2 - Gendered discourses
Men, masculinities and fatherhood
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 March 2011
Summary
We do very briefly speak about child related…I don't think the conversations necessarily become feminised, I think the behaviour is going that way.
(Gareth)What is gender? In many areas of life the term ‘gender’ is used liberally and often incorrectly as a shorthand reference to women's lives and issues of equality. But gender is equally about men's lives. In its simplest form ‘gender’ refers to what it is to be ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ at any given time in particular social and cultural contexts. It is a fluid concept which can help us to understand how expectations, behaviours, assumptions and practices are socially and culturally shaped and varied and change over time. Importantly, it is different to the term ‘sex’ which refers to biological differences in and between men's and women's bodies: aspects which are usually taken to be (more or less) fixed. But these simple definitions belie the highly contested dimensions of these terms and the debates which have ensued, ranging across theoretical, empirical, legal and policy terrains. These debates have focused upon whether, and how far, it is possible to disentangle ‘gender’ from ‘sex’, whether these two ways of thinking about individuals and bodies are sufficient or proficient and the implications of such conceptualisations. New theorisations, prompted by changes in the ways lives are (or can be) lived in contemporary society, together with advances in biological sciences and more nuanced understandings of masculinities and femininities, have led to both greater recognition of gendered practices across a myriad of social arenas and a more critical interrogation of the concept.
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- Information
- Making Sense of FatherhoodGender, Caring and Work, pp. 34 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010