The concept of caring masculinities emerges from critical scholarship on men and masculinities, where a group of men is identified who express masculinities that seek to break with the most rigid and hegemonic gender mandates, rejecting male domination and adopting, instead, a set of values derived from the ethics of care. By taking responsibility for caring for other people, they also adopt practices that reveal a path towards a balanced division of tasks based on gender.
The construction of the “caring masculinity” concept (Elliott, 2016) is linked to feminist care theory, where caring is understood as a relational, emotional, intimate, and affective practice, added to material configurations of care. A feminist ethics of care makes it possible to recognize vulnerability as one of the fundamental characteristics of human existence.
Research from the global North points to a reconfiguration of male identities through dedication to caring for other people. We can think of a typology of men who dedicate themselves to caring based on research carried out in Spain (Comas D’Argemir and Chirinos 2017): Men who dedicate themselves to caring for family members when they are already retired, for them caring for other people is enriching , fills their lives. Other men provide care when they are unemployed and generally take on the role temporarily without any personal satisfaction. Another group of men perform the role of caregiver only when there is no woman who can provide care. And finally, there are men who are very committed, who take on the responsibility of caring for their own interest, demonstrating a break with traditional gender roles.
In any case, there is a plurality of men who care, for different reasons and in different ways. It is a dynamic process that responds to the need to receive and the ability to offer care. Getting involved in the phases of providing care can lead to attitudes that vary from one another, such as management, monitoring or responsibility, learning care practices or carrying out direct care activities.
Everyday evidence makes it clear that care work is associated with a choice in men’s lives, while at the same time it is presented as a moral and imperative issue in women’s lives. Maintaining care as a responsibility solely for women reproduces hegemonic masculinity and gender inequalities, especially in the unfair sexual division of domestic and care work. In our society, being responsible for caring for other people is still seen as a women’s role, an unpaid and feminized job. Turning this paradigm around is the challenge we must take on to bring about an approach to what we call “caring masculinities” and consolidate the presence of men in the involvement and responsibility for caring for other people. It is possible that the incorporation of care practices into men’s lives has the potential to redefine gender roles and stereotypes.
Considering caring masculinities forces us to question the heteronormative system evident in the practice of care itself and to “de-gender” care. At the same time, it is necessary to rethink and redefine the experiences of masculinities in Latin America from an intersectionality perspective, where different oppressions related to caring and receiving care operate.
For Joan Tronto (2020), it is essential to understand that throughout life, people will have to be cared for just as they will have to care for others, referring to a vital commitment that involves the power to decide to care for other people. This involves not only an individual interest or commitment but also the expected participation of States or governments. Therefore, the centrality of care becomes a priority in democratic societies (Biroli, 2018; Tronto, 2020). Placing care at the center of life requires the participation of men in the division of care tasks, necessitating the presence of caring masculinities, which, of course, has the potential to free us from the limitations of a binary gender model.
References:
Biroli, F. (2018). Gênero e desigualdades: limites da democracia no Brasil. Boitempo Editorial.
Comas D’Argemir, D. y Chirinos, C. (2017). Cuidados no pagados: experiencias y percepciones de los hombres cuidadoras en contextos familiares. Revista Murciana de Antropología, 24,65-86. https://revistas.um.es/rmu/article/view/310181
Elliott, K. (2016). Caring Masculinities: Theorizing an Emerging Concept. Men and Masculinities, 19(3) 240-259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X15576203
Tronto, J. (2020). ¿Riesgo o cuidado? Buenos Aires. Fundación Medifé.
Norma Silva-Sá: I am a cisgender woman, lesbian, non-white, feminist, Brazilian, migrant in Chilean territory. I graduated in Psychologist (UGF/Brazil), Social Responsibility and Project Management (UVA/Brazil), and in Gender Studies of Men and Women Masculinities (U. Sonora, Mexico), and I hold Master in Gender Studies and Psychosocial Intervention (UCen/Chile). I am currently a doctoral candidate for the Psychology Program at the Alberto Hurtado University/Chile and a researcher at the Chilean Society for Health in Diverse Masculinities (SOCHISMAD).
I am currently a teacher, but I come from more than 20 years of experience in social projects in communities and in recent years in interventions with an emphasis on men and gender equality in Brazil, Angola and Peru.