Caring Masculinities Elliott, Karla
Men and masculinities,
08/2016, Letnik:
19, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A space has emerged for theorizing “caring masculinities,” as the concept has increasingly become a focus of European critical studies on men and masculinities (CSMM). In this article, I present a ...practice-based framework of the concept. I propose that caring masculinities are masculine identities that reject domination and its associated traits and embrace values of care such as positive emotion, interdependence, and relationality. I suggest that these caring masculinities constitute a critical form of men’s engagement and involvement in gender equality and offer the potential of sustained social change for men and gender relations. I draw on CSMM and feminist care theory to construct the framework proposed here. In doing so, I offer a feminist exploration of how masculinities might be reworked into identities of care rather than domination.
Sperm Counts Moore, Lisa Jean
2007, 20070101, Letnik:
17
eBook
2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Winner of the Passing the Torch Award from the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies
It has been called sperm, semen, seed, cum, jizz, spunk, gentlemen's relish, ...and splooge. But however the “tacky, opaque liquid that comes out of the penis” is described, the very act of defining “sperm” and “semen” depends on your point of view. For Lisa Jean Moore, how sperm comes to be known is based on who defines it (a scientist vs. a defense witness, for example), under what social circumstances it is found (a doctor’s office vs. a crime scene), and for what purposes it will be used (in vitro fertilization vs. DNA analysis). Examining semen historically, medically, and culturally, Sperm Counts is a penetrating exploration of its meaning and power.
Using a “;follow that sperm” approach, Moore shows how representations of sperm and semen are always in flux, tracing their twisting journeys from male reproductive glands to headline news stories and presidential impeachment trials. Much like the fluid of semen itself can leak onto fabrics and into bodies, its meanings seep into our consciousness over time. Moore’s analytic lens yields intriguing observations of how sperm is “spent” and “reabsorbed” as it spurts, swims, and careens through penises, vaginas, test tubes, labs, families, cultures, and politics.
Drawn from fifteen years of research, Sperm Counts examines historical and scientific documents, children's “facts of life” books, pornography, the Internet, forensic transcripts and sex worker narratives to explain how semen got so complicated. Among other things, understanding how we produce, represent, deploy and institutionalize semen-biomedically, socially and culturally-provides valuable new perspectives on the changing social position of men and the evolving meanings of masculinity. Ultimately, as Moore reveals, sperm is intimately involved in not only the physical reproduction of males and females, but in how we come to understand ourselves as men and women.
Through an analysis of 4chan’s /adv/ or ‘advice’ board – in which predominately male users seek advice on life matters – here we examine masculine ontological insecurity and its implications for ...understanding how ‘toxic’ masculine identities emerge, and how young men more generally struggle to make sense of their lives. Advancing extant scholarship, our findings uncover an ‘on the cusp’ masculine identity – subject to the anxieties and self-perceived failures which act as preconditions of toxic ideologies and outcomes, but also seemingly yet to practice such (il)logics. Responses from the community suggest three ways of addressing, or making sense of, the problems users faced. Finally, and of relevance to both the theorising of contemporary masculinities and related socio-positive interventions, we highlight the (seemingly) odd paradox of vulnerable male users being drawn to express their vulnerabilities on a platform notorious for its insensitivities.
This research contrasts the responses of two generations of young Peruvian university students to the demands of women’s movements and TLGBIQ collectives. It concludes that the millennial generation ...presents changes as well as persistent continuities. Their relationship with feminism is ambivalent; they accept its legitimacy, but feel threatened by the prospect of dismantling certain certainties. In line with changes observed in global youth culture, young millennials are more inclusive and are willing to accept that being masculine does not imply being heterosexual.
In this review, we critically examine existing literature on men and masculinities in Hong Kong, focusing on Hong Kong Chinese masculinity. We employ a five-stage scoping review methodological ...framework, and analyzed twenty-five relevant studies. We identified themes such as breadwinner masculinity, work, family, social respectability, and manifestations of soft masculinity. The findings highlight the importance of masculinity for men’s well-being, and the need for further research. Specifically, age-specific studies, nuanced exploration of gender dynamics, and the interplay between family dynamics and masculinity. We also advocate for more focused examinations beyond the generic concept of “Chinese masculinity.” Our findings inform future research, interventions, and initiatives addressing masculinities in Hong Kong and beyond.
This article aims to contribute to the debate about the link between 'hegemonic masculinity' and childcare practices in conceptions of 'caring masculinities'. It conceptualises 'caring masculinities' ...along a continuum that encompasses 'less-caring' and 'more-caring' practices at each extreme, both shaped by men's perceptions of their intersecting identities as husbands and fathers. This draws on the concept of 'caring' in feminist moral philosophy and on sociological approaches to 'masculinity' to analyse empirical evidence of Khmer men's childcare practices in Cambodia. The development of a continuum of caring masculinity enables us to investigate the extent to which, and the way in which, men are engaged in 'direct' and 'indirect' care in their childcare practices, alongside their breadwinning roles. The empirical data are based on qualitative, in-depth interviews with 26 young fathers and 26 young mothers who have at least one young child aged six or younger and who reside in either urban or rural settings in Cambodia.
This article proposes as a transversal axis the analysis of masculinity in unemployed men with families. The aim of this article is to analyse the connotations of field, habitus and capitals based on ...the narratives of unemployed men with families. In order to answer this question, an interpretative paradigm research with an exploratory multiple qualitative case study design with seven lower middle-class men from Bogotá, Colombia, is proposed. By means of a semi-structured biographical interview in which categorical analysis was carried out after axial coding. In the results, the hegemonic expectations of the male gender are recognised as explicit, which are linked to the ideal of well-being that cannot be fulfilled. Social class is dynamic, maintaining constructed fields and hegemonic gender habitus apprehended and stripped of symbolic capital. These conditions together reveal that masculinity is constructed on the basis of hegemonic expectations of what is expected of men within the social structure. It generates tension to assume the change of the field, habitus and capitals at the moment of unemployment.
This article intends to stimulate conversation and critical thinking about the concept of ‘caring masculinities’ and its ongoing relevance to the field of critical studies of men and masculinities ...(CSMM). Caring masculinities is subject to debate around its theoretical premises, its potential as a feminist concept, and the limits of the empirical evidence base that underpins the concept and its associated implications. We respond to some of these ongoing critical conversations, in part by suggesting that the concept is sometimes deployed in ways that depart from or even possibly misconstrue the concept. Highlighting the nuance, capaciousness, and clarity of the concept, as theorised by Karla Elliott, we substantiate the argument by drawing on emerging data from our ongoing research with men in front-line, low paid care-work in Australia, thus, including men who have so far largely been excluded from studies on caring masculinities.
We addressed the lack of empirical work leveraging visual materials within the masculinities literature using Instagram photos to understand contemporary masculinity performance. By engaging in a ...detailed analysis of a social media context, we aimed to reveal some of the current mechanisms by which people are making meaning of the social world in the present-day, bringing to light new ways of identifying how people "do" gender. We used a visually informed, critical discursive psychology approach to explore how masculine identities were visually constructed on Instagram. The 10 most liked posts from 2018 at the time of data collection were selected from two celebrities' Instagram accounts. These images were coded and subsequently analyzed to identify possible visual interpretative repertoires. Three visual interpretative repertoires were located. These repertoires, sexy glaring, leisurely gentlemen, and nothing to hide, were repeatedly used in photos prominently displayed on the users' Instagram feeds to craft masculine identities that were physically and "biologically" supported by their appearances. These identities were associated with constructions of toughness, agency, masculine interests and privileged, leisurely lifestyles. An analysis of a deviant case provided support for the existence of visual hybrid masculinities among young, White individuals that largely functioned to reproduce power and privilege. Our study filled a gap in the psychology of men and masculinities by investigating constructions of gender in the visual realm. We additionally put forth that critical discursive psychology offers generative possibilities for analyzing the increasingly visual-centric world, wherein identities are being performed.
Public Significance Statement
Our study focused on analyzing how individuals evoke masculine identities through appearance and imagery. Specifically, we examined the Instagram photos of two celebrities and identified three common ways of presenting that were used to appear physically and psychologically "masculine." By studying how people visually present in photos, we can better understand how gender is routinely "done" or fashioned in everyday life including in popular social media spaces.
This comprehensive work presents a thorough exploration of celebrity ‘bromances,’ interrogating how bromances are portrayed in media and consumed by audiences to examine themes of celebrity persona, ...performativity, and authenticity. The authors examine how the performance of intimate male friendships functions within broadly ‘Western’ celebrity culture from three primary perspectives: construction of persona; interactions with audiences and fans; and commodification. Case studies from film and television are used to illustrate the argument that, regardless of their authenticity (real or staged), bromances are useful for engaging audiences and creating an extension of entertainment beyond the film the actors originally sought to promote. The first truly interdisciplinary study of its kind, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of communications, advertising, marketing, Internet studies, media, journalism, cultural studies, and film and television.
