Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

Current research in masculinity studies has emphasised the social construction of a masculine identity rooted in historical and cultural contexts. This view excludes the psychological processes involved in the construction of a sense of self. Social constructionist and psychoanalytic perspectives tend to offer polarised views of the development of a sense of self. By adopting a combined approach incorporating both social constructionism and psychoanalysis, this study investigated how men negotiate social expectations regarding an 'acceptable' personal masculinity, and how they position themselves and others (men and women) in relation to these expectations. The participants were faced with an ideological dilemma regarding whether to conform to social expectations regarding hegemony versus being unique. This ideological dilemma was not easily resolved, resulting in a fragile sense of masculine self. This study shows that socially sanctioned masculine ideologies have significant implications on men's sense of self and the construction of a masculine identity. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

Thesis (DTh) -- Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is an endeavour on the cutting edge of the field of practical theology. It engages in a pastoral assessment of contemporary men and masculinities in their manifold representations and embodiments. An in-depth assessment of current schemata of interpretation (on the issue of masculinity), is done within different cultural contexts, aiming to hermeneutically put this into dialogue with a pastoral-anthropological view on masculinity. This dialogue is initiated in order to gain deeper insight into diverse masculinities and the challenges they face in their search for meaning, intimacy and vitality. The point of the dialogue here is rather to describe than to prescribe. The dissertation analyses ‘masculinities as experienced and enacted’ in life and ‘masculinities as represented’ in the mass media as well as in other forms of pop culture, through a multidisciplinary perspective. It is further aimed at the contextual, theological deconstruction of these cultural representations and the establishment and furthering of meaningful connections between male identity, human dignity and Christian spirituality. The focus in contemporary (sociological and psychological) research on masculinity is on enactment of masculinities or ‘doing’ masculinities rather than ‘being’ masculine. The dominant cultural images of masculinity within a globalising life-order suggest and promote materialistic values such as efficiency, performance, mechanisation and functionality. These images are assessed and the interplay between it (the cultural images) and conceptualisations of God (God-images) are explored. This study asserts that men’s identity, self-understanding and spirituality is shaped in many ways by these images, but that the image of the crucified and risen Christ can indeed serve as a meaningful and normative-critical counter-image to the macho-images portrayed by most postmodern masculinities (which many men presently experience as confusing). This counter-image of Christ can transcend the abuse of power, the focus on performance and the commodification of male embodiment, in men’s lives, as they engage in a spirituality of vulnerable courage. A pastoral-anthropological perspective is employed in order to shift the emphasis on male identity in terms of gender and sexuality, towards a spiritual understanding of male identity in terms of human dignity and human destiny (i.e. the quest for meaning). The important question of the relationship between power, masculinity and male embodiment is addressed. Essentialist ideas about masculinity are deconstructed, and a re-interpretation thereof is introduced within a view of reality that affirms and embraces an earth-centred and embodied spirituality. Masculinity and male identity is in that sense “saved” from a commercial reduction by means of an eschatological and pneumatological perspective. This theological re-interpretation of masculinity presents a critical factor on the cultural notion that manhood is something that must be validated by means of performance (especially on the terrain of sexuality). Masculinity, viewed from an eschatological perspective, is thus more than virility that has to be manifested by doing functions. The culturally-determined understanding of masculinity - in terms of brutal power and control – is in this sense ‘emasculated’ in this study. In the light of Christ’s resurrection, there is new hope for the re-interpretation of masculinity. The postmodern man’s resurrection is therefore not guaranteed by the “Viagra-magic blue pill”, but in actual fact by the resurrection of Christ who daily unleashes and affirms new meaningful dimensions of hope in the globalised life-matrix. The power of masculinity thus lies in embodying vulnerability and mutual relationality, contesting unilateral and hierarchical relations. Within this context manhood is not equal to the size of achievement or success, nor performances or powerful penetration, but it rather denotes the capacity for lovingly hospitable relationships and the measure of the soul’s depth of character, i.e. its capacity to embody and affirm the courage to be. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is ‘n navorsingsreis op die snykant van die veld van praktiese teologie. Dit neem deel aan ’n pastorale ondersoek van hedendaagse mans en manlikhede in die verskeie opsigte waarop hul verteenwoordig en beliggaam word. ’n In-diepte assessering van huidige interpretasie-skemas - oor die onderwerp van manlikheid - word gedoen binne verskillende kulturele kontekste, met die doel om dit hermeneuties in dialoog te bring met ’n pastoraal-antropologiese perspektief op manlikheid. Hierdie dialoog word geïnisieër ten einde dieper insig te verkry in diverse manlikhede en die uitdagings wat hulle die hoof moet bied in hul soeke na sin, intimiteit en vitaliteit. Die punt van hierdie dialoog is eerder om te beskryf as om voor te skryf. Die dissertasie analiseer – deur ’n multi-dissiplinêre invalshoek - ‘manlikhede soos dit ervaar en uitgeleef word’ in die lewe asook ‘manlikhede soos dit verteenwoordig word’ in die massa media sowel as in ander vorme van populêre kultuur. Dit is verder gemik op die kontekstuele, teologiese dekonstruksie van hierdie kulturele verteenwoordigings, asook die tot stand bring en bevordering van betekenisvolle verbande tussen manlike identiteit, menswaardigheid en Christelike spiritualiteit. Die fokus in hedendaagse (sosiologiese en sielkundige) navorsing oor manlikheid val op die uitleef van manlikhede oftewel die ‘doen’ van manlikhede, eerder as om manlik te ‘wees’. Die dominante kulturele beelde van manlikheid binne ’n geglobaliseerde lewensbestel suggereer en bevorder materialistiese waardes soos effektiwiteit, prestasie, meganisasie en funksionaliteit. Hierdie beelde word ge-evalueer en die interaksie tussen dit (die kulturele beelde) en moontlike konseptualiserings van God (Godsbeelde) word verken. Hierdie studie voer aan dat mans se identiteit, selfverstaan en spiritualiteit op velerlei maniere gevorm word deur hierdie beelde, maar dat die beeld van die gekruisigde en opgestane Christus inderdaad kan dien as ’n betekenisvolle en normatief-kritiese kontra-beeld tot die “macho”-beelde wat deur meeste postmoderne manlikhede versinnebeeld word (maar wat baie mans huidiglik as verwarrend ervaar). Hierdie kontra-beeld van Christus kan die misbruik van mag, asook die fokus op prestasie en die kommodifisering van manlike beliggaming oorstyg in mans se lewens – deurdat hulle deelneem aan ’n spiritualiteit van weerlose moed. ‘n Pastoraal-antropologiese perspektief word dus hier benut ten einde die klem op manlike identiteit in terme van gender en seksualiteit te verskuif, in die rigting van ‘n spirituele verstaan van manlike identiteit in terme van menswaardigheid en menslike bestemming (d.i. die soeke na sin). Die belangrike vraagstuk van die verhouding tussen mag, manlikheid en manlike beliggaming word aangeraak. Essentialistiese idees oor manlikheid word gedekonstrueer, en ’n herinterpretasie daarvan word voorgestel binne ’n werklikheidsverstaan wat ’n aards-gesentreerde en beliggaamde spiritualiteit bevestig en waardeer. Manlikheid en manlike identiteit word in hierdie opsig “gered” van ’n kommersiële verskraling deur middel van ’n eskatologiese en pneumatologiese perspektief. Hierdie teologiese herinterpretasie van manlikheid bied ’n kritiese faktor op die kulturele opvatting dat manwees iets is wat gevalideer moet word deur middel van prestasie (veral op die gebied van seksualiteit). Manwees, gesien vanuit ‘n eskatologiese perspektief, is dus meer as viriliteit wat gemanifesteer moet word deur doen-funksies. Die kultureel-bepaalde verstaan van manlikheid – in terme van brutale mag en beheer - word in hierdie opsig ‘ontman’ binne hierdie navorsingstuk. In die lig van Christus se opstanding is daar nuwe hoop vir die herinterpretasie van manlikheid. Die postmoderne man se opstanding word daarom nie gewaarborg deur die “Viagra tower blou pil” nie, maar eintlik deur die opstanding van Christus, wat daagliks nuwe sinvolle dimensies van hoop in die geglobaliseerde lewensmatriks vrystel en bevestig. Die krag van manlikheid lê dus in die beliggaming van weerloosheid en wederkerige relasionaliteit, tesame met die weerstand bied teen unilaterale en hiërargiese verhoudings. Binne hierdie konteks is manwees nie gelyk aan die grootte van doelwitte wat bereik is of sukses, prestasie of kragtige penetrasie nie. Nee, manwees omvat eerder die kapasiteit vir liefdevolle, gasvrye verhoudings asook die afmeting van die siel se diepte van karakter, d.i. die kapasiteit daarvan om die ‘moed om te wees’ te beliggaam.

Research on masculinity has become an area of increasing interest internationally and in South Africa. Research in South Africa focussing on masculinity and its impact on violence, sexuality and HIV/Aids has begun to escalate. Researchers and social scientists have come to the realisation of the need to investigate how men feel about being men in a society in which they have been dubbed sexist, violent and rapists. This thesis is an attempt to study the linkages between a culture-of-honour and violence. It does so by conceptualising culture as 'a set of affordances and constraints that channel the expression of coercive means of social control by self and others' (Bond, 2004, p. 62). By examining the subjective experiences of South African men in relation to concepts of masculinity and pride, it is hoped to determine whether honour norms generate hypersensitivity to insults and threats to the reputation of men which encourage men to respond with violence in order to reclaim or save 'face'. This aggression may be directed at other males as well as result in heightened tensions in heterosexual relationships that lead to violence (Cohen & Nisbett, 1994; Cohen & Vandello, 2003). A qualitative methodology was adopted for this investigation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight young men from comparable educational backgrounds and differing cultures. These interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The notion of honour in men's construction of masculinity was evident and reveals commonalities as well as difference in the salience of honour constructs. Future studies are proposed to explore in more detail the relationship between honour and masculinities as well as the role of women in perpetuating honour norms in society. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This dissertation explores how female-born or female-bodied gender variants perform and represent their masculinities in American performance art and drag king shows. A drag king refers to a woman or female-born person who performs their gender as fluid, usually wearing masculine costumes and make-up. I focus on how race, ethnicity, and class are involved in performing female masculinities on stage, and how the intersections of other social vectors produce myriad differences in terms of stakes, styles, and forms of masculinity. I examine how female-born queer performers foreground the constructed nature of masculinity, and how they redefine established categories of gender and sexuality through performance. I argue that queer performances of female masculinities deconstruct the heteronormative gender binary and embody alternative configurations of sex, gender, class, race, and sexuality. In my first chapter, I address Peggy Shaw's Menopausal Gentleman (1997) and To My Chagrin (2003). I examine how she portrays aging white butch masculinity, sexuality, and emotion, through the reinterpretation of menopause and musings on her own whiteness. My second chapter provides a critical reading of kt shorb's [sic] of chicks, dicks, and chinks (2005) and D'Lo's Ramble-Ations (2006). Investigating the effeminization of Asian masculinity and multicultural racial performativity, I illuminate how Asian-American female masculinities are differently constituted in the interplay between class, ethnicity, diaspora, and cultural identities. In my third chapter, I analyze the 6th (Chicago, 2004) and 8th (Austin, 2006) International Drag King Extravaganza showcase performances. I describe how they reveal the theatrical nature of masculinity, and how they mark race, class, and ethnicity. In addition, I discuss how they valorize gender fluidity and multiplicity, staging queer desire and pleasure. Throughout this dissertation, by offering complex illustrations of masculine genders of the female body or the gender-ambiguous body, I contend that female-born gender variants disrupt the equation of masculinity to maleness through their theatrical performances of masculinities. I conclude that performing female masculinities can foster the critical artfulness of gender by engaging in social criticism of gender, class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality.

Text in English / This study explored the lived experiences of black African men who grew up in absent-father homes. A phenomenological approach and qualitative exploratory design were used. The research participants were recruited in the Pretoria, South Africa through purposive sampling. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the information. The findings of this study indicate the following: the participants experienced various challenges in growing up in absent father homes. These included financial challenges, feelings of rejection, lack of guidance and protection. They had to rely on their single mothers for provision as well as the extended family and the community for support. These men were self-reliant, persevered and worked hard to achieve their goals in life. Resilience also played a role in making them thrive. They in turn wanted to be good fathers and husbands to their wives and children. Further research on resilient men who grew up in absent-father homes is recommended. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Text in English / The small house phenomenon amongst the Shona people in contemporary Zimbabwe forms part of the relationship and household arrangements amongst certain heterosexual couples. In cases where partners engage in small house relationships, it has specific implications for existing marriage and family dynamics. The study sought to address the question: What are the perceptions on gender dynamics of the small house phenomenon as an emerging family structure in contemporary Zimbabwean society? The relative newness as well as the secretive nature and complexity of the small house relationship, render the nuances of gender dynamics in such contexts worth exploring to add value to the Sociology of Families and gender dynamics. The research was conducted in Harare metropolitan province and adopted social exchange theory and African feminism to illuminate the gender dynamics in small house households. It utilised a qualitative research paradigm and employed in-depth interviews to collect data from 30 participants who were purposively sampled. Findings of the study reveal that although the small house relationship may at times be informed by the ideals of traditional Shona polygynous marital practices, it differs in several respects with polygyny as it attempts to adapt to the socio-economic demands of the 21st century. The study uncovers that the social exchanges in small house relationships are not only gendered, but also based on inequalities relating to class, age and lineage. The small house relationship at times perpetuates gender inequalities between the partners involved. The study exposed how certain small house relationships were inundated with a myriad of problems including gender-based violence, financial constraints and increased susceptibility to HIV and AIDS and other STIs. Problems experienced in small house households are often exacerbated by the secretive nature of the relationship. Furthermore, a form of hegemonic masculinity and emphasised femininity, which are manifestations of the deeply entrenched patriarchal hegemony in the Shona culture, results in asymmetrical intimate relations. It was also revealed that small house households may inadvertently violate children’s rights, including opportunities to access and secure education and social security. Reportedly, disengaged fatherhood in the context of the small house can affect children’s welfare and socialisation negatively. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

Text in English / Guided by Connell’s social constructionist theory of hegemonic masculinity, in a study conducted at a township primary school in Gauteng East, I explored the way boys in Grade 7 interact with each other and girls, as a well as the way in which they understand the world around them in the context of gender relations. A purposive sampling method was used to select boys and girls to participate in this qualitative study. A total of 30 research participants, 17 boys and 13 girls, took part in this study. The methodology included the use of individual diaries and focus groups to solicit information and observe gender relations in boys and girls in the construction of masculinity. Masculinity in this study was constructed through power relations. The themes identified when analysing the social relationships between boys and girls were sexuality, the sturdy boy, homosociality, sex roles, defying authority and the comedian. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)