SOC2502 / HBSI1009: Interrogating Masculinities

Abstract

in the social sciences. Students will examine the complexity of human behavior and/or social institutions and draw conclusions from empirical research through the theoretical approaches of at least two social science disciplines, using both qualitative and quantitative data. The course will focus on one specific social institution and provide students with in-depth knowledge for how to analyze human behavior in relation to this institution. HBSI courses will enable students to:  Understand the ethical values involved in studying human behavior and social institutions.  Apply approaches from at least two social science disciplines.  Employ social scientific tools to identify and analyze social problems. Overview: Interrogating Masculinities Masculinity is a dominant ethos in virtually all cultures in the world, and this has been the case virtually all throughout human history. Yet despite its historical staying power and air of monolithic, invincible authority, there is no one such thing as “masculinity.” The definition of what it is to “be a real man” changes across time and place, and a surprisingly varied set of traits, behaviors, and expectations are valorized under the umbrella of “masculinity” across cultural contexts. Moreover, a global history of patriarchal dominance means that masculinities have played a unique role in shaping groups, organizations, and institutions, as well as both men’s and women’s individual lives. For these reasons and others, understanding some of the various components and manifestations of masculinities is important for understanding our world. This course will explore various masculine behaviors, myths, ideologies, and experiences. In other words, we will look at what it means to be a man in various cultures – both outside of and within the contemporary United States – as well as how those meanings have changed over time. In addition, we will think critically about how masculinity interacts with race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, institutional context, and other sociological variables to produce different experiences of masculinity for different people; this kind of perspective is known as “intersectionality.” And we will analyze the ways in which power, expressed in various masculinities, functions within these cultural formations.