Contested Masculinities

In Contested Masculinities, the author argues for the importance of critical consciousness, and attentiveness to the interplay of the biblical text, context and the long, complex, histories of interpretation that play out in the construction of masculinities. Locating his reading of 1 Thessalonians within the thickly textured setting of a postcolonial, post-apartheid South Africa, the author seeks to recontextualize Paul, providing a nuanced understanding of how Paul’s letters exercise authority over both the church and the academy. The author maintains that attempts to frame either the biblical text or notions of masculinity as singular and universal perpetuate and reinforce binary formulations (church/academy, global north/global south, colonizer/colonized, male/female) and entrench hierarchies of power. The author re-reads 1 Thessalonians, exploring the fissures that come into view when training a postcolonial and gender-critical lens on the biblical text and delivers a refreshing account that is playful and open and porous, especially as a conversational piece for masculinity, ancient and contemporary.

Exploring how English masculinity - that was so contingent on the relative health of the British imperial project - negotiated the decline and ultimate dissolution of the empire by the middle of the twentieth century, this book argues that by defining itself in relation to indigenous masculinity, English masculinity began to share a common idiom with its colonial other. The rhetoric of indigenous masculinity, therefore, both mimicked and departed from its metropolitan counterpart. The study combines an interdisciplinary approach with a focus that is not limited to a single colonial society but ranges from colonial Bengal, Burma, Borneo and finally to colonial Australia.

Exploring how English masculinity - that was so contingent on the relative health of the British imperial project - negotiated the decline and ultimate dissolution of the empire by the middle of the twentieth century, this book argues that by defining itself in relation to indigenous masculinity, English masculinity began to share a common idiom with its colonial other. The rhetoric of indigenous masculinity, therefore, both mimicked and departed from its metropolitan counterpart. The study combines an interdisciplinary approach with a focus that is not limited to a single colonial society but ranges from colonial Bengal, Burma, Borneo and finally to colonial Australia.

In the era of sports dominance in America, athletics have become both a metaphor and reality of American masculinity. Edited by three of the leading scholars at the intersection of masculinity and sports studies, this volume offers a fascinating articulation on the state of athletics in modern society. Each part of the volume examines a significant arena and tackles some of the most deeply rooted issues within the field of sports. From the mechanisms by which masculinity is interwoven into sports to the violence encoded within the field, this book provides an insiders look at the state of gender relations.

This book explores the potential of men’s veganism to contest unsustainable anthropocentric masculinities. Examining what it means to be a vegan man and connections between men, masculinities and veganism, it addresses exploitative human-animal relations, climate change, and social inequalities as urgent and interconnected global issues. Using conceptual insights from critical studies on men and masculinities, ecofeminism, critical animal studies and vegan studies, this book examines the potential of men’s veganism and vegan masculinities to foster more ethical, caring and sustainable ways of relating to nonhuman animals and to contribute towards more egalitarian gender relations. This book is grounded in a qualitative empirical study of the lived experiences of 61 vegan men in Northern Europe. The themes explored include men’s transition to veganism, the emotional and embodied dimensions of men’s veganism, negotiating social and intimate relationships as vegan men, and links between men’s veganism, gender equality and social justice.

What is the significance of gender and masculinities in understanding conflict? Through an ethnographic study conducted between 2013 and 2016, this book explores the politics of competing and sometimes overlapping masculinities represented by the state armed forces and the non-state actors in the Kashmir valley. In addition, the book broadens the understanding of women’s agency through its engagement with the construction, performance, and interplay of masculinities in the conflict. Combining existing elements of both feminist research and critical scholarship on men and masculinities, the book highlights the significance of foregrounding the interplay of men’s identities in conflicts to understand agency in a meaningful way. Through the focus on the simultaneous play of multiple masculinities, the book also questions the oversimplified and monolithic usage of masculinity being associated only with violence in conflicts. The empirical data in the book includes interviews and narratives of multiple stakeholders belonging to diverse vantage points in the Kashmir conflict. Some of these include activists, widows, wives of the disappeared, ex-militants, surrendered militants, participants of the stone-pelting movement, mothers of sons killed in the conflict, women representatives of the village Halqa Panchayats, and army personnel. The book also draws from alternative material in the form of graffiti, folk songs, poetry on graves, and slogans. Through anecdotal reminiscence, the author reflects on the challenges of field research in Kashmir that served as an opportunity for self-contemplation.

This is an exciting new edition of R.W. Connell s ground-breaking text, which has become a classic work on the nature and construction of masculine identity. Connell argues that there is not one masculinity, but many different masculinities, each associated with different positions of power. In a world gender order that continues to privilege men over women, but also raises difficult issues for men and boys, his account is more pertinent than ever before. In a substantial new introduction and conclusion, Connell discusses the development of masculinity studies in the ten years since the book s initial publication. He explores global gender relations, new theories, and practical uses of mascunlinity research. Looking to the future, his new concluding chapter addresses the politics of masculinities, and the implications of masculinity research for understanding current world issues. Against the backdrop of an increasingly divided world, dominated by neo-conservative politics, Connell s account highlights a series of compelling questions about the future of human society. This second edition of Connell s classic book will be essential reading for students taking courses on masculinities and gender studies, and will be of interest to students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences.