Crisis or failure of hegemonic masculinities in David Lodge’s Campus Trilogy

This bachelor’s thesis examines the crisis of hegemonic masculinities in David Lodge’s Campus Trilogy. In the course of the thesis, I demonstrate that the male characters in the novels aspire to hegemonic ideals of masculinity, but that ultimately most of them fail in their aspirations. However, I also show that this does not lead to the abandonment of this pursuit, but merely to its reformulation and a continued attempt of male characters to aspire to this reformulated ideal. In order to achieve this, I conduct a close reading of the novels and based on this, first determine the predominant types of hegemonic masculinities in each novel, and then whether certain characters aspire to these hegemonic ideals. Next I analyze whether or not they are successful. This analysis is chiefly based on the sociological concept of hegemonic masculinities developed by Connell. With the help of this concept, this thesis shows that several types of masculinities can be identified in the novels and that these exist in hierarchical relation to each other. Furthermore, it shows that these aspirations and the ideals themselves are always prone to crises that are brought on by societal changes in their environment. However, it is also demonstrated that in most cases these crises do not lead to the collapse of the ideal or the failure of its pursuit, but rather to the reformulation and continuation of both.

Tough, sensitive and sincere : how adolescent boys manage masculinities and emotions

This study aimed to explore adolescent boys’ views of masculinity and emotion management and their potential effects on well-being. Interviews with 33 adolescent boys aged 16–17 years in Sweden were analysed using grounded theory. We found two main categories of masculine conceptions in adolescent boys: gender-normative masculinity with emphasis on group-based values, and non-gender-normative masculinity based on personal values. Gender-normative masculinity comprised two seemingly opposite emotional masculinity orientations, one towards toughness and the other towards sensitivity, both of which were highly influenced by contextual and situational group norms and demands, despite their expressions contrasting each other. Non-gender-normative masculinity included an orientation towards sincerity emphasising the personal values of the boys; emotions were expressed more independently of peer group norms. Our findings suggest that different masculinities and the expression of emotions are strongly intertwined and that managing emotions is vital for well-being.

Masculinities in Conflict: Representations of the Other in Narrative during the Spanish Civil War

In this article, I analyze the representation of the Other in three texts that were published during the Spanish Civil War: El infierno azul (1938?), by Republican Isidro R. Mendieta, and two closely related works by Falangist Jacinto Miquelarena: Cómo fui ejecutado en Madrid (1937) and El otro mundo: La vida en las embajadas de Madrid (1938). Although these texts adhere to different political ideologies and are stylistically very divergent, they are similar in their constant criticisms of the enemy. Furthermore, both Republicans and rebels tend to depict the enemy as possessing an inadequate masculinity. He is described, on one hand, as a beast or an animal, unable to control his instincts, and, on the other hand, as an unmanly and effeminate coward. Thus, for the construction of the nation, the Other presents an inappropriate masculinity, which is either excessive and uncontainable, or insufficient. Therefore, national ideologies seem to propose a normative masculinity that is located in an ambiguous middle ground: a masculinity that is able to control animal instincts yet capable of heroic acts.

The Current Discussion on Men and Masculinities

In the past gender specific problems were mainly discussed in a female perspective. In the meantime there is a rising attentiveness in the living conditions of men and their coping strategies within critical life events. In this paper an appropriate frame of reference is outlined which can be used in those areas of social work where men are already discovered as a target group with special difficulties and needs.

“A Man After God’s Own Heart”: Biblical, Hegemonic and Toxic Masculinities in As Meat Loves Salt

Maria McCann paints a dark picture of masculinity and its effects in her novel As Meat Loves Salt (2001). The violent Jacob Cullen struggles with his masculinity as he faces the intricacies of religion, sexuality and politics in the midst of the English Civil War where he falls in love with fellow soldier Christopher Ferris. By using R.W. Connell and James Messerschmidt’s framework for the hierarchy of masculinities, I explore masculinities on local, regional and global levels and emphasized femininity in a close reading of McCann’s novel. My aim is not only to analyse the masculinities of the novel but also to use the framework to redefine toxic masculinity in order to make it a useable concept when analysing masculinities in literature. I redefine toxic masculinity because it lacks a clear definition anchored in an established framework used to study masculinity that does not see masculinity as inherently toxic. I believe that anchoring it to Connell and Messerschmidt’s framework will make it a useable concept. Due to the novel’s relationship to the Bible, I will use masculinity studies done on David and Jesus from the Bible to compare and reveal similarities with the masculinities in the novel, how they appear on the local, regional and global levels in the novel and its effects. I draw parallels between the love story in As Meat Loves Salt to the love story of David and Jonathan in the Bible by using queer readings of David and Jonathan in order to explore how masculinity affects the relationships and how the novel uses these two love stories as a study of toxic masculinity and how it relates it to hegemonic masculinity.