This thesis is a report of a study of masculinity at Canberra Grammar School, a corporate boys' school. The data were collected during 1991 and 1992. The thesis questions the conventional wisdom that a school like Canberra Grammar produces a particular hegemonic masculinity. Indeed, it identifies the production of a hierarchy of exalted, multiple masculinities. There were limitations to what could be investigated in this study, as well as to how it could be investigated. However, the ideas and work of several people were blended in order to provide a way into the questions of masculinity in this school. This eclectic approach drew upon the literature of Popkewitz, Lather, and Parlett and Hamilton, who called for narrative descriptions and interpretation, as well as Beare, Caldwell and Millikan, whose framework of school culture, albeit modified, provided very rich information. This method resulted in an emphasis on what was observed and read within the school, rather than on what might have been heard, but, nevertheless, a great deal of relevant and useful data were generated. The data were then interpreted with the help of questions and insights formed by immersion in the literature on masculinity and schools, particularly that of corporate boys' schools. It was possible to identify multiple masculinities in the school, and arrange them into a hierarchy based on the degree to which each of them was exalted. These masculinities were fluid and the hierarchy was dynamic. During the time of the study greatest support was for "the man as scholar", "the sportsman" and "the man as leader", three notions of masculinity traditionally associated with these schools. There was also considerable support for the notion of "the sensitive man", a notion that has been promoted in schools like this for many years, but which draws upon traits and qualities less traditionally associated with these schools. One area of fluidity was an official move by the school's leaders towards the notion of "the person", rather than the man. Contestation was evident as changes occurred within this hierarchy, as well as within the notions themselves. These findings are significant for several reasons. Firstly, they challenge the conventional wisdom about corporate boys' schools. Secondly, for those working in this school and schools like it who are searching for ways to bring about different gender and social relations, the findings offer an encouraging, optimistic picture of what this school is trying to do. The findings also identify those within the school who might support or oppose counterhegemonic practice, as well as areas of the school's culture that should be targeted in the future. Thirdly, for those wanting to find out about notions of maculinity in these schools, they show that the method used here can be very productive, despite its limitations. The first chapter of this thesis explains the reasons for this study in more detail, and the second chapter describes and accounts for the nature of the study. The main body of the thesis is in Chapters Three, Four and Five, where findings about the school's setting, curriculum and rituals are described and interpreted. The thesis concludes with a chapter containing reflections on the reasons for this study, as well as possible ways forward for those wishing to investigate questions of masculinity in corporate boys' schools in the future.

This study focuses on one source of sex tourism diaries: posts on the World Sex Guide written about tourists who had sex while in Latin America. My interest is in exploring how posters on the World Sex Guide make sense of their involvement in sex tourism. Starting from the premise that the diaries constitute a forum in which a hegemonic masculinity is created and perpetuated I ask: what types of relations are valued and reproduced by the posters? How do the tourists construct the women whose services they seek? What do their narratives reveal about their own sense of selfhood in the process? I situate the diaries as pornographic representations or rhetorical strategies that are constituted by their context, interpretations, and inscriptions. I then undertake a discursive analysis to reveal their purpose and implications. In particular, I argue that the performances posted on the World Sex Guide reinforce lines of gender, race, economics, status, nationality, and ethnicity in a way that bolsters Western hegemonic masculinities, the implications of which have import not only in online settings but offline as well. / February 2009

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine male social workers experiences of working in a female dominated work. The aim with this study was to find out how men perceive working with mostly women and how this effects their construction of masculinity. The theories that have been used in this study are a social constructive perspective on gender, Chodorows (1995) Theory of Socialization and Connells (2008) Theory of Masculinities. The method used in this study is qualitative interviews based on the experiences of five male social workers in Sweden.The interviews have been recorded and retailed in text in its full version, to enable analysis out of the above mentioned theories and earlier studies. The result of the study shows that the men in this study experience mostly benefits from working with women and they feel appreciated as being men. At the sametime they experience some difficulties when it comes to communication, where they perceive the female colleagues to use a more subtle way of communicating.The male social workers in this study also experience that they get certain expectations due to their gender. These expectations consist in being able to deal with clients that are aggressive and another expectation is to function as a male role model for their clients. The way the male social workers in this study construct their masculinity in this female dominated work, consists of a differentiation between them and the female colleagues. This differentiation is influenced by a hegemonic masculinity that can be described as the male stereotype, which builds on a subordination of women (Connell 2008).

Despite significant progress in increasing female participation in national politics, Tanzanian households are still predominately run by men. Gender norms which define women as houseworkers and men as providers continue to pervade widespread notions that put a heavy burden on the backs of women and hinder an equal division of household labor, regardless of women’s employment situation. Although often disfavored in this patriarchal structure, research has found that women sometimes desire men to adapt to a role that further establishes these norms. This study examined how women and men in Babati town construct masculinities and the male role in romantic relationships, and how officially contested gender roles persist. Primary data was collected through qualitative interviews and focus groups with primarily highly educated married women and men in Babati town. The data was analyzed using a theoretical framework based on masculinities in gender relations and African notions of feminism. Moreover, explanations and rationalizations of gender inequality were deconstructed and categorized in a content-oriented analysis to explicate the resilience of dominant ideologies. The study found that men are expected to have a job and to make sure that the basic needs of the family are met. Most men did not construct ideal masculinity as mutually exclusive to cooking and cleaning, and neither did any woman. However, men often exempted themselves from household labor by arguing that African culture does not allow men to cook and clean unless the wife is sick or otherwise incapacitated.

This study focuses on one source of sex tourism diaries: posts on the World Sex Guide written about tourists who had sex while in Latin America. My interest is in exploring how posters on the World Sex Guide make sense of their involvement in sex tourism. Starting from the premise that the diaries constitute a forum in which a hegemonic masculinity is created and perpetuated I ask: what types of relations are valued and reproduced by the posters? How do the tourists construct the women whose services they seek? What do their narratives reveal about their own sense of selfhood in the process? I situate the diaries as pornographic representations or rhetorical strategies that are constituted by their context, interpretations, and inscriptions. I then undertake a discursive analysis to reveal their purpose and implications. In particular, I argue that the performances posted on the World Sex Guide reinforce lines of gender, race, economics, status, nationality, and ethnicity in a way that bolsters Western hegemonic masculinities, the implications of which have import not only in online settings but offline as well.

This study uses content analysis of newspaper articles and athlete biographical/autobiographical sources to examine the constructions of masculinity of male and female athletes at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing, China. Based on the socially constructed tension between disability and masculinity and the connections between sport and masculinity, this study sought examples that support or challenge the portrayal of Paralympic athletes in hegemonic masculine terms. This study finds that in the majority of cases, both sets of data sources reflects and/or reinforces the association between sport and hegemonic masculinity. This public display of masculinity indicates the athletes’ attempt to attain mainstream acceptance and legitimacy as “real” athletes as much as it does a rejection of a collective disability identity. The few instances of rejection and reformulation of masculinity come from examples in which the realities of living with impairments are insurmountable barriers to attaining hegemonic masculinity.

This study examined the reflections of gender nonconforming men on their lived-experiences as boys in the heteronormative environment of high schools. Participants self-selected for the study based on their perceptions of being othered as boys in high school due to their nonconforming expression of gender. The study targeted men who had graduated with a Manitoba High School Diploma within the last 5 years. The methodology of this study was underpinned by an interpretivist theoretical perspective. The purpose of the research and the positioning of the researcher were influenced by the socially critical research paradigm. Narrative methods were utilized for the reporting; the lived experiences of the participants while in high school. The study found that high schools continue to be heteronormative environments that present difficulties for gender nonconforming boys. Although participants felt that the situation in high schools may be improving, all felt that much more can, and should, be done to improve conditions for gender nonconforming youth. Findings suggest that policy and practice at the school, district, and provincial levels need to be examined and, where necessary, changed to address the treatment of gender nonconforming boys in high schools.

This study focuses on one source of sex tourism diaries: posts on the World Sex Guide written about tourists who had sex while in Latin America. My interest is in exploring how posters on the World Sex Guide make sense of their involvement in sex tourism. Starting from the premise that the diaries constitute a forum in which a hegemonic masculinity is created and perpetuated I ask: what types of relations are valued and reproduced by the posters? How do the tourists construct the women whose services they seek? What do their narratives reveal about their own sense of selfhood in the process? I situate the diaries as pornographic representations or rhetorical strategies that are constituted by their context, interpretations, and inscriptions. I then undertake a discursive analysis to reveal their purpose and implications. In particular, I argue that the performances posted on the World Sex Guide reinforce lines of gender, race, economics, status, nationality, and ethnicity in a way that bolsters Western hegemonic masculinities, the implications of which have import not only in online settings but offline as well.

This study uses content analysis of newspaper articles and athlete biographical/autobiographical sources to examine the constructions of masculinity of male and female athletes at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing, China. Based on the socially constructed tension between disability and masculinity and the connections between sport and masculinity, this study sought examples that support or challenge the portrayal of Paralympic athletes in hegemonic masculine terms. This study finds that in the majority of cases, both sets of data sources reflects and/or reinforces the association between sport and hegemonic masculinity. This public display of masculinity indicates the athletes’ attempt to attain mainstream acceptance and legitimacy as “real” athletes as much as it does a rejection of a collective disability identity. The few instances of rejection and reformulation of masculinity come from examples in which the realities of living with impairments are insurmountable barriers to attaining hegemonic masculinity.

This study examined the reflections of gender nonconforming men on their lived-experiences as boys in the heteronormative environment of high schools. Participants self-selected for the study based on their perceptions of being othered as boys in high school due to their nonconforming expression of gender. The study targeted men who had graduated with a Manitoba High School Diploma within the last 5 years. The methodology of this study was underpinned by an interpretivist theoretical perspective. The purpose of the research and the positioning of the researcher were influenced by the socially critical research paradigm. Narrative methods were utilized for the reporting; the lived experiences of the participants while in high school. The study found that high schools continue to be heteronormative environments that present difficulties for gender nonconforming boys. Although participants felt that the situation in high schools may be improving, all felt that much more can, and should, be done to improve conditions for gender nonconforming youth. Findings suggest that policy and practice at the school, district, and provincial levels need to be examined and, where necessary, changed to address the treatment of gender nonconforming boys in high schools.