Femininities, Masculinities and Gender Relations
Considering feminists’ concern with women’ subordination in society, it is perhaps not surprising that most early research on gender concerned itself almost exclusively with women and concepts of femininity. Men and masculinity were regarded as relatively straightforward and unproblematic. Little effort was made to examine masculinity, the experience of being man, or the formation of male identities. Sociologists were more concerned with understanding men’s oppression of women and their role in maintaining patriarchy. Since the late 12980s, however greater attention has been devoted to critical studies of men and masculinity. The fundamental changes affecting the role of women and family patterns in industrialized societies have raised questions about the nature of masculinity and its changing role in society. What does it mean to be a man in late modern society? Is masculinity in crisis? How are the traditional expectations and pressures on men being transformed in a rapidly changing age? In recent years sociologists have become increasingly interested in the positions and experience of men within the larger order that shapes them. This shift within the sociology of gender and sexuality has led to new emphasis on the study of men and masculinity within the overarching context of gender relations, the societally patterned interactions between men and women. Sociologists are interested to grasp how male identities are constructed and what impact socially prescribed roles have on men’s behavior.
R. W. Connell: The Gender Order
In Gender and Power (1987) and Masculinities (1995), R. W. Connell sets forth one of the most complete theoretical accounts of gender. His approach has been particularly influential in sociology because he has integrated the concepts of patriarchy and masculinity into an overarching theory of gender relations. According to Connell, masculinities are a critical part of the gender order and cannot be understood separate from it, or from the femininity which accompany them. Connell is concerned with how the social power held by men creates and sustain gender inequality.
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