Introduction to Masculinity Studies

Syllabus

Class dates:  

I part 17.2.2023- introductory class on masculinity studies and feminist approaches to it 24.2.2023- hegemonic masculinities 1 3.3.2023 – hegemonic masculinities 2 10.3.2023- men’s movements and anti-feminism  

II part 17.3.2023- queer and marginalised masculinities 1 24.3.2023- queer and marginalised masculinities 2  

III part 31.3.2023 - militarised and violent masculinities 7.4.2023- Holiday 14.4.2023- Reading week! +book review preparation 21.4.2023- Book review and theatre preparations 28.4.2023- Holiday 5.5.2024 - masculinities in exile 12.5.2024 – new possibilities and challenges of masculinity studies      

I PART  

Class 1: 17.2.2023- Introductory class on masculinity studies and feminist approaches to it    

Required readings:  

·      Jonathan A. Allan (2018) Masculinity as cruel optimism, NORMA, 13:3-4, 175-190, DOI: 10.1080/18902138.2017.1312949  

Further readings:  

·      Brittany Everitt-Penhale & Kopano Ratele (2015) RETHINKING ‘TRADITIONAL MASCULINITY’ AS CONSTRUCTED, MULTIPLE, AND ≠ HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY, South African Review of Sociology, 46:2, 4-22, DOI: 10.1080/21528586.2015.1025826

·      Darius Bost, La Marr Jurelle Bruce & Brandon J. Manning (2019) Introduction, The Black Scholar, 49:2, 1-10, DOI: 10.1080/00064246.2019.1581970

·      Praseeda Gopinath & Pavitra Sundar (2020) Introduction: Masculinities, South Asian Popular Culture, 18:1, 1-10, DOI: 10.1080/14746689.2020.1736819      

Class 2: 24.2.2023 - Hegemonic masculinities 1    

Required readings:  

·      Joane Nagel (1998) Masculinity and nationalism: gender and sexuality in the making of nations, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21:2, 242-269

·      Henri Myrttinen, Lana Khattab & Jana Naujoks (2017) Re-thinking hegemonic masculinities in conflict-affected contexts, Critical Military Studies, 3:2, 103-119, DOI: 10.1080/23337486.2016.1262658  

Further readings:  

·      Matthew William Maycock (2017) Hegemonic at home and subaltern abroad: Kamaiya masculinities and changing mobility in Nepal, Gender, Place & Culture, 24:6, 812-822, DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2015.1058761

·      Anna Buschmeyer & Diana Lengersdorf (2016) The differentiation of masculinity as a challenge for the concept of hegemonic masculinity, NORMA, 11:3, 190-207, DOI: 10.1080/18902138.2016.1217672

·      Juanita Elias & Christine Beasley (2009) Hegemonic Masculinity and Globalization: ‘Transnational Business Masculinities’ and Beyond, Globalizations, 6:2, 281-296, DOI: 10.1080/14747730902854232

·      Funda Gençoğlu Onbaşı (2016) Paid military service at the intersection of militarism, nationalism, capitalism, and (hetero)patriarchy: escaping without leaving ‘manhood’, Citizenship Studies, 20:6-7, 883-898

·      Ashe, Fidelma (2012). Gendering War and Peace: Militarized Masculinities in Northern Ireland. Men and Masculinities, 15:3, pp.230–248.

·      Lomsky-Feder Edna & Rapoport Tamar (2003). Juggling models of masculinity: Russian-Jewish immigrants in the Israeli army. Sociological Inquiry, 73:1, 114–137

·      Gill, Leslie (1997). Creating Citizens, Making Men: The Military and Masculinity in Bolivia. Cultural Anthropology, 12:4, 527–550    

Class 3: 3.3.2023 - Hegemonic masculinities 2 + Toxic masculinities  

Short documentary: Armenia’s public space is men-only space (https://chaikhana.media/en/stories/804/armenias-public-space-is-men-only-space )    

Required reading:  

·      Andrea Waling (2019) Problematising ‘Toxic’ and ‘Healthy’ Masculinity for Addressing Gender Inequalities, Australian Feminist Studies, 34:101, 362-375, DOI: 10.1080/08164649.2019.1679021

·      Kayla Marshall, Kerry Chamberlain & Darrin Hodgetts (2020) Male bodybuilders on Instagram: negotiating inclusive masculinities through hegemonic masculine bodies, Journal of Gender Studies, 29:5, 570-589, DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2020.1722620  

Further readings:  

·      Aletta Biersack (2016) Introduction: Emergent Masculinities in the Pacific, The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 17:3-4, 197-212, DOI: 10.1080/14442213.2016.1186215

·      Kopano Ratele (2021) An invitation to decoloniality in work on (African) men and masculinities, Gender, Place & Culture, 28:6, 769-785, DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2020.1781794

·      Duncan McDuie-Ra (2013) Being a tribal man from the North-East: migration, morality, and masculinity, South Asian History and Culture, 4:2, 250-265, DOI: 10.1080/19472498.2013.768867

·      Takeyuki (Gaku) Tsuda (2022) What makes hegemonic masculinity so hegemonic? Japanese American men and masculine aspirations, Identities, 29:5, 671-690, DOI: 10.1080/1070289X.2020.1851005

·      Ann-Dorte Christensen & Sune Qvotrup Jensen (2014) Combining hegemonic masculinity and intersectionality, NORMA, 9:1, 60-75, DOI: 10.1080/18902138.2014.892289

·      Carol Harrington (2021) What is “Toxic Masculinity” and Why Does it Matter? Men and Masculinities, 24(2), 345–352. DOI: 10.1177/1097184X20943254      

Class 4: 10.3.2023 - Men’s movements and anti-feminism  

·      Melissa Blais & Francis Dupuis-D√©ri (2012) Masculinism and the Antifeminist Countermovement, Social Movement Studies, 11:1, 21-39, DOI: 10.1080/14742837.2012.640532

·      Olga Serradell, Ignacio Santa Cruz & Eduard Mondejar (2015) Can the men's movement attract young men? The men in dialogue association, Journal of Gender Studies, 24:6, 677-688, DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2013.872556    

Further readings:  

·      Inga Koralewska & Katarzyna Zielińska (2021) ‘Defending the unborn’, ‘protecting women’ and ‘preserving culture and nation’: anti-abortion discourse in the Polish right-wing press, Culture, Health & Sexuality 1-15

·      Nami Kim (2011) “Lord, I Am a Father!” The Transnational Evangelical Men's Movement and the Advent of “Benevolent’ Patriarchy, Asian Journal of Women's Studies, 17:1, 100-131, DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2011.11666104    

II PART  

Class 5: 17.3.2023 - Queer and marginalised masculinities 1    

Required readings:  

·      Halberstam, Jack, . Female Masculinity. Durham [N.C.] :Duke University Press, 199. pp: 1-43.

·      Abelson, M.J. (2014), Dangerous Privilege: Trans Men, Masculinities, and Changing  Perceptions of Safety. Sociol Forum, 29: 549-570. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12103    

Further readings:

·      Andrew Childs (2016) Hyper or hypo-masculine? Re-conceptualizing ‘hyper-masculinity’ through Seattle’s gay, leather community, Gender, Place & Culture, 23:9, 1315-1328, DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2016.1160033

·      Keith J. Watts & Kia J. Bentley (2021) Perceptions of gay black men on the social construction of masculinity and its role in mental health, Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, DOI: 10.1080/19359705.2021.1949422

·      Lucas Gottzén & Wibke Straube (2016) Trans masculinities, NORMA, 11:4, 217-224, DOI: 10.1080/18902138.2016.1262056

·      Michael A. J. Murgo, Kiet D. Huynh, Debbiesiu L. Lee & Joan C. Chrisler (2017) Anti-Effeminacy Moderates the Relationship Between Masculinity and Internalized Heterosexism Among Gay Men, Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 11:2, 106-118, DOI: 10.1080/15538605.2017.1310008          

Class 6: 24.3.2023 - Queer and marginalised masculinities 2    

Short documentary: South africa's queer fashion designers and trans activists subverting masculinity (

Annotation

This course looks at several theories, or general explanations, of men's identity and experience and masculinity itself across multiple methodologies, ideologies, and schools of thought. We explore the various perspectives of masculinity studies by visiting the feminist scholarships.

This course offers a reinterpretation of masculinity from the perspectives of gender and sexuality studies and social anthropology, informed by pro-feminist masculinity studies. We will assert that masculinity is problematic - for ‘men’, ‘women’ and queers - but also subject to change since it is socially constructed and historically variable.

Since masculinity studies is rather a broader topic, the course will mainly focus on these regions: Western World, Eastern and Central Europe, Central and South Asia, and Africa.