soci 314 final 3 Flashcards
Migration from poor nations to wealthier nations affects how men understand and enact masculinity
There is typically a shift in gender household power and labour
Men often experience downward economic mobility
Women often experience upward social mobility
In some countries, such as India, rural to urban migration creates outcomes similar to migration between poor and wealthy nations
Shifting dynamics related to gender and power due to labour market conditions
A sense of purposelessness and frustration among men
Sri lanka
Had experience a long civil war, economic and social disruption
Trauma from civil war
“Tamil masculinity is set apart by the importance that is placed on… ‘altruistic self-sacrifice’ referring to a willingness to sacrifice oneself in the name of the other, be it family, community or the nation. This is seen as the paramount character trait of the warrior-hero and with it the quintessioanchartarer trait of an ideal Tamil man”,
Four gendered issues Tamil refugee men experience:
Gendered helplessness of war
(Aftermath of war)
(Settling in canada)
Reduced capacity
Redundancy
Intimate criticism
Tamil Refugees in Canada Doc
“Gendered helplessness of war”: inability to protect their family members, prevent them from suffering, or provide emotional comfort to family
“Reduced Capacity”: mental health concerns and associated difficulties with daily functioning due to PTSD, which made it more difficult to fulfill “the protector, provider, and altruistic self-sacrifice ideals of warrior-hero” (849)
“Redundancy”: men were often no longer breadwinners fro their family and felt like they were not needed to fulfill important community roles
“In canada the government fills the duties of men” (850)
“Intimate criticism”: Shaming refers to a cultural practice where a Tamil woman will criticize her husband with the aim of spurring him into greater action. The practice of sha,ming is associated with the lack of economic opportunity afforded to women. Shaming is the central and only way which women can increase the households resources or social standing within the community, SHaming tactics are highly genders as they are designed to challenge a man’s masculinity” (850)
“Intimate criticisms”: men were often unable to get more prestigious or higher paying jobs as their wives wanted, given that they were not trained/educated in Canada and had difficulty speaking english
Less household power overall theme
Men experienced difficulty fulfilling masculine duties due to both pre and post migratory factors
“Depleted masculinity”: the cumulative effect of these experiences can best be summarized as an emotional and psychological state that we describe as depleted masculinity. In this state predominant character traits that men associate with traditional male roles and identity were depleted. This includes self-reliance, psychological strength, sexual virility, providing for the family and contribution to the community. Sometimes this masculinity was depleted to the point where it was lost completely”.
Transnational Mothers
Indonesian men whose wives migrate abroad for work opportunities must rework the relationships between masculinity, being the primary provider and childcare
Many men worked in paid labour to avoid shame and feel responsible
Men contrasted themselves with other, irresponsible men who waste remittances, cheat, or ignore fatherhood responsibilities
Men without regular work were often primary caretakers for children, whereas employed fathers were typically secondary fathers
Men reframed this caretaking and nurturance as compatible with masculinity
Women exert considerable control over remittances to prevent their husbands from mismanaging money or spreading it on another women
Eritrean Refugees in Israel
“The dominant construction of eritrean masculinity in the interviews was that of men as physically strong, decision makers, leaders of the family, and responsible for the public sphere - whereas women are in charge of the domestic one”
Eritrean refugees perceived their experience in israel as emasculating:
Womens increased involvement with public life led to more equity within the household
Limited control over employment conditions due to their precarious legal position led to economic instability and workplace exploitation
Indefinite precarity made it difficult to plan for the future and caused stress
Mens gendered responses:
Domestic violence
Acceptance of new gender norms and a shift in behaviors, such as greater physical affection with partners
“Temporary acceptance” (12) in which men changed their behaviours given new gendered realities, but did not change their attitudes
Guatemalan Migrants
Migrant men and men whose family members migrated, expressed more emotional vulnerability than is typically associated with normative masculinity in Guatemala
“Migration becomes another determining factor of change within the construction of masculinities” (487)
African Migration to the UK
“In the reconstruction of life in the diaspora, African men experience a loss of status as breadwinners and a rupture of their sense of masculine identity” (529)
Women gain more power over household affairs
Men take jobs in the UK that are lower status (and often perceived as feminine) than jobs in their country of origin.
Four main strategies to cope with changes to masculine states:
- Withdrawal
Return to country of origin to regain masculine status - Accommodation
Change personal behaviors to adapt to and accept new circumstances
Complete more household labor
Accept that wives will be more involved in decision making
Most men enacted this strategy - Resistance
Engage in behaviours meant to bolster masculinity and subordinate women
Domestic violence
Excessive alcohol consumptions - Endorsement and Subversion
“Refers to how men consciously embrace and enact respectable forms of masculine behavior (for example sharing household duties) while simultaneously and strategically using religious and social spaces to resist changes to gender relations and role” (537)
This strategy hybridized masculinity
Responses to the challenges of migration challenging masculinity due to powerlessness in the migration process.
Hyper masculinity: an exaggerated, highly visible, and violent masculinity which also often included sexual prowess
Ummah masculinity: living in accordance with conservative Islamic ideals, such as celibacy
African Migration to Vancouver
In Vancouver’s African diaspora most men experience downward class mobility, difficulty providing for their families, diminished social status, as black men in local racialized hierarchies and loss of authority over wives and children.
Reaffirms positive masculine identities
Documentary: Gender Analysis
Immigrating to saudi arabia, saudi arabia is extremely exploitation to immigrants
Kidnapped, tortured, extortion
Man saying everyone abandoned him and he wants to go home, as hes crying
Ransom, they paid for people who couldn’t pay
2000 KM journey, across yemen who experienced civil war
No jobs in ethiopia so we left to find work
We can only rely on ourselves - men
Can’t afford to travel by car
Most of them dropped out of school as early as 12
There won’t be any misery if we are working and earning money
Some migrants try to leave many times and make the walk many times
Either we make it or we die
Lots of people die trying to walk the roads to leave
Guides asked for another 300 euros to continue to journey when they already paid before, and they are in the middle of nowhere
Migration trade is booming
Smugglers getting migrants across the red sea is the only way they can make a living
Mostly men traveling to find work
Migration trade takes place in the open in yemen as it is far from from authority
We take advantage of them wanting a better life
They don’t have the resources to make it to Saudi Arabia, they are homeless in Yemen.
Security forces started shooting
I didn’t know there was a war here
I just need to go home
Transnational Influences to Masculinity
Wealthy countries are regional powers exert control through transnational economic and political institutions; transnational businesses; globalized markets; various forms of media; and military funding
Not a simple western vs non-western dichotomy
China and russia are global superpowers
Wealthy middle eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have enormous economic, military, and social influence
Regional powers, such as Iran and Rwanda, exert control over neighboring countries
Middle Class Chinese understanding of masculinity…Men should be:
Respectul and avoid violence
Honest and comply with laws
Caring, helpful, and sensitive to others
Responsible at work and home
Decisive, take initiative, show leadership
Forgive and generous in friendship and partnerships
Ratoina, calm, and patient at work and in partnerships
Masculinity in Japan
Post WW2 gender archetypes: the corporate salary man and the full time housewife:
Salary men were expected to devote long hours to work and socialize extensively with colleagues after work
- In recent decades these norms have shifted
- Today salary men are also expected to care for one’s appearance and spend more time with family
Since the 19990s economic shifters have made it more difficult to become a salaryman
More difficult to secure permanent employment
Archetype = salary man
Masculinity in South Korea
Gender ideals in South Korea abruptly shifted in the 1997 asian financial crisis which affected mens economic stability and facilitate women’s widespread entry into the labour force
These changes went hand in hand with increased expectations that Korean men should be kind and emotionally available to their family not just salary men.
South korean men have the highest consumption of beauty products per capita compared to all other men
¾ engage in beauty treatments at least once per week
Beauty has been linked to success and status in highly competitive occupational and educational landscapes
Effects of Settler Colonialism Today
Disproportionate involvement of criminal justice system
Indigenous population: 5% of canadians population as a whole but 25.5% of people in prison (magnitude of 5)
Black canadians are 3% of the population but 8% in prison
Karuk Masculinity
“In contrast to emphases on masculinity hierarchy we describe how fishing participation in ceremonies that regulate the fishery, and distributing fish to the community can each be understood as gender accomplishments that serve ecological functions, unite communities, and perpetuate culture in the face of settler colonialism” (101).
“Exclusive definition of masculinity in relation to power and domination at worst appear to privilege colonial masculinity and at best leave no room for indigenous conceptions of masculinity in the form of carrying out responses to the natural work or to community” (107)
We do not claim that Karuk gender relations are free from hierarchy
Pessimistic perspective
Rural Masculinity
Masculinity
Toughness, hard work
Defined in opposition to urban men
“Survival narratives”
Pattern exists despite increasing linkage between spatial contexts
Rural masculinity shaped by intersections of sexuality, class, and race
In ways that differ based on the area
The greater self sufficiency require for rural life
Close-knit, interdependent communities
Lack of privacy
Gossip
Fear and shame at not meeting community expectations
Reasons for Hunting
- Subsistence
Consuming the meat or selling animal products - Cultural
Indigenous hunting practices - Identity based
Hunting as a practice connected to family lineage, rural or small town communities or regional archetypes - Recreational
Not necessarily out of enjoyment of killing, but being outdoors using ones skills or sourcing are sustainable and ethically than purchasing most meat in stores - Trophy hunting
A distinctive upper middle or upper class pursuit
Women Hunters in BC
¼ new hunters in BC are women
THere are a lot of single mothers who want to take their children hunting and fishing and not rely on someone else
She said there is also a growing awareness of food systems and the fragility of food supply chains. Many women also want to eat organic.
American Men’s Attitudes by Metropolitan Context
Attitudes:
Men should not go to the doctor unless hurt or sick
Men should not show pain
Men’s sexual needs are greater than womens
Principal cities, suburbs, rural areas
Based on spatial context:
No differences among gay or bi men but were among straight men
No difference among black men and few among latinos but many among white men
Women are more likely than men to pray daily
Indian Buddhist women are more likely to believe in nirvana than Buddhist men (45% and 34%)
Gender Differences in Eastern Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan)
Women are more likely than men to pray daily, have consulted a foreteller in the past year, and to believe in rebirth, fate, both heaven and hell, angles/helpful deities, demons/evil deities, and that parts of nature certain objects, and houses or other buildings have their own spirits
