MÄN MED KLASS - En jämförande studie om maskuliniteter och klass

Abstract

The focus of our dissertation is masculinity which is often a topic of debate in today’s society concerning areas such as violence, sport and paternal leave. Male studies are a relatively new field which means there is a lot remaining to be explored. We have chosen to explore how social class reflects on male identity. The reason we have chosen social class as a variable is due to a focus in the general debate of identity amongst the social sciences towards identities formed through consumption in the world of global mass-media. We were interested to see if class background is still a relevant variable. We are not laying claim to explaining how social class affects the formation of male identity. Instead our aim is to observe the way masculine ideals are expressed across the class boundaries and whether it is possible to attribute observed differences to class background. Our main theoretical base is comprised of Connell’s hierarchy of masculinity and Bourdieu’s theories on class and language. Using Bourdieu’s class-matrix we were able to seek out two groups of young men with very different class backgrounds. Both groups are second year students at sixth-form. The members of the first group are doing a practical course aimed at work in the automotive industry and come from working class homes. The members of the second group are doing a theoretical course aimed towards university studies and come from academic and more privileged homes. We performed focus group interviews to discuss various aspects of masculinity to capture the way the two different groups expressed themselves concerning various areas of the topic of masculinity. The differences we observed were a stronger tendency from the practical group to distance themselves from perceived feminine practices and a greater orientation towards homo-social environments. Similarities we were able to observe was a certain degree of participation in societies code of male dominance over women but also a willingness to work towards a more flexible masculinity. We were able to see how a lower gender external attribute i.e. lower class background leads to a usage of gender internal attributes to climb in Connell’s model of male hierarchy.