Andria Christofidou

University of Cyprus · Department of Social and Political Sciences

This article advances literature on reflexive habitus in relation to LGB people by demonstrating empirically that habitus and reflexivity can coexist, albeit in very complex ways. The analysis offered relies on interview data with self-identified lesbian women, gay men and bisexual people in Cyprus – a context that is undergoing social change while...

In this short article I provide a response to Steven Roberts, Karla Elliott and Brittany Ralph’s reply to my recently published article, Men and masculinities: a continuing debate on change. I address Roberts, Elliott and Ralph’s critique over the limitations of comparing the frameworks of inclusive and hybrid masculinities, and I respond to their...

We provide an analysis of dance as a practice and an ‘Other’ space; a counter-hegemonic ‘space’, which is affected by the existing social ordering, while simultaneously resisting it. We employ Foucault’s concept of ‘heterotopia’ to analyse dance’s potential to disrupt and deconstruct hegemonic discourses of the past in a conflict-ridden environment...

Theatrical dance remains widely perceived as an unconventional activity for boys and young men in many Western contexts. This chapter focuses on professional male dancers’ pathways into recreational, pre-professional dance and assesses the various obstacles encountered and the sources of encouragement available to continue dancing and to pursue a d...

This book examines men, masculinities and sexualities in Western theatrical dance, offering insights into the processes, actions and interactions that occur in dance institutions around gender-transgressive acts, and the factors that set limits to transgression. This text uses interview and observation data to analyze the conditions that encourage...

This chapter takes as its starting point the proposition that dance remains an unconventional activity for most boys and young men. Following this it discusses the factors that have affected participating men’s introduction and involvement in recreational, pre-professional dance, and their professional dance trajectories. The chapter unveils the wa...

This chapter puts the spotlight on the practice of dance. It discusses participants’ dance training, dance practice, and the creativity entailed in dance as conditions that cultivate heightened self-reflexivity among dancers and result in them developing an increased awareness of their bodies, the ways their bodies look and move in space. The chapt...

This chapter discusses the diverse ways through which male dancers negotiate the gendered and sexual connotations of their professional identity. It analyzes some common strategies that male dancers utilize to claim dance as a conventionally masculine activity, and themselves as dancers on the one hand but men on the other. It further discusses the...

This chapter employs sociological literature on masculinities, bodies, genders, and sexualities to analyze dance’s historical transformation from a masculine activity into a feminized one. Following the historical sequence of events, the narrative begins in the French court of the seventeenth century, where ballet emerged. The analysis then moves t...

This chapter focuses on the backstage regions of dance institutions, which are approached as spaces that facilitate informal interactions, day-to-day encounters, and less controlled performances of the self. It argues that backstage regions are settings of “gender trouble” where male dancers can, and to a large degree do, disrupt the “heterosexual...

This chapter is concerned with bodies and the embodiment of dance, gender, and sexuality. It analyzes the continuities and discontinuities between the selves that dancers perform during backstage interactions, and the characters they are cast to perform onstage. It approaches dancers as trained actors and skilled performers; social actors who are e...

This chapter brings into a dialogue the theories and concepts that influenced this book. While more nuanced theoretical discussions are developed later, this chapter lays the foundations that will enable readers to follow the arguments that unfold in ensuing chapters. It discusses the interlinkage of sex, gender, and sexuality before approaching th...

This chapter summarizes the main findings of this study, and situates its main arguments in wider discussions found in critical men and masculinity studies, and sociological literature on gender and sexualities. It highlights the many tensions that characterize the field and practice of dance, and develops a discussion around what these may suggest...

One of the debates currently unfolding in the field of critical men and masculinities studies concerns whether and how men and masculinities are changing. Engaging in critical discussions with scholars working with theorizations of inclusive and hybrid masculinities, this article aims to move these discussions, and relevant research, forward. The a...

Studies suggest that feminised and female-concentrated contexts provide men with opportunities to challenge prevailing gender norms and dominant masculinity understandings. This qualitative study offers insights into the backstage spaces of professional dance institutions in Scotland, which are not only feminised and female-concentrated, but also ‘...