DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

Cluster Area Requirements Subject

Men and Masculinity

in Hong Kong
(APSS1A03)
2014/15 2nd Semester
Lecture 1
Introduction

Some general considerations

on men and masculinity
Are

all men the same?

Is masculinity naturally and biologically
acquired?
Sex or gender?
Masculinity or masculinities?
Stable or unstable?
Who perform masculinity? Men only?

What other questions do you have in mind?

Who create masculinity?

No single creator of masculinity
No original form of masculinity
Then, who create masculinity?

Multi-media?
Culture?
Individual

(habit or hobby)?
Social groups and social institutions

Are masculinit(ies) constantly created

and challenged in a number of ways?

Why study men and

masculinity?

Dominant gender
Invisible gender
Growing crisis in masculinity
The number of roles that men have
The complexity of masculinity
Why

are you interested in this subject?

Understanding masculinity

Masculinity as ideology
Signifies

the ways people think and act

May be influenced by cultural hegemony
Ways to construct the ideology of masculinity
Images (media, advertisements, etc.)
Myths (genetic explanation for violence,
biological explanation for sexuality, various
cultural expectations, men are meat-eater, etc.)
Discourse (cultural discourse, pedagogical
discourse, locker room or even in toilets, etc.)
Practices (daily interaction, performance,
clothing, etc.)

Understanding masculinity

Masculinity and language

We understand masculinity through the way it is talked

about.

Discourse

Systems of thoughts composed of ideas, attitudes,

beliefs and practices that construct the subjects and
the worlds of which people speak.
Normalize human beings to make them conform to
the power that institutions want to exert over people.
Normalizing one type of masculinity while denormalizing others (e.g. effeminate, gay)
Constructing what is masculine, and what is not (e.g.
strong vs weak)
Possibility of resistance

Understanding masculinity

Masculinity as sign
When

we say the word masculinity, were

referring to something specific, and it denotes
the essence of masculinity
Understanding of masculinity as a sign is
always relational, and that means masculinity
cant exist alone. One may define ones
masculinity in relation to his class, race,
sexuality, and other aspects.
However, a sign may be fluid, e.g. a man
wearing earring may not be gay, it may as
well be a sign denoting cool and fashionable.

Is men equivalent to
masculinity?

Men may in certain situations display a larger

amount of masculinity, but will in other
occasions display certain amount of femininity.
E.g. when men at work or in sports activities,
men will display a larger amount of masculinity,
but when they do the caring or domestic duties
at home, they may display femininity.
Masculinity is not only performed by men, it is
logical for a woman to perform certain amount
of masculinity when she is engaging in different
activities at different time.

Masculinity or masculinities?

The plurality of masculinities has been adopted as an

attempt to move away from the notion that there is only
one form of masculinity (to stay away from biological
determinism).
Address the diversities among men of different social
groups, even men in the same group, they may not
necessarily perform only one form of masculinity.
If masculinity is not determined by biology, there should
be a variety of masculinities, there is the White
masculinity, the Black masculinity, the Asian
masculinity, and so on.
In addition to race, men of different socio-economic
status and cultural background may possess different
masculinity.
The essence is that masculinities are fluid and not static.

General situations men are

experiencing - work

Restructure of economy
Reduced mens labour force
Longer working hours
Flexible employment terms
Decline of the male breadwinner model
Over-emphasizes the straight-forward
equation of work and masculinity

General situations men are

experiencing - family

Struggle for work-life balance

Increase in dual-income households leads to the
demand of increased mens involvement in
household duties
Some men are more reluctant to take part in
domestic duties and caring work
Increase of stay-at-home dads
Domestic violence, child abuse
Various family structure: single fathers, split
families, non-residential fathers

General situation men are

experiencing intimacy and
sexuality

Difficulties in emotional expression and

developing interpersonal intimacy

Instrumental vs emotional expressiveness
in friendship
Anxiety of impotence
heterosexism and homophobia

General situations men are

experiencing - health

Shorter life expectancy

influence of testosterone
Committing in health risking activities
Unhealthy life style: smoking, drinking,
taking drugs
Comparatively neglecting ones own
health, regard oneself as machine/ robot

General situations men are

experiencing - education

Educational attainment
Gender segregated subjects
Schooling as a site to indoctrinate the
learning of traditional gender roles
School bullying

General situations men are

experiencing crime and violence

In addition to domestic violence cases, the

majority of crimes and particularly violent
crimes are committed by men and boys
School-based and workplace sexual
harassment and sexual abuse
The will or the desire to be in a position of
power and to take control
Some worry that the low levels of
opportunity for young men will lead to
increasing crime and violent rate

General situations men are

experiencing representation in
media

Six pack ideal body figure

Constructing what masculinity is
Objectifying the male body
Performance of masculinity, thus
emphasizing competitiveness, but not the
subjectivity of oneself

Source: www.on.cc

Objectification of men

Representation in Media

Readings

Edwards, T. (2006). Cultures of masculinity.

NY: Routledge. (Chapter 1)
Kimmel, M. S. and Messner, M. (eds) (2009).
Mens Lives (8th Ed). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
(Introduction).
Reeser, T. W. (2010). Masculinities in Theory:
an Introduction. UK: Wiley & Blackwell.
(Chapter 1).