In short, maleness has been positioned as the default, but part of the problem with this is that every default is an empty set. It quickly leaks out all particulars and so people who identify that way are robbed of a particular identity. This is exacerbated when society moves (rightly, I add!) towards a more equitable distribution of prestige and power. All of a sudden, being the default, being located at the center, doesn’t mean anything.
Read MoreSocial Construction is less like building a shed in your back yard and more like the process by which stone carvers and carpenters and artisans of all stripes built up a medieval cathedral. Each one adds their own twist to it, reinterpreting a master plan that was conceived of before they were born and would be realized long after they die. It is not construction in the sense of the finished building but in the sense of an ongoing process.
Read MoreMuch has been written about toxic masculinity, much of it by much better scholars than me. What I would like to do in this piece, and subsequent pieces under similar headings, is analyze non-toxic manifestations of masculinity, discuss their functioning, and – as much as possible, without oversimplifying – present guidelines so that we can follow them in the future. There are, of course, pitfalls here and I want to acknowledge them at the beginning: just about everything we do has unintended consequences, and the suggestions that I make here will no doubt be liable to have them, too. Moreover, any behavior can be twisted into a toxic manifestation: you have to have the self-awareness to try to recognize that when it happens, and to accept the criticism when it comes up.
Read More
