Embodying emergent masculinities: Men engaging with reproductive and sexual health technologies in the Middle East and Mexico

We employ Raymond Williams's concept of "emergence" to capture new forms of embodied masculinities in the Middle East and Mexico, two sites marked by powerful local stereotypes of manliness. Men there are enacting "emergent masculinities"— living out new ways of being men in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American ethnologist 2011-11, Vol.38 (4), p.801-815
Main Authors: INHORN, MARCIA C., WENTZELL, EMILY A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
assisted reproductive technology
Biotechnology
emergent masculinities
erectile dysfunction
Ethnography
Ethnology
Family. Family relations
Geography
Health
Hegemony
In vitro fertilization
Infertility
Intracytoplasmic sperm injections
Male infertility
Males
Marriage
Masculinity
Men
Mexico
Middle East
Reproductive health
Reproductive technology
Sex, gender, sexuality
Sexual health
Social dynamics
Social structure and social relations
Stereotypes
Viagra
Wives
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We employ Raymond Williams's concept of "emergence" to capture new forms of embodied masculinities in the Middle East and Mexico, two sites marked by powerful local stereotypes of manliness. Men there are enacting "emergent masculinities"— living out new ways of being men in attempts to counter forms of manhood that they see as harmfully hegemonic. They do this partly through engagements with emergent health technologies, including assisted reproductive technologies for male infertility and pharmaceutical technologies for erectile dysfunction that today are reshaping sociopolitical and intimate realities. We argue that masculinities research within anthropology must account for these ongoing, embodied changes in men's enactments of masculinities over time on both individual and societal levels. Furthermore, we heed R. W. Connell's advice that reformulations of hegemonic masculinity theory must consider new comparative geographies, forms of masculine embodiment, and social dynamics of masculinity around the globe.
ISSN:0094-0496
1548-1425
DOI:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2011.01338.x