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11 - Anthropological Engagements with Men and Masculinities

from Part Two - Knowledges and Domains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2023

By
Paul Scheibelhofer  and
Daniel Monterescu
Edited by
Cecilia McCallum ,
Silvia Posocco  and
Martin Fotta
Cecilia McCallum
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil
Silvia Posocco
Affiliation:
Birkbeck College, University of London
Martin Fotta
Affiliation:
Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences
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Summary

This chapter charts historical developments and central themes in the anthropological study of men and masculinities. As the chapter shows, this body of knowledge is not free of frictions and contestations. Early anthropological studies were often motivated by finding globally generalizable patterns of masculinity. Other research has broadened the focus by questioning coherent gender-identities, analyzing how masculinity constructs are shaped by ambivalences, transgressive practices, and intersectional complexities. To chart this rich body of knowledge, the first part of the chapter critically discusses early anthropological research on men and masculinities as well as concepts that dominated the field for a considerable time. The remainder of the chapter focuses on three prominent topics of anthropological masculinity studies: economic crisis and its effect on masculinities, sexualities and nonnormative masculinities, and the role of masculinities in the negotiation of boundaries between others and selves. The chapter argues that anthropological engagements with masculinity can productively trouble our understanding of what it means to be a man.

Keywords

anthropology of masculinitymasculinity studiesmasculinity crisispatriarchyhegemonic masculinityhomosocialityqueer masculinitiesfemale masculinitiesIsrael/Palestinemigrant masculinities
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality , pp. 283 - 310
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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