Matt maycock masculinities 2nd march 2016 v2

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Masculinities

Dr Matt MaycockSettings and Organisations Team, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow

2nd March 2016Sociology of Gender Relations - SOCIO4092

MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow.

Session overviewAims of classTo recognise and distinguish conceptual models of masculinitiesLearning OutcomesBy the end of this class students will be able to:Think about and understand what masculinites areIdentify multiple theoretical perspectives on masculinityUnderstand what considering masculinities can contribute to understandings of gender relations


What are or is masculinity?


Some views on masculinity


What theories can help us understand masculinity?

1) Hegemonic Masculinity, Raewyn Connell (2005)



Hegemonic Masculinity hegemonic masculinity - a form of masculinity that is dominant in society, establishes the cultural ideal for what it is to be a man, silences other masculinities, and combats alternative visions of masculinity.

Hegemonic masculinity is a concept that draws upon the ideas of Gramsci. It refers to the dynamic cultural process which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women. hegemonic masculinity - rejection of the idea that all men are the same


Hegemonic Masculinity Conta change from the concept of masculinity to the concept of masculinities allows meaningful distinction between different collective constructions of masculinity and identification of power inequalities among these constructions. Masculinities: Are actively constructed (not biologically determined)Are dynamic- change over timeHave negative impacts- be tough dont cry, can lead to disengagement, health problems, aggression, overwork and lack of emotional responsiveness.


Criticisms (V. Seidler)Leaves gender roles, and in particular patriarchy unchallengedLeaves out personal and emotional perspectives- emotional lives of men ignored. There is a danger of creating a fixed category of abusing men, rather than learning how pregnancy invokes unresolved emotional feelings in men Is often applied to research quite uncritically


What theories can help us understand masculinity?

2) Inclusive Masculinity, Eric Anderson (2009)


Inclusive Masculinity, Eric Anderson (2009)


Eric Andersons theory of Inclusive Masculinity describes changes in the ways some men conceive of and enact their masculinity. Employing ethnographic methods and social-feminist thinking (14)

Inclusive masculinity, like hegemonic masculinity, frames gender (partially) in terms of power relations. However, it suggests a shift toward a more egalitarian conception of masculinity and a less rigidly vertical notion of hierarchy

Anderson claims that university-attending men are rapidly running from the hegemonic type of masculinity that scholars have been describing for the past 25 years (4). Inclusive Masculinity (2009)


Connells definition of hegemonic masculinityemerges as insufficient for describing the complexity of what occurs as cultural homohysteria diminishes. To rectify this shortfall, Anderson proposes inclusive masculinity theory, his own new social theory (7).

homohysteria describes the fear of being homosexualized,

diminishing homohysteria, which Anderson defines as combining a culture of homophobia, femphobia, and compulsory heterosexuality (7).

Inclusive Masculinity


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Criticisms (de Boise, 2014) Misread hegemonic masculinity to be a type of person as opposed to a web or matrix of configuration

Assumes that hegemonic masculinity is inflexible and doesnt adapt to periods of low homohysteria

Assumes a singular dominant ideal, but Connell uses a multidimensional understanding of gender

Claims of a decline homophobia and homohysteria are questioned; can levels of prejudice be objectively established; are acts like same-sex kissing indicative of attitudes, is homophobia is really as insignificant as inclusive masculinity claims.


Ethnographic turn in masculinity studiesmen do masculinity according to the social situation in which they find themselves. (Messerschmidt, 1993, 84)

In Masculinities (1995, 2005), Raewyn Connell talks about a ethnographic turn in masculinity studies, what does she mean by this?

Ethnographic studies of masculinity tend to:Assume masculinities are multiple (both locally and globally). Unpack the ways in which masculinities are socially and culturally constructed and performed.Examine how masculinities impact on each other.Examine the ways in which masculinity is constructed in relation to subordinate women and femininities.Be micro level in focus.Undertaken in both urban and rural contexts.Consider positive masculinities and subvert the idea of men as a [or the] problem.


Ethnographic studies of masculinity have:Illustrated the cross-cultural variance in performances and modes of masculinity.Proven that there is no single masculinity.Showed that masculinities can and do change. This was important in overcoming the tendency in the mass media and popular culture to treat men as a homogenous group masculinity as a fixed, ahistorical entity. Identified the importance of intersectionality of gender with class, caste, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age etcConsolidated men and masculinities as a world-wide field of knowledge.

A significant amount of the research at the beginnings of this turn focused on discourses of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities (following Connell).

More recently a number of studies have focused more on intricate studies of social practice, with a focus on ambiguity and context specific performances of masculinity.

Collections of micro-research and applied studies of masculinity exist for practically every continent or culture-area.Consequences of the Ethnographic Turn in Masculinity Studies


This response emerges from the tension between theory and empirical work.16

Until relatively recently masculinity has not received significant explicit attention, despite the gender awareness of the NGO and academic sectors. For example, in South Asia:

For a long time, South Asian men have been treated as universally given, ungendered objects and have rarely been examined as gendered. (Sharma, 2007a: 33)

There is an unresolved tension between [western] theories of masculinity and performances of masculinity in other [non] western contexts.

I am still unclear of the utility of of hegemonic masculinity within ethnographic research on masculinity.How has this shaped my research?


Sorry but here I will indulge in some self promotion of my research, but not too much as I dont want to bore you.

One of the arguments that I make in my thesis is that . I am not a good enough scholar to be able to do this . Furthermore, in some ways I am not the right scholar to do this.

So one of the limitations of this area of study is that it is quite new and I would say overly reliant on theories of masculinity derived from developed contexts. Often this is done quite uncritically, without really getting into the core of the theory and really seeing if this helps to illuminate the masculine performances that are being specially considered.17

Prison masculinities in Scotland (post-doc)


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Prison masculinities


*Towards the end of the programme fidelity declined noticeably (I have removed this as a bullet on slide but you could just say it instead)

I have also taken out coaches from the 4th bullet as we havent mentioned anything about external coaches before this.

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Can FFIT be adapted to attract men to positive lifestyle change in a prison? Football Fans in Training (FFIT) has helped overweight and obese men lose weight, improve diet, and increase physical activity (Hunt et al, The Lancet, 2014)


The Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme is a group-based, gender-sensitised weight management, physical activity and healthy lifestyle programme which is delivered through Scottish Professional Football League football clubs. In this community setting, FFIT has attracted overweight and obese men and helped them to lose weight, improve their diet and increase physical activity. Following expressions of interest from other stakeholders, we wanted to see if a) FFIT could be translated to other settings, without compromising the integrity of the programme, and b) could engage different target groups within these novel settings. In this paper, were asking whether FFIT can be adapted to attract men to positive lifestyle change in a prison?

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Methods

Prison A

Delivered to 18 prisoners by prison Physical Education Instructors (PEIs)

Data collection Observations of all 15 sessionsInterviews with participants who completed programme (n=9)Interviews with participants who did not complete (n=3)Focus group with PEIs (n = 1)

Delivered to 21 prisoners by community coaches from a professional football club

Data collection Observations of all 12 sessionsInterviews with participants who completed programme (n=9)Interviews with PEIs and staff (n=3)

Prison B


18 men were recruited to p-FFIT, a pilot version of FFIT adapted for the prison setting, by prison physical exercise instructors. P-FFIT was delivered in the prison gym by PEIs over the course of 15 weeks (including baseline measures and a graduation week).We evaluated p-FFIT to assess the programmes potential to recruit prisoners to lose weight and become more active, improve health behaviours and deliver physical and mental health benefits.

Data collection included:Collection of a number of objective, self-report and biomarker measures (at baseline, post-programme, and at 6, 9, and 12 months)Observations of all 15 sessionsInterviews with participants who completed the programme Interviews with men who do not complete the programme A focus group with the PEIsThere is significant movement of prisoners within the prison system, which makesmeasuring participants challenging.

Ethical approval was gained from the College of Social Science, Glasgow University and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde West of Scotland Research Ethics Board.

Due to time restrictions, we wont be reporting the results of the quantitative data or PEI focus group in this presentation.21

Prison masculinitiesIn (largely male) prisons environments, there are performances of masculinity that are structured in hierarchical ways in reference to both orthodox/hegemonic' and 'inclusive' masculinitiesOrthodox/ hegemonic masculinity" inclusive form of masculinity based on social equality for gay men, respect for women, and racial parity and one in which... men bond over emotional intimacy" (Anderson, 2008, 604)"masculine performance labelled as orthodox attempts to approximate the hegemonic form of masculinity, largely by devaluing women and gay men." (Anderson, 2005, 338) (Bourdieu, 1998) (Connell, 1995) Inclusive masculinity




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Prison is an ultramasculine world where nobody talks about masculinity. (Sabo et al 2001, 3)

a hegemonically defined hypermasculine and heteronormative environment with an abundance of alpha males, sexism, and violence. (Jenness and Fenstermaker, 2013, 13)

prison facilities are a particular kind of institutional setting, one that actively resists the diversity of masculine practices and identities. (Curtis, 2014, 121)places of great humour and playfulness, of friendship and camaraderie, of educational enlightenment, of successful therapeutic intervention. (Jewkes, 2013, 14).

in their mutual support and encouragement, it was also possible to discern sublimated forms of intimacy. Certainly, the vivid and joyful ways in which prisoners engaged in collective exercise, and the sheer amount of physical horseplay among younger prisoners, pointed to submerged emotional sentiments. (Crewe et al, 2013, 11)Orthodox/ hegemonic prison masculinitiesInclusive Prison masculinities




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Orthodox masculinities in the context of the Fit for Life programmeI can understand aboot guys being apprehensive an that, ken I think when, especially wi everybody else in the hall, ken, an youre goin and theyre goin aye, goin tae fat club, an a this carry on, ken whit I mean? So I could imagine people being apprehensive aboot it, eh. (Prison A - P2)I was hammering everybody fae the word go. I'm the sort o' person, see once I get up there I don't like anybody beating me, you know? Determined an' that, you know? (Prison B - P11)Ken what I mean? Ill parken, Ill... Ill takeIll partake in anythin eh? And as I say when, ken when I got there I was like that, right, fair enough. I mean youre only putting your view forward. I mean were in a hostile situation here, eh? And people dinnae want tae speak forward in case the boy, hes a fucking idiot, excuse my French. (Prison A - P11)


Read through inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Elevated BP = systolic160mmHg and/or diastolic100mmHg (Ive taken off slide)

This give a sense of the sorts of prisoners we were trying to attract to the programme, although participants did not have to meet all three inclusion criteria.

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Inclusive masculinity within the context of the Fit for Life programmeI think it was a part ofit was being a part of a group. On the outside Im a lone person. Im no part of any group. So see learning in a group, and interacting wi people, and speaking to people in the group that kept me motivated as well. (Prison A - P11)it was important for me tae, for me tae do my thing and for me tae tell people that they was doing good at their thing, and encouraging them and pushing them and stuff like that. (Prison A - P3)Well youre having a laugh wi people and its like yous are losing a wee bit o weight an youre kinda like, its just youre no coming an youre no like if youre coming tae the gym, its like youre no the fattest person in the gym. So youre here and yous are all kinda fat, yous are all here for the same reason. (Prison B - P3)





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Embodied masculinity - The gym, muscularity and weightYouve gottae get big, aye, youve got a group, your group o guys, thats what theyre intae, their bodybuilding an theyre strength things like that. (Prison A - P8)You want everybody tae go intae a prison an' they all want tae dae the weights, they a want tae get big an' strong. That's what they all want tae dae. (Prison B P11)I actually get people that go like that, oh how long did it take you to get that [large] size? And this is the first time Ive ever trained in my life! Know what I mean? And Ive just worked hard at it, and worked hard, and I explain that to guys. I just, know what I mean? Guys were all wanting to get like me, and like as big as me kinda thing. (Prison B-P1)





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Changes to bodies and appearanceI think people in general do take a lot more care of themselves nowadays and it happens more in prison. So you're not automatically in inverted commas 'a poof' if you use face cream and keep yourself clean and... yeah. (Prison A - P4)When I lost weight I kind o'... I like tae keep my strength up an I felt as if when I was losing my weight that I was losing my strength as well, that my strength was falling away. (Prison B - P11)Some people don't care aboot themselves 'cause they're in the jail, they've hit rock bottom. (Prison A - P7)





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Orthodox to Inclusive masculinity - Group dynamicsI think it was a part ofit was being a part of a group. On the outside Im a lone person. Im no part of any group. So see learning in a group, and interacting wi people, and speaking to people in the group that kept me motivated as well. I mean I enjoyed the group. Its one of the biggest things Ill take away fae it has been involved in the group. (Prison A - P11)...you dinnae want tae be yourself, cause you just single yoursel oot, ken whit I mean? As I say you can put yourself the gither as a team an you take it on as a team, ken whit I mean? An you support each other through it. (Prison A - P2)Yeah, there was two lads in particular that were like really taking the piss an I didnt enjoy that bit. No-one had control over them. Dyou know what I mean? But other than that everything went really, really well. (Prison B - P5)





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Fit for Life - ConclusionsMasculinity has shaped the planning and the experience of engagement in the Fit for Life programme.

An approach to men's health similar to that taken by Football Fans in Training (FFIT) has the potential to be successfully adapted for secure settings.

A gender and context sensitised health promotion intervention has the potential to facilitate engagement with a cohort of hard to reach and disadvantaged men in a secure setting.

Performances of both hegemonic/orthodox and inclusive forms of masculinity were evident amongst men who took part in the Fit for Life programme.

Programmes such as Fit for Life have the potential to enhance more inclusive forms of masculinity.

There are many, often contradictory implications for masculinities in taking part in programmes to enhance health and wellbeing.




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Questions for discussionWhat are the main differences between Anderson and Connells theories of masculinity?

What is the hegemonic masculine position in your community/area/life?

Who occupies the hegemonic masculine position at Glasgow University?

How are masculinities changing within the University context?

Do inclusive masculinities exist at Glasgow University, if so in what forms?


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[email protected] www.matthewmaycock.com

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