AG About Gender – Rivista internazionale di studi di genere (Web); Edited by: Krizia Nardini (Univ. Obierta de Catalunya) and Stefano Ciccone (Genoa Univ.)

Proposals by: 15.10.2016

Scholarship on masculinities is now reaching more than three decades of research on men’s practices and imaginaries. In this journey, current productions in critical studies of men and within men’s antisexist activism offer different dialogues with feminist activisms and academic positionings.

The category of hegemonic masculinity, proposed by Connell et al in 1985, has taken on a central role in the sociological discussion about the position of men in social hierarchies and in the construction of gender identity. The formulation of the concept in Gender and Power in 1987, then elaborated upon in 1995 in Masculinities, has been of relevant importance within masculinity research, leading to the emergence of its own criticisms and revisions. In 2005 Connell and Messerschmidt offered a critical reading of this category, emphasising its productive uses and its limitations. Main purpose of this category is to give account of the plurality of masculinities and of the different relations of power among them. Masculinity, therefore, is understood not as homogeneous universe but rather as a power dynamic among social actors articulated in time and in space, contextually located. Read more and source … (Web)