Jeff Hearn - Men, Masculinities and Social Theory

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
SOCIAL THEORY

Volume 46

MEN, MASCULINITIES
& SOCIAL THEORY

MEN, MASCULINITIES
& SOCIAL THEORY

Edited by
JEFF HEARN & DAVID MORGAN

First published in 1990

This edition first published in 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

1990 British Sociological Association

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-415-72731-0 (Set)
eISBN: 978-1-315-76997-4 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-138-79199-2 (Volume 46)
eISBN: 978-1-315-76227-2 (Volume 46)

Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.

MEN, MASCULINITIES
& SOCIAL THEORY

EDITED BY
JEFF HEARN & DAVID MORGAN

London

UNWINHYMAN

Boston Sydney Wellington

British Sociological Association, 1990
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction
without permission. All rights reserved.

Published by the Academic Division of
Unwin Hyman Ltd
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Unwin Hyman Inc.,
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Allen & Unwin (New Zealand) Ltd in association with the
Port Nicholson Press Ltd,
Compusales Building, 75 Ghuznee Street, Wellington 1, New Zealand

First published in 1990

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Hearn, Jeff

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Applied for

Typeset in 10 on 12 point Bembo by Nene Phototypesetters
Ltd and printed in Great Britain by Billing and Sons, London and Worcester.

Gender is one of the most pervasive and taken-for-granted features of our lives. It figures strongly in the make-up of all societies. Yet it is easy to see that gender may also create problems in terms of power, oppression, inequality, identity and self-doubt.

The growth of modern feminism and the associated development of womens studies have brought a deep questioning of womens social position. At the same time feminism and womens studies have provided continuing critical analyses of men and masculinities. In a rather different way the rise of gay liberation and gay scholarship has shown that previously accepted notions of sexuality and gender are no longer just natural. This has led to a recognition that the dominant forms of men and masculinities are themselves not merely natural and unchangeable. In addition, inspired particularly by important research in womens studies and the need for a positive response to feminism, some men have in recent years turned their attention to the critical study of men. These various focuses on men are clearly very different from the traditional concern with men that has characterized the social sciences, where in the worst cases men have been equated with people in general. Thus men and masculinities are not seen as unproblematic, but as social constructions which need to be explored, analysed, and indeed in certain respects, such as the use of violence, changed.

This series aims to promote critical studies, by women and men, on men and masculinities. It brings together scholarship that deals in detail with the social and political construction of particular aspects of men and masculinities. This will include studies of the changing forms of men and masculinities, as well as broader historical and comparative studies. Furthermore, because men have been dominant in the writing of social science and production of malestream theory, one area of special interest for critical assessment is the relationship of men and masculinities to social science itself. This applies to both the content and results of previous social research, and to the understanding of social theory in all its various guises epistemology, ideology, methodology, and so forth.

Each volume in the series will approach its specific topic in the light of feminist theory and practice, and where relevant, gay liberation and gay scholarship. The task of the series is thus the critique of men and masculinities, and not the critique of feminism by men. As such the series is pro-feminist and gay-affirmative. However, this critical stance does not mean that men are simply to be seen or understood negatively. On the contrary, an important part of an accurate study of men and masculinity is an appreciation of the positive features of mens lives, and especially the variety of mens lived experiences. The series includes a range of disciplines sociology, history, politics, psychoanalysis, cultural studies as well as encouraging interdisciplinarity where appropriate. Overall, the attempt will be made to produce a series of studies of men and masculinities that are anti-sexist and anti-patriarchal in orientation.

Finally, while this series is primarily an academic development, it will also at times necessarily draw on practical initiatives outside academia. Likewise, it will attempt to speak to changing patterns of mens practice both within and beyond academic study. Just as one of the most exciting aspects of feminism is the strong interrelation of theory and practice, so too must the critical study of men and masculinities and change in mens practice against patriarchy develop in a close association.

This volume arises from the conference, Men, masculinity and social theory, held in 1988 under the auspices of the Sociological Theory Study Group of the British Sociological Association. We would like to thank the members and officers of the Theory Group, the British Sociological Association Publications Committee and the British Sociological Association Executive Committee for facilitating the production of this book. We also would like to thank Richard Kilminster, Convenor of the British Sociological Association Sociological Theory Study Group, and Tim Piggott, formerly University of Bradford Conference Officer, for their assistance and advice in organizing the conference; Alan Carling for his willing help at the conference; and Mike Milotte, formerly of the British Sociological Association, and Gordon Smith, of Unwin Hyman, for their support in the publication of this volume. We also would like to thank Sue Moody for typing parts of the manuscript.