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Discourses, forms and practices of masculinities have seen significant transformations throughout Chinese history, yet enduring patterns and themes can be picked out. The two most enduring concepts in Chinese masculinities, wen (cultural attainment) and wu (martial attainment), form the departure point of this study, which surveys masculinities in China chronologically through the pre-modern, Republican, high socialist, and reform eras. Despite the epistemic changes throughout the 20th century, the wen-wu dyad has remained a relevant, if diluted perspective from which to interpret masculinities in contemporary China. Echoes of the "fragile scholar" (才子 caizi) can be seen in today's androgynous pop stars; the "Confucian gentleman" (君子 junzi) is promoted as China's civilizational archetype; the middle class adopt wen aspirations; the affective relations of "good fellow" (好汉haohan) brotherhoods are echoed in carousing during yingchou socialising; and the male protagonists of contemporary TV dramas infuse Confucian morality and brotherly loyalty into a calculating market logic. Furthermore, male honour is still a key component of masculinities, albeit expressed through wealth and concepts such as "face", "ability", and "responsibility", rather than "righteousness" or slavish devotion to political leaders. The tender father and romantic partner may have taken centre stage, but achieving honour through one's wife—via her fidelity, submission, education, presentation, or state of leisure—persists, and concubines are making a post-Mao comeback in the shape of "second wives". A lively gay culture exists without legal or political affirmation. Yet above all, the story of masculinities in China is the story of power and its contestation, as it is anywhere. The reconfiguration of masculinities in China has served elite men's struggles to retain their privileges vis-à-vis women and other men; and Chinese men broadly continue to reap many benefits in what remains for the most part a man's world.

Williams demonstrates the vulnerability of parent workers in working class America. In Chapter 2, "One Sick Child Away from Being Fired," she examines the records of ninety-nine union arbitrations to analyze the problems of working class parents who struggle to juggle their working and parenting responsibilities. Because this chapter is a tour de force in an overall excellent book, and because it suggests an area that my research has focused on over the past number of years, in this Essay, I limit my discussion almost exclusively to this chapter. My approach is to use masculinities theory, a body of social science scholarship, to analyze Williams's study. Masculinities theory supports and reinforces Williams's conclusions and points toward a number of recommendations for addressing the problems of gender norms in the workplace. Part II describes masculinities scholarship. Part III analyzes the ninety-nine arbitrations studied by Williams using the lens of masculinities theory. Part IV considers cultural gender norms and makes a number of recommendations. The recommendations include the following: (1) further research; (2) union organizing around and bargaining about flexible scheduling for workers; (3) amendment of existing legislation and passage of new legislation that grants more comprehensive family leave, prohibits discrimination based on family care responsibilities, and grants employees reasonable accommodations; and (4) education about gender roles, caregiving, and social change. The Essay concludes that a combination of improved research, legal actions, and societal change should improve the working and living conditions of all types of families. While not all of these measures will happen instantaneously, working toward these changes is vital to ensuring a healthy economy, healthy citizens, and healthy families.

The unequal distribution caring, emotional and relational work has long been recognised by feminists as an impediment to gender equality in social, cultural, economic and political life. Gender equality requires affective equality; the equal sharing of both the burdens and benefits of love, care and solidarity. Studies of men and masculinities, while also interested in caring, having a traditional emphasis on issues such as fathering, the socialisation of boys, male role models, and men's wellbeing, have now also begun to address caring and equality more broadly and specifically within sociology, social policy and welfare state studies. Critical studies of men and masculinities are crucial in highlighting the ways men are responding to, or lagging, greater expectations for affective equality. How are masculinities being transformed, and transforming gender relations through caring, or how are they resisting and reproducing inequality by evading it? Can caring transform masculinities and are caring masculinities a threat or challenge to hegemonic masculinities? This presentation reflects upon some of the central themes, challenges and debates in contemporary discussions of caring masculinities and gender equality.

Children''s literature affects the child''s socialisation process, including the shaping the gender roles. But despite this, up to now children have featured less in gender scholarship. Against this backround, this paper seeks to critically interrogate the physical, social, economic and political manifestations of masculinities in selected Kiswahili children\''s books from Kenya. By analysing these works, we hope to demonstrate that power and ideological aspects of masculinites are rooted at childhood. Since special attention will be paid to the ideological and power basis of the masculinities, the analysis of the selected works is done in the encompassing prism of Critical Discourse Analysis revealing hegemonic masculinities.

Als Langzeitfolge des neuen Feminismus hat sich in den letzten Jahren weltweit ein Diskurs über Männer, Jungen und verschiedene Formen von Männlichkeit entwickelt, in dem ein breites Spektrum von Fragen - vom Gesundheitszustand der Männer bis zur Erziehung von Jungen - angesprochen wird. In bezug auf die Geschlechter ist der Status quo für Männer als Gruppe von Vorteil; doch einzelne Männer und Männergruppen sind an einer demokratischen Veränderung der Beziehungen zwischen den Geschlechtern interessiert. Aus der aktiven Entwicklung einer neuen sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung über die Männlichkeit ergeben sich neue und komplexere Vorstellungsbilder von Geschlecht. Diese Forschung zeigt sehr deutlich das Veränderungspotential im geschlechtsspezifischen Verhalten von Männern und Jungen. Wenn auch nicht als einfache Sozialisationsinstanz, ist die Schule ein wichtiger Ort für die Herausbildung verschiedener Formen von Männlichkeit. In die schulische Arbeit zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter wurden nunmehr auch die Männlichkeit betreffende Fragen einbezogen, jedoch nicht immer in Form von Programmen für Jungen. Werden solche Programme durchgeführt, müssen sie die Pluralität und die den Formen der Männlichkeit eigene Komplexität sowie die Machtdimension in den Geschlechterbeziehungen berücksichtigen. Ist dies gewährleistet, kann die Beschäftigung mit der Männlichkeit ein wichtiges Neuland in der Erziehung darstellen. (DIPF/Orig.)

This thesis research is about Azeri Masculinities. I searched for answers to the questions -What are the main rituals and life events in a man`s life which make him a "real" man in Azerbaijan? What kind of paths are enforced to maintain this place in the society as a man? Through this research, I examined male identities in Azerbaijan - men in political, social and cultural background of the Azeri society. Then, I delve into the lifecycle of the development of manhood. I review the effects of the Islamic religion in the process of making men and reflection Islamic religious masculinities. However, different types of masculinities (which do not fit the traditional notions) such as Azeri gay masculinities are one of the important focus points of my research. I used self €" reflexive interpretive methodology for my research, which enabled me to reflect on my memory and my situational experiences and subsequently interpret them. The main theme emerging from this study is that three major life events are crucial for the man making process. First step is the event of circumcision, which has more cultural value for the local people than religious. The second event I discuss in men's lives is military service. Military duty is essential for Azeri men and protecting the land means the same thing as protecting their mother and their family, so the land is also feminized. The third event is marriage, which is inevitable, indeed the biggest life event for the adult man.

Critical approaches on men and masculinities are relevant whether we are talking about EU politics as an amalgam of national and local politics, institutionally or geographically, or the international or transnational politics in or of the EU itself and its various constituent institutions and bodies. They are relevant in the analysis of political institutions, social movements and political actors, both individual and collective, as well as the very question of what counts as politics in the first place, seen as pervasive and not only formal politics in the public domain. Thus, politics is not just mainstream politics in the public domain; rather politics pervades gender ordering of and across societies. Men and masculinities are just as gendered as women and femininities, individually and collectively: whether we are talking about party politicians, policy-makers, professionals, activists, supporters, clients, citizens, migrants or refugees, amongst many other political actors and groupings. This may seem obvious (to some), but is still frequently forgotten or obscured, in both mainstream and critical analyses. It is so much the case that political institutions and organisations – whether local, national, transnational or European – are often described in either gender-neutral or implicitly masculinised terms, into which women move or which affect women, albeit in differential ways. The centre, the One (as opposed to the presumed Other[s]), typically and easily remains undeconstructed. Likewise, the EU and its institutions and processes may appear, to many, as gender-neutral or implicitly masculinised.

Health inequalities continue to be a pressing issue for governments and communities in the Western developed nations. Recent evidence continues to highlight the prevalence of inequities in morbidity (experience of illness over the lifecourse) and mortality (death rate) and suggest that, despite significant improvement in health and wellbeing for large sections of populations, their continues to be a gap between the health of the most affluent and the poorest. These discussions are particularly pertinent to the UK, which, as Professor Marmot (2010) has documented in detail in his recent report, continues to experience significance health inequalities which are largely the outcome of differentials in socioeconomic status. It is the strong recommendation of the Marmot report, and one that we would echo, that reduction in health inequalities can only be achieved by addressing their fundamental causes, as opposed to the diseases through which they are manifest at any given time, or their immediate antecedents. This fact explains both the persistence of health inequalities over time and the failure of policies which only target their immediate manifestations to have any lasting impact. Fundamental causes include; unequal distribution of power, money, resources and social status.

In terms of gender equity the first two decades of South African democracy have seen substantial change - at least where legislation is concerned. In terms of daily lived realities however, such change seems to have had little or no impact. South African women continue to take primary responsibility for reproductive work and continue to dominate the ranks of the poor. Levels of gender based violence remain amongst the highest in the world. The last decade or so has seen scholars offer a range of overlapping and intersecting explanations for the slow pace of change, with some pointing to the lack of significant political commitment and the roles of 'custom' and 'tradition'. Others have suggested that change requires working more directly with boys and men. Despite these observations - and concomitant interventions - movement towards gender equity remains slow. In this paper I hope to contribute to the debate around resistance to change by drawing on student engagement with, and understandings of, an introduction to gender studies course between 2013 and 2014 at the University of the Western Cape. In the paper I reflect on ways in which teaching gender through a focus on men and masculinities offers insights into resistance to gender equity as well as possibilities for challenging such resistance.

In terms of gender equity the first two decades of South African democracy have seen substantial change – at least where legislation is concerned. In terms of daily lived realities however, such change seems to have had little or no impact. South African women continue to take primary responsibility for reproductive work and continue to dominate the ranks of the poor. Levels of gender based violence remain amongst the highest in the world. The last decade or so has seen scholars offer a range of overlapping and intersecting explanations for the slow pace of change, with some pointing to the lack of significant political commitment and the roles of 'custom' and 'tradition'. Others have suggested that change requires working more directly with boys and men. Despite these observations – and concomitant interventions - movement towards gender equity remains slow. In this paper I hope to contribute to the debate around resistance to change by drawing on student engagement with, and understandings of, an introduction to gender studies course between 2013 and 2014 at the University of the Western Cape. In the paper I reflect on ways in which teaching gender through a focus on men and masculinities offers insights into resistance to gender equity as well as possibilities for challenging such resistance.

In terms of gender equity the first two decades of South African democracy have seen substantial change – at least where legislation is concerned. In terms of daily lived realities however, such change seems to have had little or no impact. South African women continue to take primary responsibility for reproductive work and continue to dominate the ranks of the poor. Levels of gender based violence remain amongst the highest in the world. The last decade or so has seen scholars offer a range of overlapping and intersecting explanations for the slow pace of change, with some pointing to the lack of significant political commitment and the roles of 'custom' and 'tradition'. Others have suggested that change requires working more directly with boys and men. Despite these observations – and concomitant interventions - movement towards gender equity remains slow. In this paper I hope to contribute to the debate around resistance to change by drawing on student engagement with, and understandings of, an introduction to gender studies course between 2013 and 2014 at the University of the Western Cape. In the paper I reflect on ways in which teaching gender through a focus on men and masculinities offers insights into resistance to gender equity as well as possibilities for challenging such resistance.

The United Nations' fifth Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality states that it is "not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world" (UNSDG5). The goal itself aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by providing them with access to education, health care, decent work, representation in political and economic decision-making processes, as well as by eliminating violence against women and girls (VAWG). Recognising the impact language (and thus discourse) has on our understanding of and actions towards gender and gender issues, this thesis explores how the issue of gendered violence is discussed specifically in relation to men and masculinities. Reflecting feminist and masculinities scholarship, it explores how a growing concern for men's relationship to their own gender has altered the discourse, depoliticising the field of gender as a whole. By applying a collective case study approach to two programmes under the remit of the UNSDG5 - the Spotlight Initiative and Partners for Prevention (P4P) - it reveals contrasting approaches to men and masculinities, and overall inconsistencies in the UNSDG discourse. Most of all, it demonstrates how, despite a relative consensus on the need to include men, and make masculinities visible, public discourse still predominantly places the onus on women to dismantle and reconstruct the status quo. Gender, then, is still a 'women's issue'.

Past studies of Oceanic masculinities have tended to see masculinity in the singular, through the lens of unchanging cultural traditions, wherein types of men were iconic of cultural differences. This special issue considers masculinities in the plural, both within and between cultures, exploring the relations between hegemonic and subordinate masculinities and how masculinities are configured in the context of colonial histories, militarism, and globalization. It connects a historical and relational approach to masculinities to embodied experience and individual and collective memories across the diversity of Oceania.

Past studies of Oceanic masculinities have tended to see masculinity in the singular, through the lens of unchanging cultural traditions, wherein types of men were iconic of cultural differences. This special issue considers masculinities in the plural, both within and between cultures, exploring the relations between hegemonic and subordinate masculinities and how masculinities are configured in the context of colonial histories, militarism, and globalization. It connects a historical and relational approach to masculinities to embodied experience and individual and collective memories across the diversity of Oceania.

Focusing on the representation of the masculinity of dictator figures in Cheik Aliou Ndao's Mbaam dictateur (1997) and Baba Galleh Jallow's Angry Laughter (2004), this article explores the imbrication of social realities, power structures and literary expression that characterises these texts as dictator-novels. It considers the writers' reappropriation of the border between animal and human as a means by which to level an allegorical political critique in the guise of a fable. In so doing, it emphasises their representation of the hypermasculine body of the dictator and its centrality to emerging nation states that are defined by class and ethnic relations. Finally, its focus turns to the importance of voice to examine the aesthetic of these two dictator-novels, which is of equal importance to our understanding of these texts as their thematic representation. The article thus takes these two literary works as case studies for the dictator-novel at the turn of the 21st century to examine the ways in which African writers use the dictator-novel to express the disenchantment of citizens with the long and faltering process of decolonization that, in many countries across Africa, had seen the emergence not of an ideal postcolonial democracy, but instead of a de-humanizing neo-colonial autocracy.