A lecture i gave at QMU, focusing on theories of masculinity and how these can be applied to various pieces of research

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TRANSFORMING LIVES
UNDERSTANDING MASCULINITIES
Dr Matt Maycock
Learning and Development Researcher,
Scottish Prison Service
26thJanuary 2018
Gender, Health and Development, QMU, Edinburgh

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SESSION OVERVIEW
 Theories of masculinity
– Hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1995, 2015)
– Inclusive masculinity (Anderson, 2009, 2016)
 Examples of the application of these theories
– Masculinities and bonded labour in Nepal (PhD)
– Masculinity within Scottish prisons (post-doc)
– Practical application of theories of masculinity to a
health promotion resource, campaign or app

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WHAT ARE OR IS MASCULINITY?

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SOME VIEWS ON MASCULINITY

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THEORIES OF MASCULINITY
1) HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY, RAEWYN CONNELL
(2005, 2015)

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HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY, RAEWYN CONNELL
(2005)

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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

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HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY CONT…
 a 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 time
– Have negative impacts- be tough don’t cry, can lead
to disengagement, health problems, aggression,
overwork and lack of emotional responsiveness.

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CRITICISMS (V. SEIDLER)
 Leaves gender roles, and in particular patriarchy
unchallenged
 Leaves 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

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THEORIES OF MASCULINITY
2) INCLUSIVE MASCULINITY, ERIC ANDERSON
(2009, 2016)

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INCLUSIVE MASCULINITY, ERIC ANDERSON (2009)

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 Eric Anderson’s 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)

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 Connell’s definition of “hegemonic masculinity”—
emerges 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 doesn’t 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.

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
• What are the main differences between Anderson and Connell’s theories of
masculinity?
• What is the hegemonic masculine position in your community/area/life?
• Who occupies the hegemonic masculine position at QMU?
• How are masculinities changing within the University context?
• Do inclusive masculinities exist at QMU, if so in what forms?

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EXAMPLE 1 - PHD RESEARCH FAR-WEST NEPAL
Masculinity, Modernity and Bonded Labour: Continuity and Change amongst the
Kamaiya of Kailali District, far-west Nepal (School of International Development,
UEA, Norwich)

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PHD FIELDWORK FAR-WEST NEPAL 2009
Yearlong fieldwork in Nepal:
 Three month language training and key informant interviews
 Nine months in two fieldsites
My thesis addressed the the following research questions:
 How have the links between Kamaiya bodies and Kamaiya
masculinities changed following freedom?
 How are working patterns changing following freedom, and
what implications does this have for Kamaiya masculinities?
 What are the Implications of modernity for Kamaiya
masculinities in family settings?

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METHODS
 Household survey
 Life History interviews
 Participant observation
– I wore clothes similar to my research participants and made a conscious
effort not to display conspicuous signs of consumption.
– I tried to behave like the men of my age at both fieldwork sites as far as
possible. On occasion this involved doing the work that the men in Kampur
were involved in, although this did not include driving a rickshaw as the
rickshaw drivers found the idea ridiculous.
– I took part in various agricultural and hunting activities.
– I took part in the social life, which posed various difficulties for me.

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POSITIONALITY
 As Reinharz (1997) indicates, researchers have multiple identities apart from
those associated with being a researcher; mine include being white, Welsh,
heterosexual, male and, at the time, unmarried.
 My positionality through the various identities I brought to the research – my
gender, race, class etc. – influenced both how I collected data and its
interpretation (Mullings, 1999)
 My position constituted both an advantage and a disadvantage. West (2003)
found that being positioned as an ‘outsider’ brought certain benefits in his
research with victims of torture in Mozambique’s war for independence. It
allowed some of his research subjects to discuss issues that they found it difficult
to speak about with members of their community.

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MY HOME FOR NINE MONTHS…

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PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION - GOING ‘HUNTING’

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MIGRATION IN NEPAL
 In 2001, 760,000 people had officially migrated out of Nepal, 77
per cent of whom had gone to India (Central Bureau of Statistics,
2002).
 Migration is strongly gendered in Nepal, around 90% of those
who migrate are men
 Seddon et al (2000) estimate that between 0.5-1.3 million Nepalis
temporarily migrate to India.
 Data in South Asia is problematic – particularly between Nepal
and India due to the open border

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GENDERED EXPERIENCES OF MIGRATION
 Facilitates new performances of (Indian) masculinity
– In the place where men migrate
– Also in villages when men return
 Potential for mimicry and the learning of new masculine
styles and performances
 Money
– Diversification of income
– Migration and ‘breadwinning’
 Certain aspects of (sexual) freedom
 Exciting and new
 Anonymity

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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH MIGRATION
 Frequent exploitation and mistreatment
 Isolating – often no or limited support network
 Often limited family history of movement
 Low and instable pay
 Pressure of remittances
 Familial expectation to move as they were men
 ‘Success’ through migration difficult to achieve
 Migration has not questioned the link between hard work and successful manliness amongst
the bonded labourers

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Example 2
Prison masculinities in Scotland (post-doc)

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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)

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Context
Prisons are largely all-
male environments
p-FFIT delivered to men-
only groups
Content
Info about science of
weight-loss presented
simply
Role of alcohol in weight
management
FFIT logo branding
Delivery notes
adapted to take
account of prison
context
Style of delivery
PEIs have detailed
knowledge of prison
context
Participative and peer-
supported learning
Encouraged male
banter to facilitate
discussion of sensitive
topics
Testing feasibility of delivering an adapted version of FFIT, Fit for Life was delivered in
two prison gyms over course of 10 weeks

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METHODS
Prison A
Delivered to 18 prisoners by prison Physical
Education Instructors (PEIs)
Data collection
Observations of all 15 sessions
Interviews 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 sessions
Interviews with participants who
completed programme (n=9)
Interviews with PEIs and staff (n=3)
Prison B

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PRISON MASCULINITIES

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PRISON MASCULINITIES
In (largely male) prisons environments, there are performances of masculinity that are structured in
hierarchical ways in reference to both orthodox/hegemonic' and 'inclusive' masculinities
Orthodox/ 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 masculinities
Inclusive
Prison masculinities

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ORTHODOX MASCULINITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE
FIT FOR LIFE PROGRAMME
I can understand aboot guys being
apprehensive an’ that, ken I think when,
especially wi’ everybody else in the hall, ken,
an’ you’re goin’ and they’re 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? I’ll par—ken, I’ll... I’ll take—I’ll
partake in anythin’ eh? And as I say when, ken
when I got there I was like that, ‘right, fair enough.’
I mean you’re only putting your view forward. I
mean we’re in a hostile situation here, eh? And
people dinnae want tae speak forward in case the
boy, “he’s a fucking idiot,” excuse my French.
(Prison A - P11)

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INCLUSIVE MASCULINITY WITHIN THE CONTEXT
OF THE FIT FOR LIFE PROGRAMME
I think it was a part of—it was being a part of
a group. On the outside I’m a lone person.
I’m 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 you’re having a laugh wi’ people and
it’s like yous are losing a wee bit o’ weight an’
you’re kinda like, it’s just you’re no’ coming
an’ you’re no’ like if you’re coming tae the
gym, it’s like you’re no’ the fattest person in
the gym. So you’re here and yous are all
kinda fat, yous are all here for the same
reason. (Prison B - P3)

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ORTHODOX TO INCLUSIVE MASCULINITY - GROUP
DYNAMICS
I think it was a part of—it was being a part of
a group. On the outside I’m a lone person. I’m
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. It’s one of the biggest things I’ll 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 didn’t
enjoy that bit. No-one had control over
them. D’you know what I mean? But other
than that everything went really, really well.
(Prison B - P5)

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FIT FOR LIFE - CONCLUSIONS
• Masculinity 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 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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PRACTICAL EXERCISE
In groups design a health promotion resource, campaign or app
that will communicate men or boys about an aspect of health.
– Consider how the theory/s of masculinity will shape the resource,
campaign or app
– Consider how you will design the resource, campaign or app in a
gender-specific way
– Consider about what subjects/issues you will cover
– Think about how you will promote your resource, campaign or
app

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Masculinity and health – multiple approaches
Men&Work
Warning:
Reading this may
seriously improve
your health

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TRANSFORMING LIVES Masculinity and health resources continued

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matthew.maycock@sps.pnn.gov.uk
www.matthewmaycock.com
CONTACTS