LESSON 14:

MEN AND
MASCULINITIES
•Men make up a large majority of
corporate executives, top
professional, and holders of public
office. Worldwide, men held 93% of
cabinet-level posts in 1996 and
most top positions in international
agencies (Gierycz 1999).
 Men’s Rights Lobby
•Warren Farrell, in his work, The Myth of
Male Power: Why are men the Disposable
Sex? (1994)
•“Men are now the gender victims as a result
of feminism having gone too far, with men
having increased responsibilities but few
rights around issues marriage, divorce,
child custody and access to children.”
MASCULINITY
a social, cultural, and
historical construct dependent
on and related to other factors
such as class, ethnicity,
sexuality, age, and disability.
MASCULINITY THEMES
1. Multiple Masculinity
2. Hierarchy and Hegemony
*Hegemonic masculinity- culturally
dominant in a given setting
3. Collective Masculinities
 Masculinities and
Well-being
Research confirms a strong
association between rigid norms
about what it means to be a man
and men’s negative health practices
and vulnerabilities (Barker et al.
2011)
 Family formation, Fathering,
Caregiving, and Domestic Roles
Men may contribute to the “domestic
enterprise” in other important ways,
including through providing financial
support, accompanying children to
activities outside of school or home
(National Center on Fathers and Families
2002; Brown and Chavannes 1998).
Better- educated men are more likely to
put more time into domestic roles and
caregiving (Hernandez 1996; Garcia and
Oliveira 2004;
Barker and Verani 2008) Mens schooling
may have expanded their sense of norms
and weakened stereotypes through their
exposure to broader ideas and more
diverse people.
Masculinities And Alcohol And
Drug Use
More men drink than women; and men drink
more than women (Room et al, 2002).
Studies show that men were more likely to drink
than women, drank alcohol in greater quantity
and more frequently than women, and were
more likely to face alcohol-related health and
social problem than women (Wilsack et al 2000)
 In many settings, men’s drinking encourages solidarity
and stimulates courage. It is a key peer group ritual as
well as being a recreational activity (Coombs &
Globetti, 1986).
When men become drunk, fights and homicides are
rationalized (Page,1998)
Women are encouraged to tolerate men’s drunkenness
as a natural part of their being men (Caetano,1984).
Drug use and drug dealing can serve as ways of
constructing a powerfully masculine identity (Collision
1996).
 Protest Masculinity
Protest Masculinity is a form of marginalized
masculinity which picks up themes of hegemonic
masculinity in the society at large but reworks
them in a context of poverty (Connel 2005). In
other words, it is akin to hegemonic masculinity
but in socially- deprived contexts. Protest
masculinity refers to describe instances of
extreme forms of sex-typed behavior on the part of
some males.
 Caring Masculinity
The concept of a caring masculinity
proposes that men are able to adopt what
is viewed as traditionally feminine
characteristics (emotional expression,
sensitivity, domestication,
interdependence, caring.) without
departing from or rejecting masculinity.