Male-male social bonds have a powerful influence on the sexual relations of some young heterosexual men. Qualitative analysis among young men aged eighteen to twenty-six in Canberra, Australia, documents the homosocial organization of men’s heterosexual relations. Homosociality organizes men’s sociosexual relations in at least four ways. For some of these young men, male-male friendships take priority over male-female relations, and platonic friendships with women are dangerously feminizing. Sexual activity is a key path to masculine status, and other men are the audience, always imagined and sometimes real, for one’s sexual activities. Heterosexual sex itself can be the medium through which male bonding is enacted. Last, men’s sexual storytelling is shaped by homosocial masculine cultures. While these patterns were evident particularly among young men in the highly homosocial culture of a military academy, their presence also among other groups suggests the wider influence of homosociality on men’s sexual and social relations.
Citation: Flood, M. (2008) Men, Sex, and Homosociality: How bonds between men shape their sexual relations with women. Men and Masculinities, 10(3), April: 339-359.
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The next Nordic conference on research on men and masculinities takes place May 31st – June 1st 2012, at the University of Oslo. The deadline for first call for paper and suggestions for workshop themes is May 15, 2011.
New times, new solutions? What does it mean being a boy or a man today? How can women and men be understood being masculine? How is "masculine space" developing in a gender equal society?
As numerous studies have shown, modern social reality imposes multiple complex and contradictory demands upon both men and women. The first decade of the new century has seen the creation of new challenges that have an impact on gender relations. The range of possible models for masculinity has broadened; it has become more difficult to fulfil the traditional “male duties” of a protector and breadwinner. On the one hand, we are seeing indications pointing to a neo-patriarchy, a revival of a traditionalist, conservative ideology that emphasizes the dominant role of men both in society and within the family. On the other hand, there are whole groups of young women who are growing more active and independent; these women are ready to compete with men on the labour market and are seeking relationships based on equality in the private sphere, undermining the foundations of traditional masculinity.
Boys’ and young men’s lives are shaped by powerful social and sexual relations, which limit their ability to form healthy relationships and to nurture their own and their sexual partners’ sexual and reproductive health. Typical social constructions of manhood and masculine sexuality inform males’ risk-taking behaviour, constrain their access to health services and thwart health promotion efforts. Such constructions increase the likelihood of boys’ and men’s participation in unplanned pregnancy, disease transmission, and sexual violence.
This paper outlines key aspects of the current ordering of young men’s sociosexual lives. I focus on practices, discourses and relations of gender and sexuality among boys and young men which shape their sexual behaviour, social interactions and sexual relationships. These patterns influence boys’ and young men’s involvements in a range of health issues, including contraception and pregnancy, bodily health, unsafe sex and disease transmission, violence, and sexual and familial relationships more broadly. Therefore, in order to understand both health-related behaviour and the possibilities for health promotion among young men, it is crucial to ‘map’ their social and sexual relations. It is to this exercise that I now turn, beginning with a brief explanation of the terms I use.
New formations of sexuality are emerging among young heterosexual men. There are signs of diversity, and flux, in the sexual cultures of such males, shaped by wider shifts in gender and sexual relations. This chapter maps some of the clearest examples of diversity and flux among them, as part of a wider project on young men’s sexual and social relations with women.
Citation: Flood, M. (2008) “Bent Straights: Diversity and flux among heterosexual men.” Intimate Citizenships: Gender, Subjectivity, Politics. Ed. E.H. Oleksy. Routledge.
This, then, is a very rudimentary, but also very straightforward, primer for dudes who want to communicate more effectively with female partners, friends, relatives, and colleagues during good faith conversations about feminist issues.
Around the world, there are growing efforts to involve boys and men in the prevention of violence against women: as participants in education programs, as targets of social marketing campaigns, as policy makers and gatekeepers, and as activists and advocates. Efforts to prevent violence against girls and women now increasingly take as given that they must engage men. While there are dangers in doing so, there also is a powerful feminist rationale for such work. This article provides a review of the variety of initiatives which engage or address men in order to prevent violence against women. It maps such efforts, locating them within a spectrum of prevention activities. Furthermore, the article identifies or advocates effective strategies in work with men to end violence against women.
Most everyday users of pornography are heterosexual men. Looking at, and masturbating to, pornography is the routine practice of large numbers of men. And most of the commercial pornographic industry caters to heterosexual men. These men – and their consumption of pornography – are the subject of a growing body of research. This chapter offers an overview of what we can learn about heterosexual boys’ and young men’s use of pornography, focusing particularly on quantitative studies of the extent, nature and meaning of pornography consumption.
The Centre for Research on Men and Masculinities at the University of Wollongong is hosting a workshop on the critical studies of men and masculinities. The workshop is intended to assess the state of play in the critical study of men and masculinities, facilitate the establishment of research collaborations, and launch the Centre for Research on Men and Masculinities.
CALL FOR PAPERS - Masculinities in Asia
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Date: 4 Aug 2011 - 5 Aug 2011
Venue: Asia Research Institute
469A Tower Block, Level 10 Bukit Timah Road
National University of Singapore @ BTC
Organisers: N/A
Description:
CALL FOR PAPERS (DEADLINE: 1 MARCH 2011)
This international workshop is jointly organized by the Asia Research Institute and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Asian Studies Division, Gender Studies Minor Program, and 'Doing Asian Studies' Reading Group), National University of Singapore