Healthy Masculinity Project

Further Questions

Why it matters

"The Boy Crisis":

The apparent decline in academic performance and engagement of boys and young men in schools, colleges, and universities.

• ability to achieve intimacy
• ability to be emotionally attuned
• academic achievement

Where does this come from?

• Confident in Healthy Masculinity
• Nontraditional context: how did they get there?
• Traditional context: why do they stay? (motivation, challenges, etc.)
• Activism in Sexual Violence Prevention
• Feminism

Hegemonic Masculinity:

Dominant construction of masculinity in the US that emphasizes power, control, independence, emotional stoicism, and being physically and psychologically tough and strong.

Guyland (Michael Kimmel):

The social arena where young men are expected to both test and prove themselves as “real men.”

• Culture of Privilege/Entitlement
• Culture of Silence
• Culture of Protection

Carlos Santos (2010) followed 426 diverse boys from middle school to high school in the Northeast.

Key Findings:

As boys get older they are more likely to embrace conventional norms of masculinity

(e.g., emotional stoicism, physical toughness, autonomy)

But boys who resisted these stereotypes…

• remained in closer, more emotionally supportive relationships with their mothers and friends
• scored lower on the Childhood Depression Inventory
• were more engaged in school

“Hypermasculinity” was associated with negative outcomes on all measures

From Boys to Men:

Development of Healthy Masculinity

Colby College

Our Study:

Themes at Colby

Healthy Masculinity at Colby

Themes in Development

• Semi-clinical interviews
• Volunteers solicited from groups on campus
• 18 interviews so far

Traditional

Nontraditional

Sports

Family

Emergent Healthy Masculinity

in Traditional Context

Emergent/Confident Healthy Masculinity in Nontraditional Context

• Social circle with themes of traditional masculinity
• Individual is not confident in his own masculinity
• Beginning to move towards healthy masculinity
• Becoming aware of problems in hypermasculinity
• Not confident enough or unsure how to change it

• Most common theme
• Hypermasculine vs. less "masculine" sports
• Upon reflection, participants were aware of dangers in hypermasculine sports
• Very strong communities in teams
• Role models in coaches

• Older sister/female cousin
• Especially present in athletes
• Father
• Role model
• Progressive
• Antithesis

Sample interview questions:

• Growing up, what were some of the messages you got about gender roles in your home? Do you have any specific memories of these messages? From where and from whom did you get these messages?
• Now we’re going to move to your experience here at Colby. What was your first impression of what it means to be a “typical” man at Colby? (i.e. how are men expected to act?; what qualities do they have?) How did you get this impression?

• Social circle with themes of resistant masculinity
• Very aware of traditional masculinity at Colby
• No desire to be a part of it

Confident Healthy Masculinity

in Traditional Context

• Social circle with themes of traditional masculinity
• Individual is confident in his own masculinity
• Aware of problems with hypermasculinity
• Actively resisting traditional masculinity's pressures
• Advocate for healthy masculinity
• Known as "that guy"

Adversity

• e.g. War, death in the family, oppression, poverty
• Contrary to expected
• Stress on education
• Strong family support system
• Less concern with American constructions of masculinity