Deconstructing Masculinity: Interrogating the Role of Symbolism in Gender Performativity

Deconstructing Masculinity: Interrogating the Role of Symbolism in Gender Performativity
Author: Lauren Dundes
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2024-09-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 2832554458

Progress towards gender parity is hindered by unconscious ways that hypermasculinity is valorized at a symbolic level. By deconstructing how social and textual phenomena as well as social structures contribute to gender performativity, we can elucidate hard-to-discern patterns that perpetuate hegemonic masculinity. The subliminal elevation of symbols of hypermasculinity excludes both women and non-gender conforming men. By delving into these symbolic meanings that operate subliminally, we can more effectively debunk beliefs that “real men” fall within narrow parameters of masculinity. There remains much to explore in terms of hidden pressures for men to constrain their expression of emotions, project an appearance of hardness, and equate violence with power, to name just a few persistent facets of toxic masculinity. While abstract forms of inculcating hypermasculinity are difficult to identify, interrogating their role in masculine performativity will result in a more comprehensive understanding of impediments to gender equality.

Global Masculinities

Global Masculinities
Author: Mangesh Kulkarni
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2018-11-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429752075

What does it mean to be male in today’s world? This volume interrogates the myriad practices and myth-making that underlie dominant and subordinate constructions of masculinities around the world. Challenging the patriarchal bias that restricts alternative understanding of masculinities, this volume documents and shares evidence, insights and direction on how men and boys can creatively contribute to gender equality in the twenty-first century. The book: highlights the many lives of men and their interactions with socioeconomic and political processes, including the family, fatherhood, migration, development and violence; critiques hegemonic masculinities, and grapples with effective practices that engage men in the empowerment of women; explores how cultures of masculinity can be transformed to promote social justice, conflict-resolution and peace-building within and across nations The book will be indispensable to researchers interested in critical masculinity studies, women’s studies, sociology, social anthropology, law, public policy, political science and international relations. It will also be of great relevance to government officials, NGO activists, and other practitioners concerned with gender, health and development issues.

Politics of Masculinities

Politics of Masculinities
Author: Michael A. Messner
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 160
Release: 1997-03-20
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780803955776

Michael A. Messner provides a sociological framework to understand the responses of men to the changes, challenges, and crises in the social organization of gender. By examining not only what certain groups of men say about gender, but what they do, Messner helps to illuminate the various social movements engaged with the politics of masculinity. This book is an ideal introduction to the discussion of gender roles and masculinity.

Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology

Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology
Author: Trauth, Eileen M.
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 1451
Release: 2006-06-30
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1591408164

"This two volume set includes 213 entries with over 4,700 references to additional works on gender and information technology"--Provided by publisher.

New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism

New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2020-12-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004446451

This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly "Western" undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences. The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.

Trifles

Trifles
Author: Susan Glaspell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 40
Release: 1916
Genre: One-act plays
ISBN:

Dance and Gender

Dance and Gender
Author: Wendy Oliver
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2018-06-11
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0813063450

Driven by exacting methods and hard data, this volume reveals gender dynamics within the dance world in the twenty-first century. It provides concrete evidence about how gender impacts the daily lives of dancers, choreographers, directors, educators, and students through surveys, interviews, analyses of data from institutional sources, and action research studies. Dancers, dance artists, and dance scholars from the United States, Australia, and Canada discuss equity in three areas: concert dance, the studio, and higher education. The chapters provide evidence of bias, stereotyping, and other behaviors that are often invisible to those involved, as well as to audiences. The contributors answer incisive questions about the role of gender in various aspects of the field, including physical expression and body image, classroom experiences and pedagogy, and performance and funding opportunities. The findings reveal how inequitable practices combined with societal pressures can create environments that hinder health, happiness, and success. At the same time, they highlight the individuals working to eliminate discrimination and open up new possibilities for expression and achievement in studios, choreography, performance venues, and institutions of higher education. The dance community can strive to eliminate discrimination, but first it must understand the status quo for gender in the dance world. Wendy Oliver, professor of dance at Providence College, is coeditor of Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches. Doug Risner, professor of dance at Wayne State University, is coeditor of Hybrid Lives of Teaching Artists in Dance and Theatre Arts: A Critical Reader. Contributors: Gareth Belling | Karen Bond | Carolyn Hebert | Eliza Larson | Pamela S. Musil | Wendy Oliver | Katherine Polasek | Doug Risner | Emily Roper | Karen Schupp | Jan Van Dyke

Female Masculinity

Female Masculinity
Author: Judith Halberstam
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1998
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780822322436

Masculinity without men. In Female Masculinity Judith Halberstam takes aim at the protected status of male masculinity and shows that female masculinity has offered a distinct alternative to it for well over two hundred years. Providing the first full-length study on this subject, Halberstam catalogs the diversity of gender expressions among masculine women from nineteenth-century pre-lesbian practices to contemporary drag king performances. Through detailed textual readings as well as empirical research, Halberstam uncovers a hidden history of female masculinities while arguing for a more nuanced understanding of gender categories that would incorporate rather than pathologize them. She rereads Anne Lister's diaries and Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness as foundational assertions of female masculine identity. She considers the enigma of the stone butch and the politics surrounding butch/femme roles within lesbian communities. She also explores issues of transsexuality among "transgender dykes"--lesbians who pass as men--and female-to-male transsexuals who may find the label of "lesbian" a temporary refuge. Halberstam also tackles such topics as women and boxing, butches in Hollywood and independent cinema, and the phenomenon of male impersonators. Female Masculinity signals a new understanding of masculine behaviors and identities, and a new direction in interdisciplinary queer scholarship. Illustrated with nearly forty photographs, including portraits, film stills, and drag king performance shots, this book provides an extensive record of the wide range of female masculinities. And as Halberstam clearly demonstrates, female masculinity is not some bad imitation of virility, but a lively and dramatic staging of hybrid and minority genders.