundhati Roy’s Man-booker award winning novel, The God of Small Things (1997) is predominantly a novel about battle- in and through the body. Velutha, “The God of Loss. The God of Small Things” (Roy 265), whose name in Malayalam means “white” (Roy 73, 175 and 334), the colour affiliated both to sorrow and sunlit, has been depicted by the writer as the emblem of masculinity. Arundhati Roy builds an account that focuses on bodily happenstances that rebel considerable discourses and function as edges of cultural and social acquaintances. This study has been enthused by the comprehension that the subject of masculinity in women’s writing has not yet been explored to that extent, which it was expected to be! Little attention has been given to the analysis of women’s writing with the tools that theories of virilities provide. What masculinities emerge in Roy’s The God of Small Things is the multi-layered, mongrel text, wavering between traversing valuations of indigenous acuities of the standing of the man, the bequest of interventionism, and the impresses of novelty and globalization! Hence, this study, not only reconnoiters the different traits of masculinity present in Velutha as envisioned by a female writer, but it also deliberates in detail the male identity construction.

Fluctuating Asymmetry and Sexual Dimorphism in Human Facial Morphology: A Multi-Variate Study.

Fluctuating asymmetry is often used as an indicator of developmental instability, and is proposed as a signal of genetic quality. The display of prominent masculine phenotypic features, which are a direct result of high androgen levels, is also believed to be a sign of genetic quality, as these hormones may act as immunosuppressants. Fluctuating asymmetry and masculinity are therefore expected to covary. However, there is lack of strong evidence in the literature regarding this hypothesis. In this study, we examined a large dataset of high-density 3D facial scans of 1260 adults (630 males and 630 females). We mapped a high-density 3D facial mask onto the facial scans in order to obtain a high number of quasi-landmarks on the faces. Multi-dimensional measures of fluctuating asymmetry were extracted from the landmarks using Principal Component Analysis, and masculinity/femininity scores were obtained for each face using Partial Least Squares. The possible correlation between these two qualities was then examined using Pearson's coefficient and Canonical Correlation Analysis. We found no correlation between fluctuating asymmetry and masculinity in men. However, a weak but significant correlation was found between average fluctuating asymmetry and masculinity in women, in which feminine faces had higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry on average. This correlation could possibly point to genetic quality as an underlying mechanism for both asymmetry and masculinity; however, it might also be driven by other fitness or life history traits, such as fertility. Our results question the idea that fluctuating asymmetry and masculinity should be (more strongly) correlated in men, which is in line with the recent literature. Future studies should possibly focus more on the evolutionary relevance of the observed correlation in women.

Gender figures in fiction communication

The aim of the article is to identify female and male behaviour models, basing on a Ukrainian folk tale «Pro cholovika, shcho mav zlu zhinku»/«About a man who had an evil wife» as a component of gender figures in fiction communication. The relevance of the research is that developing studying of gender component of Ukrainian folk tales, the article emphasises the significance of gender figures in fiction communication. We state that gender identification of the tale’s characters is successful as they take themselves as a man and a woman. At the same time, they share certain gender role attitudes of their parents, which we can regard as following: a man is weak and must obey a woman; a woman is strong and must control a man. In the process of the research, we found out that a folk tale «About a man who had an evil wife» demonstrates the interaction of a masculine woman and a feminine man. Shaping of gender identity of the characters results from the wrong gender model, which the man and the woman observed in their childhood and further transferred in their adult life: on both personal gender identity and interaction with the opposite sex.

Performing Gender: Female Masculinity in D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow

This paper analyses Ursula, the female protagonist of D. H. Lawrence’s the novel The Rainbow, who reflects her masculinity. Many feminist critics have perceived this novel as man-centered. In response to this analysis of the novel, the paper tries to look at the novel from the perspective of Judith Halberstam’s theoretical concept of female masculinity, especially Ursula as a masculine woman who acts like a man. Female masculinity is not an identity but a site for identification where different identities can flourish, but masculine women possess confidence, assertiveness, and independence. Lawrence gives justice to women’s role by presenting Ursula as a new woman who seeks her individual identity in the traditional world. Through the reading of the novel as its theoretical tool, the research concludes that females can be as males and males can be like females. She acts like a man and that means she has masculine qualities. The novelist portrays Ursula as a woman with masculinity because she can flourish different identities of her life. She plays the role of an independent woman, a liberated woman, a Lesbian woman, and a new woman, etc. She behaves like a tomboy who refuses to accept the Victorian conventions of society. So, she is a masculine woman rather than a feminine woman. This paper emphasizes how a woman can perform like a man; this suggests masculinity is not the private property of a male; it is a social position that can be practiced in an individual way.

Female body, femininity and authority in Bollywood: The “new” woman in Dangal and Queen

ABSTRACTBollywood’s departure from its earlier constructions of women as sex objects, victims of male violence, dependent, obedient and peripheral, is partly due to global/transnational cultural and economic flows that have influence in Indian society. What needs to be charted out is how patriarchal anxieties continue to emerge in recent Bollywood movies where women otherwise appear to assume assertive screen presence and play dominant roles. This study seeks to disentangle notions of “national” and “local,” in particular, because the former does not explain India’s family or local community settings that exercise substantial control over women. Through an analysis of two films, Dangal (2016) and Queen (2014), this study shows how present-day Bollywood appropriates opposing ideals of Hinduism and liberal ideology; therefore, the stories remain rooted in contemporary social discourse. It will be seen that the somewhat masculine woman in Dangal, who is divested of erotic and reproductive attributes, bears the double-burden of subordination by a family patriarch and becoming a national symbol. Through its scrutiny of Queen, the study also demonstrates how a new Indian femininity, “assertive” and “confident,” is mediated by the dominant male cultural gaze. The films offer useful models for comparison of varying forms of femininities.

ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЕ АМАЗОНОК В «ПОДВИГАХ ВЕЛИКОГО АЛЕКСАНДРА» М.А. КУЗМИНА

The article considers the construction of the image of the Amazons by Mikhail Kuzmin in his romance The Exploits of Alexander the Great. The analysis of the romance in this aspect is performed in comparison with Kuzmin’s long poem “The Horseman”, which was written almost at the same time (both works were created in 1908) and in which another woman warrior appears. The aim of the study is to reveal the characteristics of the figures of female warriors in Kuzmin’s work and to determine their place in the artistic whole. The analysis is conducted at the boundary of historical and literary methodology, comparative and gender studies. The study has found that the relationship of The Exploits of Alexander the Great with its prototexts (literary, in particular with the Hellenistic Alexander Romance by Pseudo-Callisthenes, and historical, for example, the histories of Alexander’s deeds by Quintus Curtius Rufus and Diodorus Siculus) is such that Kuzmin mainly follows their event chains but makes new semantic accents. This shift in emphasis is due to the fact that the plot of the romance, same as of the poem “The Horseman”, becomes that of the mystery where the hero embarks on a journey towards the secrets of being, towards immortality and perfect love. Kuzmin creates the homoerotic mystery where there is no place for women, including the Amazons who do not follow any gender stereotypes and defy all “normative” representations of femininity. Moreover, the type of “masculine woman” is despised by Kuzmin, who is generally known for his misogyny, twice as much as the type of a “normative woman” since he deems it the poor imitation of a man. Hence is the fact that Kuzmin in many ways brings down the heroic, belligerent aspect of the Amazons’ image, in particular, while describing their pastoral lifestyle (not mentioned in the sources where their life is represented as that of a military camp) and focusing instead on their reproductive customs. Though Kuzmin reproduces a number of traditional topoi concerning the Amazons, he also introduces new elements and, in so doing, modifies the archetypal figure of the female warrior. He totally rejects the usual “romanticizing” of the Amazons. It is also very characteristic that this negative vector of change is built not only in the ethical (as is the case of “The Horseman”) but also in the aesthetic field. While in “The Horseman” three incarnations of the woman’s love, rejected by the hero, are ranked from lowest to highest, and the relationship with the woman warrior is deemed the worst type of love (since it is “love-hate”), this hierarchy does not seem to exist in the romance: the Amazons appear simply as one of female types and the relationship with them as a variant of the decidedly “imperfect” love. Thereby, Kuzmin relieves the specificities of the image of the Amazon and the female warrior in general. While in the works of other Russian Modernist writers the woman warrior is opposed to the other, “normal”, women, Kuzmin denies her any exceptionalism.

The Superwoman Trope - An Analysis on Excessive Masculine Woman Superheroes in Movies, Anime, and TV Shows

The Superwoman Trope - An Analysis on Excessive Masculine Woman Superheroes in Movies, Anime, and TV Shows

Femininity in men and masculinity in women is positively related to sociosexuality

Sociosexuality, i.e. individual's willingness to engage in uncommitted sex, is systematically higher in men than in women, and can be considered a male typical trait. However, intrasexual variation in sociosexuality is considerable, with individual femininity/masculinity being one of the factors influencing sociosexuality. The aim of our study was to test, in heterosexual and homosexual men and women from Brazil and the Czech Republic, whether childhood gender nonconformity (CGN) and continuous gender identity in adulthood (CGI) are associated with individual sociosexual orientation (SOI-R). A sample of 1336 heterosexual and homosexual men and women completed questionnaires on CGN, CGI, and SOI-R. In general, correlations show that higher masculinity in heterosexual women and higher femininity in both heterosexual and homosexual men are related to higher sociosexuality. Higher sociosexuality in masculine women can be explained by prenatal or actual androgen effects on sexual libido and can reflect a fast life history strategy. In feminine men, this result might reflect female preferences for feminine characteristics in men and an overall shift towards male femininity which can increase individual fitness. Also, gender nonconforming individuals can be more liberal adopting behaviors which are considered as non-traditional. This study challenges the widely association between masculinity and unrestricted sociosexuality.

'Men in Women’s Worlds: Constructions of Masculinity in Women’s Magazines' by Laura Coffey-Glover

Men in Women’s Worlds: Constructions of Masculinity in Women’s Magazines Laura Coffey-Glover (2019) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 272pp.

Laura Coffey-Glover, Men in women’s world. Constructions of Masculinity in Women’s Magazines

Ce livre offre une analyse originale de la maniere dont les magazines dits feminins parlent des hommes et les « vendent » en quelque sorte aux femmes. Il s’agit bien d’une perspective originale, car la majorite des analyses des contenus des magazines feminins se polarisent sur la maniere dont sont presentees, voire inculquees aux femmes les normes de la feminite, comment les femmes sont en quelque sorte « vendues » aux femmes comme le dit l’auteure. Meme si la motivation essentielle a se cons...

Constructing Masculinity in Women’s Retailers: An Analysis of the Effect of Gendered Market Segmentation on Consumer Behavior

While gender-based differences in consumer behavior have been previously investigated within the context of gender-neutral or unisex retailers, men’s behavior in women’s retailers remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, most studies frame the retail environment as a passive platform through which essential gender differences yield setting-specific bifurcated behavior, and do not address the role the commercial establishment and men’s shopping habits play in gender identity formation and maintenance. To address this gap, we analyzed men’s behavior in women’s retailers using interactionist and social constructionist theories of sex/gender. Data were collected through non-participatory observation at a series of large, enclosed shopping malls in South-Western Ontario, Canada and analyzed thematically. We found that men tend to actively avoid women’s retailers or commercial spaces that connote femininity, while those who enter said spaces display passivity, aloofness, or reticence. We suggest the dominant cultural milieu that constitute hegemonic masculinity— disaffiliation with femininity, an accentuation of heterosexuality, and a prioritization of homosocial engagement—nform the dialectical relationship between individual and institutional gender practice that manifests through consumption.

Facial masculinity is only weakly correlated with handgrip strength in young adult women.

Ancestrally, strength is likely to have played a critical role in determining the ability to obtain and retain resources and the allocation of social status among humans. Responses to facial cues of strength are therefore thought to play an important role in human social interaction. Although many researchers have proposed that sexually dimorphic facial morphology is reliably correlated with physical strength, evidence for this hypothesis is somewhat mixed. Moreover, to date, only one study has investigated the putative relationship between facial masculinity and physical strength in women. Consequently, we tested for correlations between handgrip strength and objective measures of face-shape masculinity. 531 women took part in the study. We measured each participant's handgrip strength (dominant hand). Sexual dimorphism of face shape was objectively measured from each face photograph using two methods: discriminant analysis and vector analysis. These methods use shape components derived from principal component analyses of facial landmarks to measure the probability of the face being classified as male (discriminant analysis method) or to locate the face on a female-male continuum (vector analysis method). Our analyses revealed that handgrip strength is, at best, only weakly correlated with facial masculinity in women. There was a weak significant association between handgrip strength and one measure of women's facial masculinity. The relationship between handgrip strength and our other measure of women's facial masculinity was not significant. Together, these results do not support the hypothesis that face-shape masculinity is an important cue of physical strength, at least in women.