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“I Can Choose to be a Good Man Even if I Got a Raw Deal”: Neoliberal Heteromasculinity as Manosphere Counter Narrative in r/Stoicism
Abstract
This article provides findings from our dual-computational/qualitative analysis of r/Stoicism, a large subreddit in which self-presenting boys and men seek Stoic philosophical advice on various life matters. In choosing to investigate this decidedly (hetero)masculinized online space in which users share their anxieties and grievances, we expected to find substantial evidence of “toxic” manosphere-style discourse, while also hoping to uncover counter patterns which, like Maloney et al.’s study of 4chan, complicate assumptions around the discursive practices of boys and men in online spaces such as these. Rather, what we found was a complete absence of toxic discourse, and instead the presence of patterns which complicate the logics underpinning efforts at deradicalization and wider socio-positive masculinity agendas. Thorburn’s work has been important in foregrounding how the “neoliberal emphasis on individualism and a capitalist ‘hustle-culture’” underpin manosphere logics. Here, we see similar, albeit more palatable (to mainstream sensibilities), neoliberal tenets at work across counter logics, and reflect on why economic-structural explanations for boys’ and men’s anxieties are sidelined in such mainstream responses to the manosphere.
... Although there are many reasons for these shifts (e.g., pay), perceived stigmas and traditional gender norms may contribute to this reluctance. Men may view these occupations as less aligned with traditional masculinity, where values such as stoicism and self-reliance are promoted (Eggenberger et al., 2024;Maloney et al., 2024). ...
Violence among young men in the United States has escalated in recent years, leading to two contrasting perspectives of young men—either as (a) agentic aggressors or (b) by-products of societal shifts that have caused disadvantage. The first perspective characterizes men as entitled and reactionary, prone to aggression when their societal expectations are unmet. This view aligns with the frustration–aggression hypothesis where unmet desires lead to hostile behaviors, particularly among individuals who perceive a loss of status and significance. Conversely, the second perspective views men as victims of rapid societal changes, such as job displacement, educational disparities, and shifting gender roles. This lens sees men as isolated and struggling to adapt to a new social landscape, leading to feelings of alienation and increased susceptibility to extremist ideologies. Social disconnection models, particularly those focused on ostracism, provide a framework for understanding these dynamics, highlighting the emotional and psychological toll of isolation. This article attempts to reconcile these contrasting views, providing an integrated perspective that can help clarify the phenomenon more fully and guide ongoing attempts to alleviate it.
... Indeed, while this paper lacks the ethnographic data to make claims about The Right Stuff's userbase, it was clear from its promotional campaign that the app is targeting young men and women who may hold conservative views on certain issues. In particular, the app taps into some of the grievances associated with the so-called Manosphere, broadly defined as "loosely connected group of antifeminist Internet communities" (Van Valkenburgh, 2021, p. 84), who among other things, attribute failures in the sexual and romantic marketplace to progressive feminists (Maloney, Jones and Roberts, 2024). ...
This paper critically analyses the so-called "anti-woke" conservative dating app, The Right Stuff. Launched in September 2022, The Right Stuff was co-founded by former Trump aide and Project 2025 staffer, John McEntee, and financially supported by rightwing billionaire investor Peter Thiel. The app was created for con-servatives to connect in "authentic and meaningful ways", given that other dating apps have allegedly "gone woke". The invitation only dating app is designed exclusively for heterosexual users, and boasts of only offering binary she/he pronouns. Indeed, The Right Stuff's advertising campaign mocks the inclusive and diverse affordances of other dating apps, including Tinder and Bumble. However, the app has struggled to gain traction with conservative users with media reports noting a substantial drop-off in downloads since September 2022, despite being promoted by prominent right-wing influencers such as Kyle Rittenhouse. Moreover, the app has been criticised by users for a lack of women using the platform. Drawing on a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of The Right Stuff's website, TikTok promotional materials, and YouTube channel, this paper explores how exclusion is built into the app's promotion and claims about its digital architecture, and the associated implications for online dating in the future. This paper argues that The Right Stuff is a manifestation of the broader political polarisation of politics in the United States, and the intersection of politics and intimacy. Moreover, despite The Right Stuff's apparent failure, it is clear that politically based dating apps will proliferate in the future. This paper aims to contribute to our growing understanding of the role of politics in digitally mediated dating.
The article discusses popular Stoicism (a modern, simplified, and often commercialized version of ancient Stoicism), which is offered as an answer to the uncertainty of modernity. The financial, political, climate, and health crises have been detrimental to the sense of agency and control over one’s life, leading individuals to seek ways of (subjectively) regaining it. Popular Stoicism can be viewed as an expert system providing individuals with a specific vision of happiness and the good life, in addition to offering practical knowledge on how to define an area of individual agency by negotiating the boundaries between that which is within one’s power and that which is not. Reflections begin with a juxtaposition of ancient and contemporary Stoicism, focusing on their different socio-cultural origins, followed by a synthesis of the principles of ancient Stoicism on happiness and the good life and a detailed interpretation of the ‘offering’ of popular Stoicism in the relevant areas. In the latter context, two chosen Stoic exercises (necessary to achieve happiness and the good life) are discussed—the ability to recognize what things depend/do not depend on us and Stoic emotion work. The practices and techniques recommended as a part of constant work on oneself are also supposed to teach individuals to adapt to their unstable reality. As a result, the popular version of Stoicism perpetuates the mechanisms of the culture of individualism, which holds the individual fully responsible for their life, and the therapeutic and counseling culture (based on one’s readiness to constantly self-improve), which is a new form of disciplining in a neoliberal society. Both are important elements of the everyday life and lifestyle of the middle class. This class is interested in self-fulfillment and is the primary target audience of contemporary Stoic handbooks. The consideration is based on fragments of books on popular Stoicism, mainly written by Polish philosophers, subjected to qualitative content analysis.
To effectively manage, empathize with and respond to the implications and impact of the so-called ‘Manosphere,’ this paper is centered on the premise that researchers require an understanding of the draw factors that lead individuals to engage, affiliate with, and contribute to the various groups that constitute this wider movement. This paper seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge around the Manosphere by exploring how thought leaders propagate symbiotic cycles of ontological security and insecurity through YouTube in a manner that resembles a protection racket. It argues that these constructed ontological security cycles provide a powerful impetus to not only draw individuals into the Manosphere, but also to extract material and social resources out of them that can be reinvited to retain them within the movement.
Through an analysis of 4chan’s /adv/ or ‘advice’ board – in which predominately male users seek advice on life matters – here we examine masculine ontological insecurity and its implications for understanding how ‘toxic’ masculine identities emerge, and how young men more generally struggle to make sense of their lives. Advancing extant scholarship, our findings uncover an ‘on the cusp’ masculine identity – subject to the anxieties and self-perceived failures which act as preconditions of toxic ideologies and outcomes, but also seemingly yet to practice such (il)logics. Responses from the community suggest three ways of addressing, or making sense of, the problems users faced. Finally, and of relevance to both the theorising of contemporary masculinities and related socio-positive interventions, we highlight the (seemingly) odd paradox of vulnerable male users being drawn to express their vulnerabilities on a platform notorious for its insensitivities.
Involuntary celibates, or “incels,” have received increased public attention in past years, likely as a result of media reports that link incels to incidents of mass violence. Although prior research has examined various elements of the online community, none have directly engaged with incels to understand the causes and effects of their inceldom. Using a hegemonic masculinity framework, this article analyzes data from interviews with incels (N = 10) to identify emergent themes about their situations, attitudes, and experiences. The data reveal that the participants feel that they 1) experience masculinity challenges that affect their romantic opportunities, 2) are marginalized or treated as “subhumans” due to their appearance or other characteristics, and as a result, 3) experience negative emotions related to their inceldom. This, in turn, affects their belief in the BlackPill and their online behavior such as shit-posting. Supported by interview data, these findings can highlight both the similarities and diversity of thought within the incel community while also examining the ways that hegemonic masculinity can lead to the marginalization of specific groups of men. As such, this study can inform future research about incels, suggesting that it should include continued interaction with members of the community and quantitative survey research about incels. Furthermore, it can outline and inform intervention strategies addressing the negative effects of gender hegemony that should be considered for individual approaches to inceldom.
“In this compelling account of the aftermath of the #GamerGate controversies the authors trace how misogynistic discourses and feelings were expressed and contested. The book tells an important story of how gendered harassment and hate speech against women can be both intensified and challenged via these kinds of online engagements.”
-Deborah Lupton, University of New South Wales, Australia
“Recognising the genuine desire to see positive social change within the industry and the wider gaming community, alongside the limitations to progress so far, this important book should inform thinking on how gender inequality is further eroded moving forward.”
-Mark McCormack, University of Roehampton, UK
“A timely and much needed text: well written, and theoretically and empirically informed. This is an important source for any scholar or student interested in gamers, game communities, and how these are changing."
-Garry Crawford, University of Salford, UK
This book examines gender attitudes in Reddit’s popular video gaming community subreddit, r/gaming. Video gaming has long been understood as a masculinised social space and, while increasing numbers of girls and women now engage in the pastime, boys and men remain the predominant social actors. Furthermore, the gaming community has been widely identified as a prime case study in broader concerns around ‘toxic’ masculinity and gendered online harassment. However, there is also underexamined evidence of a growing movement in the community coming forward to voice its collective opposition. Utilising an innovative combination of computational and qualitative methods, the research undertaken here exposes this fuller picture, revealing significant contestation and a spectrum of attitudes that mark out this popular gaming community as a battleground for gender (in)equality. Students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including gender studies, media studies, cultural studies, sociology,games studies and computer sciences, will find this book of interest.
Marcus Maloney is Lecturer in Sociology, Coventry University, UK.
Steven Roberts is Associate Professor in Sociology, Monash University, Australia.
Timothy Graham is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Communication, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) are a separatist Manosphere group (digital manifestation of the Men’s Liberation Movement) who focus on individualistic, self-empowering actions as opposed to traditional collective actions typical of Men’s Rights Activists and Incels. This study investigates how the ideology and rhetoric of MGTOW propagates and normalises misogynistic beliefs through online harassment, using a multi-phased content and thematic analysis of 10,280 tweets from three of the most active MGTOW users on Twitter. The findings document a link between the MGTOW ideology and toxic masculinity, showing that the online harassment generated is deeply misogynistic and polices the boundaries of a heterosexual, hegemonic masculinity. The analysis demonstrates that while the misogyny and violence produced by MGTOW is not extreme in nature, their appeals to rational thinking make it seem like common sense. The article develops new knowledge about the heterogeneous nature of the Manosphere and its constructions of masculinity.
Web 2.0 has facilitated a particularly toxic brand of digital men’s rights activism, collectively known as the Manosphere. This amorphous network of online publics is noted for its virulent anti-feminism, extreme misogyny and synergies with the alt-right. Early manifestations of this phenomenon were confined largely to 4/Chan, Reddit and numerous alt-right forums. More recently, however, this rhetoric has become increasingly evident in Urban Dictionary. This article presents the findings of a machine-learning and manual analysis of Urban Dictionary’s entries relating to sex and gender, to assess the extent to which the Manosphere’s discourses of extreme misogyny and anti-feminism are working their way into everyday vernacular contexts. It also considers the sociolinguistic and gender-political implications of algorithmic and linguistic capitalism, concluding that Urban Dictionary is less a dictionary than it is a platform of folksonomies, which may exert a disproportionate and toxic influence on online discourses related to gender and sexuality.
Since the emergence of Web 2.0 and social media, a particularly toxic brand of antifeminism has become evident across a range of online networks and platforms. Despite multiple internal conflicts and contradictions, these diverse assemblages are generally united in their adherence to Red Pill “philosophy,” which purports to liberate men from a life of feminist delusion. This loose confederacy of interest groups, broadly known as the manosphere, has become the dominant arena for the communication of men’s rights in Western culture. This article identifies the key categories and features of the manosphere and subsequently seeks to theorize the masculinities that characterize this discursive space. The analysis reveals that, while there are some continuities with older variants of antifeminism, many of these new toxic assemblages appear to complicate the orthodox alignment of power and dominance with hegemonic masculinity by operationalizing tropes of victimhood, “beta masculinity,” and involuntary celibacy (incels). These new hybrid masculinities provoke important questions about the different functioning of male hegemony off- and online and indicate that the technological affordances of social media are especially well suited to the amplification of new articulations of aggrieved manhood.
Background
Being ‘strong and silent’ has long been a definitive masculine stereotype. However, research shows that stoicism and the strict control of feelings can contribute to grave consequences for young men who suffer with depression.
Aim
This study aims to explore stoicism in the talk of young male clients in their first counselling session.
Method
Recordings of the first counselling sessions of six male university students attending a university counselling and psychotherapy research clinic, were listened to, transcribed and analysed using a Foucauldian method of discourse analysis.
Results/Findings
Discourses of stoicism presented a number of different, often opposing, constructions. The male clients were aware of a ‘strong and silent’ masculinity and talked about a number of conflicts when coming to counselling. They were seen to negotiate with the counsellor the struggle to share and express feelings while maintaining a masculine identity. Stoicism was constructed as a useful emotional resilience but also as a dysfunctional barrier to showing caring feelings.
Conclusions
This research enhances understanding of conflicts of stoicism in counselling for practitioners working with young male clients. The findings can contribute to professional practice by helping practitioners recognise the tension for male clients opening up and expressing their feelings to a counsellor, as well as encouraging practitioners to respond in a way that opens up a dialogue about constricting masculine stereotypes.
I argue that in recent years, the therapeutic ethos and the ideal of authenticity have become aligned with distinctively neo-liberal notions of personal responsibility and self-reliance. This situation has radically exacerbated the threat to political community that Charles Taylor saw in the ‘ethics of authenticity’. I begin by tracing the history of the therapeutic ethos and its early (Rieff, Lasch, MacIntyre) and late (Furedi) critics. I then discuss Charles Taylor’s argument that the culture of self-fulfillment generated by the therapeutic ethos harbors an important moral ideal, namely, the ethic of authenticity. Pace Taylor, I argue that authenticity has now become thoroughly instrumentalized in the service of the guiding political rationality of neo-liberalism. I make this case through a discussion of its uptake in managerial techniques and practices and also in popular culture.
O conceito de masculinidade hegemônica tem influenciado os estudos de gênero em vários campos acadêmicos, mas ao mesmo tempo tem atraído um sério criticismo. Os autores traçam a origem do conceito a uma convergência de ideias no início dos anos 1980 e mapeiam as formas através das quais o conceito foi aplicado quando os estudos sobre homens e masculinidades se expandiram. Avaliando as principais críticas, os autores defendem o conceito de masculinidade como fundamental, uma vez que, na maioria das pesquisas que o opera, seu uso não é reificador nem essencialista. Entretanto, as críticas aos modelos assentados em características de gênero e às tipologias rígidas são sólidas. O tratamento do sujeito em pesquisas sobre masculinidades hegemônicas pode ser melhorado com a ajuda dos recentes modelos psicológicos, mesmo que os limites à flexibilidade discursiva devam ser reconhecidos. O conceito de masculinidade hegemônica não equivale a um modelo de reprodução social; precisam ser reconhecidas as lutas sociais nas quais masculinidades subordinadas influenciam formas dominantes. Por fim, os autores revisam o que foi confirmado por formulações iniciais (a ideia de masculinidades múltiplas, o conceito de hegemonia e a ênfase na transformação) e o que precisa ser descartado (tratamento unidimensional da hierarquia e concepções de características de gênero). Os autores sugerem a reformulação do conceito em quatro áreas: um modelo mais complexo da hierarquia de gênero, enfatizando a agência das mulheres; o reconhecimento explícito da geografia das masculinidades, enfatizando a interseccionalidade entre os níveis local, regional e global; um tratamento mais específico da encorporação1 em contextos de privilégio e poder; e uma maior ênfase na dinâmica da masculinidade hegemônica, reconhecendo as contradições internas e as possibilidades de movimento em direção à democracia de gênero.
Hybrid masculinity refers to men's selective incorporation of performances and identity elements associated with marginalized and subordinated masculinities and femininities. We use recent theorization of hybrid masculinities to critically review theory and research that seeks to make sense of contemporary transformations in masculinity. We suggest that research broadly supports three distinct consequences associated with recent changes in performances and politics of masculinity that work to obscure the tenacity of gendered inequality. Hybrid masculinities (i) symbolically distance men from hegemonic masculinity; (ii) situate the masculinities available to young, White, heterosexual men as somehow less meaningful than the masculinities associated with various marginalized and subordinated Others; and (iii) fortify existing social and symbolic boundaries in ways that often work to conceal systems of power and inequality in historically new ways.
This article introduces two forums, r/IncelExit and r/ExRedPill, that have organically emerged in recent years to provide a pathway out of the manosphere for men and boys. Based upon preliminary findings from a broader digital ethnography project, this piece highlights the potential benefits these spaces can offer individuals engaging with them. Furthermore, this article flags opportunities that exploring these forums can offer to academic inquiry on the nature of (de-)radicalisation within the manosphere, along with theoretical issues debated within the critical studies of men and masculinities field. It is also proposed that such forums could serve as an alternative space to provide socially alienated young men and boys with information emphasising the importance of consent and respectful relationships, away from formal school curricula. Finally, this article also discusses the potential effects that neoliberalism may have in shaping how young men approach dating.
The manosphere is a detached set of websites and social media groups united by the belief that men are oppressed victims of feminism. Even though the manosphere has existed since the early 2000s, its activities have been arguably influenced and increased by the perceived need for counterbalancing the growth of online feminist discourses, such as those conveyed by #MeToo. By applying the theoretical lens of networked misogyny, this article explores the following research question: How is the #MeToo debate framed and discussed in the manosphere? The question is addressed through a qualitative thematic analysis of 12 articles and 641 comments about #MeToo written on the websites Return of Kings and A Voice for Men, which are part of the groups Pick-Up Artists and Men’s Right Movement, respectively. The analysis highlights some dominant themes: first, criticism and verbal abuse against women; second, dismissal of rape and description of #MeToo as a feminist conspiracy; third, perceived victimization of men and a desire to reestablish patriarchal values. This suggests that the manosphere is not a homogeneous network but a cluster of misogynist networks characterized by different viewpoints and degrees of violence, and entangled with racist, homophobic, and far-right ideologies.
Through the latter half of the twentieth century, the commodification of men’s lifestyles has grown apace, such that men’s lifestyles in the global North are routinely sold for the various ways they present alternative forms of masculinity. Simultaneously, men’s growing participation in the service sector, as well as an emphasis on cultures of care in office work, suggest that men’s labour has faced similar changes. Drawing on one interview and two focus groups with men aged 18–30 in England, as part of a larger study, we argue that these phenomena are best placed in the context of neoliberalism and examined for the ways in which masculinity continues to adapt to the demands of neoliberal subjectivity. We deploy Bridges and Pascoe’s concept of hybrid masculinities to argue that neoliberal masculinities adopt a series of ‘hollow femininities’. These undermine femininity by conflating it with otherness through a process of commodification of feminine modalities, simultaneously recuperating both patriarchy and neoliberalism. This paper explores three of these key modalities: men’s absorption of otherness, feminine or feminised bodily discipline, and, finally, men’s performative rejections of the gender binary.
This article provides a framework for thinking about incels and incel-inspired terrorism. Incels are part of a fringe online subculture that trades in misogyny, victimhood and fatalism. The aim of the article is to describe these aforementioned orientations and the emotions associated with them. Only a tiny minority of incels commit acts of incel-inspired terrorism. Research on shame and revenge provides a useful starting-point for understanding these acts.
This article presents a study of the discourses circulating /r/Braincels, the (now-defunct) forum on Reddit for self-proclaimed “incels,” that bolster the belief in the structural victimisation of men under a purported gynocentric order. Particularly, it uses feminist critical discourse analysis to explore perceptions created by the term “femoid,” a pejorative generated by incels to refer to women. It examines the dehumanising characteristics of “femoid” that construct women as an abject Other—a monstrous-feminine—thereby justifying the violence enacted on them. I demonstrate how, rather than being unique to online spaces, the misogyny expressed on /r/Braincels is linked to and enabled by broader social practices that similarly position women as inferior Others; these attitudes are symptomatic of, not anomalous to, the deeply misogynistic society we live in.
This study investigates how the lemmas woman, girl, man and guy are used to discursively represent and construct gender identities in an anti-feminist forum on the discussion website Reddit. The lemmas were analysed using corpus-assisted social actor analysis and appraisal theory. Similarities and differences within three sub-communities of the TRP subreddit were considered: Men’s Rights (activists who believe that men are systemically disadvantaged in society), Men Going Their Own Way (who abstain from relationships with women), and Red Pill Theory (primarily pick-up artists).
The corpus was characterised by bare assertions about gendered behaviour, although the masculine gender role was less well-defined than the feminine one. Women and girls were dehumanised and sexually objectified, negatively judged for morality and veracity, and constructed as desiring hostile behaviour from male social actors. Conversely, men were constructed as victims of female social actors and external institutions and, as a result, as unhappy and insecure.
In the era of networked affordances, misogynistic men’s groups have been rapidly growing and have contributed to several physical fatal attacks along with the propagation of gendered online harassment and e-bile. It is thus important to study the organisational structures and communication dynamics of these groups to provide insight into why they have been successful in recruiting members and how they further spread and normalise misogynistic beliefs. One such misogynistic group is MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way). This study seeks to understand the structure and content of discussion within the forum of the official MGTOW website. To do so, it undertakes a content analysis of comments (n = 1012) inspired by Freelon’s (2010 Freelon, D. G. (2010). Analyzing online political discussion using three models of democratic communication. New Media & Society, 12(7), 1172–1190. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809357927[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2015 Freelon, D. (2015). Discourse architecture, ideology, and democratic norms in online political discussion. New Media & Society, 17(5), 772–791. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813513259[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) multi-norm approach to studying online communication, which draws on the liberal individual, communitarian and deliberative models. It also assesses the broader patterns of commenting (n = 628,745) participation amongst users (n = 33,863). The results suggest that debates on the forum combine elements of each communicative approach and that this reflects a contradiction in their underlying ideology of separation and individualism. In addition, it was found that topics of conversation primarily focused on two topics: women (the majority of which unfold in a misogynistic way) and defining MGTOW – both as a collective identity and a personal journey.
This article undertakes the first known qualitative study focusing on The Red Pill, an online forum wherein heterosexual men attempt to improve their seduction skills by discussing evolutionary psychology and economic theories. My content analysis of twenty-six documents (130,000 words) designated by the community as central to its purpose and ideology shows that The Red Pill is not just an expression of hegemonic masculinity but also explicitly integrates neoliberal and scientific discourses into its seduction strategies. I theorize that the resulting philosophy superficially resolves a contradiction between hegemonic masculinity’s prescriptive emotional walls and an inherent desire for connection by constructing women as exchangeable commodities.
This book examines changing representations of masculinity in geek media, during a time of transition in which “geek” has not only gone mainstream but also become a more contested space than ever, with continual clashes such as Gamergate, the Rabid and Sad Puppies’ attacks on the Hugo Awards, and battles at conventions over “fake geek girls.” Anastasia Salter and Bridget Blodgett critique both gendered depictions of geeks, including shows like Chuck and The Big Bang Theory, and aspirational geek heroes, ranging from the Winchester brothers of Supernatural to BBC’s Sherlock and the varied superheroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Through this analysis, the authors argue that toxic masculinity is deeply embedded in geek culture, and that the identity of geek as victimized other must be redefined before geek culture and media can ever become an inclusive space.
Stoicism was one of the most influential schools of philosophy in antiquity and its influence has persisted to the present day. Originating in Athens around 300 BCE, Stoicism flourished for some five hundred years and has remained a constant presence throughout the history of Western philosophy. As one of the most popular philosophies of the Roman world, its doctrines appealed to people from all strata of ancient society - from the slave Epictetus to the emperor Marcus Aurelius. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to this great philosophical school. As well as outlining the central philosophical ideas of Stoicism, it aims to introduce readers to the different ancient authors and sources that they will encounter when exploring Stoicism. The book begins by introducing the ancient Stoics and their works. It then considers how the Stoics themselves conceived philosophy and how they formulated their own philosophical system. The core chapters examine Stoic philosophical doctrines in depth, taking each division of Stoic theory in turn: logic, physics, and ethics. The final chapter provides a fascinating account of the Stoic legacy from later antiquity to the present. The book includes a glossary, chronology and guide to further reading, which, together with its accessible yet authoritative approach, make it an ideal introduction for students and general readers.
A space has emerged for theorizing “caring masculinities,” as the concept has increasingly become a focus of European critical studies on men and masculinities (CSMM). In this article, I present a practice-based framework of the concept. I propose that caring masculinities are masculine identities that reject domination and its associated traits and embrace values of care such as positive emotion, interdependence, and relationality. I suggest that these caring masculinities constitute a critical form of men’s engagement and involvement in gender equality and offer the potential of sustained social change for men and gender relations. I draw on CSMM and feminist care theory to construct the framework proposed here. In doing so, I offer a feminist exploration of how masculinities might be reworked into identities of care rather than domination.
The concept of hegemonic masculinity has influenced gender studies across many academic fields but has also attracted serious criticism. The authors trace the origin of the concept in a convergence of ideas in the early 1980s and map the ways it was applied when research on men and masculinities expanded. Evaluating the principal criticisms, the authors defend the underlying concept of masculinity, which in most research use is neither reified nor essentialist. However, the criticism of trait models of gender and rigid typologies is sound. The treatment of the subject in research on hegemonic masculinity can be improved with the aid of recent psychological models, although limits to discursive flexibility must be recognized. The concept of hegemonic masculinity does not equate to a model of social reproduction; we need to recognize social struggles in which subordinated masculinities influence dominant forms. Finally, the authors review what has been confirmed from early formulations (the idea of multiple masculinities, the concept of hegemony, and the emphasis on change) and what needs to be discarded (onedimensional treatment of hierarchy and trait conceptions of gender). The authors suggest reformulation of the concept in four areas: a more complex model of gender hierarchy, emphasizing the agency of women; explicit recognition of the geography of masculinities, emphasizing the interplay among local, regional, and global levels; a more specific treatment of embodiment in contexts of privilege and power; and a stronger emphasis on the dynamics of hegemonic masculinity, recognizing internal contradictions and the possibilities of movement toward gender democracy.
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