bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Management of Dyspareunia and Associated Levator Ani Muscle Overactivity
Authors: Fisher Kimberly A
Published: May 2007

Background and Purpose

Musculoskeletal dysfunction is a known cause of dyspareunia and a reason for referral for physical therapist management. The purpose of this case report is to describe the physical therapist management of a patient with dyspareunia and overactivity of the pelvic-floor muscles with a limited number of visits and a focus on self-management strategies.

Case Description

This case involved a 30-year-old married woman with levator ani muscle overactivity and dyspareunia that was 1 year in duration.

Intervention

The therapist explained the anatomy and function of the pelvic-floor muscles during intercourse, instructed the patient on how to control the levator ani muscles, and instructed her on vaginal self-dilation techniques.

Outcomes

The patient attended 3 physical therapy sessions over a period of 9 weeks. She performed vaginal self-dilation at home. She rated pain during intercourse as 0/10 on a verbal rating scale and had no remaining tenderness in the levator ani muscles at discharge.

Discussion

Some women with dyspareunia may improve with an intervention that emphasizes education and vaginal self-dilation techniques. Future research should compare home-based and clinic-based treatments.
Effect of Seat Surface Inclination on Postural Control During Reaching in Preterm Children With Cerebral Palsy
Authors: Hadders-Algra Mijna , van der Heide Jolanda C , Fock Johanna M , Stremmelaar Elisabeth , van Eykern Leo A , Otten Bert
Published: May 2007

Background and Purpose

Because it is debatable whether seat surface inclination improves motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP), the effect of seat surface tilting on postural control and quality of reaching was studied.

Subjects

The subjects were 58 children with CP aged 2 to 11 years (34 with unilateral spastic CP, 24 with bilateral spastic CP).

Methods

During the task of reaching movements, surface electromyographic and kinematic data were recorded for posture and reaching with the dominant arm in 3 sitting conditions: horizontal seat surface, seat surface tilted forward 15 degrees, and seat surface tilted backward 15 degrees.

Results

In the children with unilateral spastic CP, forward tilting improved postural efficiency and quality of reaching. In the children with bilateral spastic CP, both forward and backward tilting of the seat surface was associated with more postural instability and did not affect the quality of reaching.

Discussion and Conclusion

The results suggest that, in terms of postural control and quality of reaching, children with unilateral spastic CP benefit from a forward-tilted position and children with bilateral spastic CP benefit from a horizontal sitting position.
Exploring Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development: Generativity and its Relationship to Paternal Identity, Intimacy, and Involvement in Childcare
Authors: Christiansen Shawn L. , Palkovitz Rob
Published: May 2007

This study explored the relationships among fathers' involvement in childcare, identity, intimacy, and generativity in order to understand which variables best predict variation in fathers' level of generativity. The study's major findings were that fathers' paternal identity, psychosocial identity, and psychosocial intimacy were the best overall predictors of fathers' level of generativity. Fathers' paternal identity was the best predictor of fathers' generativity. Interestingly, fathers' involvement in childcare was not a good predictor of fathers' generativity. The study's findings also give support to the assumption that development in previous psychosocial stages (i.e., identity and intimacy) are extremely important to later stages of psychosocial development (i.e., generativity). However, this assumption needs to be tested through longitudinal methods. The finding that paternal identity was a good predictor of generativity gives support for the proposition of person-role merger, in which one's investment in a role can influence development.
The Ideal Father: Religious Narratives and the Role of Fatherhood
Authors: Furrow James L.
Published: May 2007

Central to any discussion of a new fatherhood is the declaration of the “ideal father.” Authors have emphasized the importance of cultural narratives in shaping a response to this issue. The Christian men's movement has raised its own model informed by religious values and language. This article describes three perspectives that are needed in evaluating the role of religious values in shaping a fatherhood ideal. Identity theory provides a means for identifying value systems intrinsic to a personal expression of fatherhood. Psychological theories of religious imagery are used to illustrate religious beliefs' influence on role identity. Religious narratives provide an essential lens for evaluating the ways that religious values shape an ideal fatherhood. Social discourse theory is used to examine a religiously informed fatherhood. These perspectives are necessary in advancing an understanding of the role religious values play in a social construction of ideal fatherhood.
A Conceptual Ethic of Generative Fathering
Authors: Dollahite David C. , Hawkins Alan J.
Published: May 2007

In this paper, the authors propose a “conceptual ethic” of fathering. This framework is presented as an example of a nondeficit perspective of fathering rooted in the proposed ethical obligation for fathers to meet the needs of the next generation. We conceptualize fathering as generative work, rather than as a social role embedded in a changing sociohistorical context. The framework is based on two central ideas: that the human context creates needs in the next generation that fathers have an ethical responsibility and capability to meet, and that both fathers and children benefit and grow from this work. Narrative accounts are used to illustrate the model. We also present findings from research and mention applications that are based on the generative perspective.
Fathering, Faith, and Spirituality
Authors: Dollahite David C.
Published: May 2007

Many current social and cultural forces discourage father involvement with children. An important, but usually overlooked, positive influence on men and fathering is religion. This article presents some of the findings of the scant social science literature on fathering and religion; discusses the ways that religion encourages and supports responsible, involved fathering; touches on some of the similarities between the men's movement and religion; and addresses some of the concerns expressed about religion and fathering, including possible negative effects of religion, different forms of spirituality, and religion and gender roles. I argue that future scholarship and practice may well show that religion (i.e., a covenant faith community with teachings and narratives that enhance spirituality and encourage morality) is the most powerful, meaningful, and sustained influence for encouraging men to be fully involved in children's lives.
The Centrality of Faith in Fathers' Role Construction: The Faithful Father and the Axis Mundi Paradigm
Authors: Latshaw Jason Seth
Published: May 2007

This qualitative study, through a series of structured, open-ended interviews with four religious fathers, examines the relationship between centrality of faith and fathering role construction. The data is viewed in the context of Mircea Eliade's (19S9) Axis Mundi paradigm. Using grounded theory analysis, the study finds these men have three major interdependent ideals in their fathering roles: the perfect love of God, generativity of faith, and the spiritual authority of the servant. These ideals are defined by the meaning-generating Axis Mundi, the fixed point by which all other points are defined. The data support the concept that a religious person will attempt to conform behavior and attitudes to the values prescribed by the Axis Mundi. Because faith is the central, defining attribute of these men's identities, it serves as the standard by which all roles and behaviors are evaluated. The view facilitates objectivity in the discussion of faith and has implications for further examination of a wide variety of faiths and their corresponding moral systems. This study's findings have applications for intervention programs including, but not limited to, those dealing with father involvement.
Faithful Fathering in Trying Times: Religious Beliefs and Practices of Latter-Day Saint Fathers of Children with Special Needs
Authors: Dollahite David C. , Marks Loren D. , Olson Michael M.
Published: May 2007

This paper presents the findings from an exploration of religious beliefs collected from narrative accounts from 16 Latter-day Saint (LDS or Mormon) fathers of children with special needs. Six themes were created to organize the narratives as a result of coding. The first three are not explicitly religious in nature: (1) choosing to care, (2) dealing with today's challenges, and (3) building love through play. The second three themes were explicitly religious: (4) having faith in God's purposes, (5) giving priesthood blessings, and (6) accepting help from the church. These themes are connected to the literature on special-needs children and are related to the conceptual ethic of generative fathering (Dollahite, Hawkins, & Brotherson, 1997).
Comments on the Faithful Fathering Symposium
Authors: Horn Wade
Published: May 2007

Author provides reaction to the “Fathering Symposium” papers (Furrow; Palkovitz & Palm; Latshaw; and Dollahite, Marks, & Olson).
Feminism for Men
Authors: Lynd Staughton
Published: May 2007

Drawing on lifelong experience in movements of social change and on the left, the author describes what he has sensed in women's lives from which he and other males need to learn: (1) compassion, as exemplified by the life of Rosa Luxemburg; (2) a horizontal style of leadership; and (3) the creation of “loose networks with strong bonds” described by Temma Kaplan. The Student Nonviolent Organizing Committee (SNCC) is offered as an example of an essentially feminist style of organizing, practiced by men.
Retrograde Representation: The Lone Gay White Male Dying of AIDS on Beverly Hills, 90210
Authors: Hart Kylo-Patrick R.
Published: May 2007

This essay examines the representation of AIDS in the popular Fox television series Beverly Hills, 90210 during the 1996–97 television season. At a time when AIDS has become a leading cause of death among 25- to 44-year-old Americans of various sexual orientations, mass media offerings still typically represent the person with AIDS as a lone gay white male dying in a cold hospital room. By jumping on the prime-time bandwagon and making a gay white male the central character with AIDS, 90210 provided an inappropriate representation that ignored the changing demographics of the epidemic, perpetuated heterosexism, reinforced the stigma associated with homosexuality in American society, and failed to adequately serve audience member needs. The psychological literature on stereotyping and prejudice, social stigma, and attitude formation and change is employed to critique this media representation.
Queering the Apocalypse: Reading Catherine Keller's Apocalypse Now and Then
Authors: Clark J. Michael
Published: May 2007

This essay examines the meanings of gay marginalization/ghettoization and HIV/AIDS through the lens of Catherine Keller's (1996) most recent work, Apocalypse Now and Then. As I read her text about John's text, like the rabbinical commentators of old, I literally inscribed the margins of her text with my responses and insights, creating a marginal text from/with my own marginalization as a gay male (eco)theologian and (sexual) ethicist living with HIV/AIDS. This essay reads off those edges and reads from the margins, weaving together these multiple texts in order to create a speculative, interpretive tool for understanding multiple margin(alization)s within the further (con)text(s) of liberatory religious studies and ethics, men's studies, and queer studies.
A Gay Man's Wish List for the Future of Men's Studies in Religion
Authors: Clark J. Michael
Published: May 2007

This essay addresses the future of men's studies from the particular ecolocation of a gay male theologian in the field of men's studies. The essay argues that our “trajectories” for men's studies must fuse theory and practice. Our efforts must be practical as well as intellectual as we engage, however belatedly, in doing constructive theology and ethics (both individually and collaboratively), in increasing our men's studies publishing output to reach larger audiences, and in creating justice in our interpersonal relationships, in our shared social justice activism, and in our hiring and promotion activities.
Critical Theory, Deconstruction, and Liberation?
Authors: Baker-Fletcher G. Kasimu
Published: May 2007

This essay attempts to typologize various strands of what has come to be known as “the men's movement.” The author challenges the entire range of types to really take seriously the fundamental ethical imperative of feminist/womanist theories; namely, “How do society and culture re-construct an understanding of ‘man’ or ‘male’ excluding patriarchal dominance?” Offering one way, he sketches what an “Xodus” from patriarchy might look like for males.
Theology and Masculinity
Authors: Ward Graham
Published: May 2007

The essay sketches an outline for a future theology of sexual difference and gender on the basis of the recent work done in men's studies, queer theory, and contemporary philosophical feminism. Its theological approach is Christian and post-liberal. Rather than beginning from experiences of masculinity, the essay argues for starting with a theological account of being made in the image of God. This would necessarily mean developing a Christology that is not centered on male physiology, but rather based on a multi-gendered ecclesiology and an account of the Spirit. This theology would describe a dynamic participation of the triune God in the sexed person.
Dennis Rodman—“Barbie Doll Gone Horribly Wrongs”: Marginalized Masculinity, Cross-Dressing, and the Limitations of Commodity Culture
Authors: Dunbar Michele D.
Published: May 2007

This article explores the relationship between NBA player Dennis Rodman's marginalized masculinity as a black male, his cross-dressing and gender play, and his location in consumer media culture. Through ethnographic content analysis of Rodman's media image on MTV (a new and emerging site for the study of sport and media), this paper explores the effects of Rodman's gender play, asking whether Rodman's image provides a challenge or disruption to prevailing notions of masculinity. Overall, Rodman's cross-dressing does little to offer a critique of hegemonic masculinity, but rather, serves to signal his own marginalized black masculinity. His gender play seems to be contained within heterosexual, and even hyper-masculine, boundaries that reproduce the very racist and sexist notions of black masculinity against which hegemonic masculinity is stabilized.
Doing the Full Monty with Dirk and Jane: Using the Phallus to Validate Marginalized Masculinities
Authors: Addelston Judi
Published: May 2007

Through three current mainstream films. The Full Monty, Boogie Nights, and G. I. Jane, this paper explores how men who are marginalized by the dominant culture because of their social identities, such as race, class, sexual orientation, or age, may reclaim a more powerful identity by publicly displaying the “ultimate insignia of masculinity,” the penis. Additionally, the article also demonstrates how women may also appropriate the phallus to elevate their social status. Ultimately, it is through the public presentation of the phallus that those on the margins may move toward the center.
“The Nerd Within”: Mass Media and the Negotiation of Identity among Computer-Using Men
Authors: Kendall Lori
Published: May 2007

This article examines media representations of nerds as part of the cultural context within which a group of participants on an online forum perform their identities. Given their frequent use of computers and relationships to computer technology, these young, mostly white, mostly male participants must negotiate their relationship to the potentially stigmatizing, but also partially respectable nerd stereotype. They do so by emphasizing the “masculine” qualities required to accomplish their computer-related jobs, asserting the colorblind nature of online interactions, and using ideas about nerds to distance themselves from women and sexuality. Thus, despite its negative aspects, the nerd identity provides a rich conceptual resource with which computer-using males can interpret their own and others' identities.
Butterflies under Cover: Cuban and Puerto Rican Gay Masculinities in Miami
Authors: Kurtz Steven P.
Published: May 2007

Life histories of ethnic Cuban and Puerto Rican gay men who live in Miami-Dade County, Florida are examined to explore the strategies men employ to deal with their stigmatized sexuality, their negotiations of gendered self-attribution as they confront Miami's masculinized gay culture, and their reinterpretation of gay stereotypes and their own masculinities over time. Puerto Rican men were more likely to adopt a feminized self-conception and to deal with their stigmatization by moving away from their families. As they consolidated their identities within Miami's gay culture, however, all of the men gradually arrived at a more masculine self-understanding. Key variables in the gender negotiation process include the construction of inherited hegemonic masculinities, as well as the dominant form of masculinity within the local gay community.
Negotiating New Asian-American Masculinities: Attitudes and Gender Expectations
Authors: Chua Peter , Fujino Dune C.
Published: May 2007

Historically, U.S. institutional practices have rendered Asian-American men as simultaneously hypermasculine and emasculated. Today, the model minority myth and asexual media representations have emphasized the feminized Asian-American male. Yet, no empirical study has examined how Asian-American men construct their own masculinities. Toward this end, this study sought to examine: (a) how college-age Asian-American and white men express their masculinities, (b) how Asian-American and white women perceive Asian-American masculinities, and (c) how Asian-American men negotiate their gender expectations. Through quantitative analysis of surveys, we found that U.S.-born and immigrant Asian men view their masculinity as distinct from white hegemonic masculinity. Unlike white men, Asian-American men did not view their masculinity in opposition to their femininity. Some Asian-American men, especially the U.S.-born, appeared to be creating a new, more flexible masculinity—one free from male dominance. U.S.-born Asian men linked their masculinity with certain caring characteristics and were the only men's group willing to do domestic tasks. Women viewed Asian-American men as having more traditional gender roles and being more nurturing, in contrast to their views of white men, which matched American norms of masculinity. Overall, these results contribute to the masculinity literature by showing how Asian-American men negotiate their contradictory positions as members of a privileged gender group and subordinate racial groups.
On the Functionality of Marginalized Masculinities and Femininities: An Ethnography on Organizational Power and Gender Performances
Authors: Cheng Cliff
Published: May 2007

This ethnography tells of the social construction of masculinities and femininities in The Group, a charismatic social change movement. While sex essentialism led to sex-segregated jobs and only two authorized gender performances, men performing hegemonic masculinity and women performing emphasized femininities, alternatives existed. Alternative gender performances—for example, men performing emphasized femininity, men performing marginalized masculinity, and women performing hegemonic masculinity—were functional to organization. While these alternative gender performances were allowed, they were not acknowledged in the sex essentialist organizational discourse.
Pedagogical Issues and Approaches Encountered in a Psychology of Men Course
Authors: Urschel Joanne K.
Published: May 2007

The author examines four areas in teaching men's studies courses: the need to develop a male perspective and male voice amid a preponderance of female students in the courses, the need to move from men-as-historical-objects toward more subjective experiences of men, the need to address the political aspects of men's studies, and, last, the need for a historical and cultural context. The four issues are incorporated into a hands-on accounting of the author's experiences in teaching the courses with emphasis on consciousness raising, changing perspective, confronting stereotypes and sexism, students' emotional reactions to the topics, and development of analytical thinking. Examples are given in dealing with some of these issues.
Beyond Ticks and Clicks: The Need for More Diverse and Broader Conceptualizations and Measures of Father Involvement
Authors: Hawkins Alan J. , Palkovitz Rob
Published: May 2007

Father involvement has been conceptualized and measured primarily as a temporal and directly observable phenomenon. This paper describes the problems associated with this narrow conceptualization and argues for the need to explore broader, more diverse, and inclusive conceptualizations and measures of father involvement. We review nascent, recent scholarship that supports this assertion, outline ways to improve conceptualization and measurement, and specify the benefits that would flow from this effort.
Brass Balls: Masculine Communication and the Discourse of Capitalism in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross
Authors: Greenbaum Andrea
Published: May 2007

David Mamet has referred to his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Glengarry Glen Ross, as a “gang comedy about men, work, and unbridled competition.” This essay explores this imbrication of masculinity and the discourse of capitalism, which is often structured around the mythos of individualism and cutthroat competition. Additionally, this article addresses the means by which Mamet's characters, who are constituted by the demands of capitalism, use language as a source for domination and manipulation.
The Feminization of Domestic Violence in America: The Woozle Effect Goes beyond Rhetoric
Authors: Coney Nancy S. , MacKey Wade C.
Published: May 2007

One U.S. societal reaction to and evaluation of poverty among its citizens was the concept of the “feminization of poverty.” In an analogous manner, the frame of reference of domestic violence has been to align women, rather than men, as the recipients of domestic violence. However, epidemiological surveys on the distribution of violent behavior between adult partners suggest gender parity. Similarly, in terms of child abuse, levels of fathers' domestic violence toward their own children are more consonant with those of mothers' rather than they are distinct. Nonetheless, the various perceptions and images, in both the popular and professional presses, seem to emphasize men's violence toward partners and toward children and to de-emphasize women's violence toward their partners and their children. With this shift in emphasis from epidemiological data to images, the political, social, legislative, and judicial forces are thereby directed at men's violence and women's victimization at the exclusion of women's violence and men's victimization. Potential costs of such a shift are presented.
Men Facing Their Vulnerabilities: Group Processes for Men Who Have Sexually Offended
Authors: Sabatino Charles J.
Published: May 2007

This essay describes the clinical work the author has been doing for ten years with men who have committed sex offenses, specifically the major factors that have contributed to their behavior. Of the primarily non-sexual factors, feelings of shame and inadequacy and a need for power, control, and acceptance play a large role in their etiology. Further, most in the group have themselves been abused when young. Through group process, members begin to discover and reveal feelings they have bottled up for years, helping them to accept responsibility for their offenses and initiate necessary changes.
Toxic Shock: Understanding Violence against Young Males in the Workplace
Authors: Kenway Jane , Fitzclarence Lindsay , Hasluck Lindsay
Published: May 2007

The paper explores the complex issue of workplace violence as it is experienced by young males who are victims of various forms of abuse. It highlights, through use of media reports and composite vignettes, the range of violent practices that some young males experience at work. By way of interpretation the different events are placed within a context of literature that explores the links between masculinities and violence. Through Alice Miller's work, the paper explores the idea that pedagogies of abuse are handed on from generation to generation and are learned practices. The paper concludes with consideration of the implications for education.
Boys on the Road: Masculinities, Car Culture, and Road Safety Education
Authors: Walker Linley , Butland Dianne , Connell Robert W.
Published: May 2007

Gender differences are an important feature of road injury and death, with male youth particularly vulnerable. Yet road safety education lacks an adequate way of understanding and responding. Cultural constructions of masculinity are central to the problem. We draw on a literature search focused on boys and road safety education and an ethnographic study of young men and car culture to show how attachment to risk-laden car culture, which emphasizes masculine powers and excludes women, is attractive to working-class youth marginalized by mainstream schooling. Educational responses may draw on the plurality of masculinities and the interactive character of gender and must consider the cultural, gender, and class practices of teachers.
Policing Masculinities: Investigating the Role of Homophobia and Heteronormativity in the Lives of Adolescent School Boys
Authors: Martino Wayne
Published: May 2007

This paper focuses on research with adolescent males attending a Catholic co-educational high school. A Foucauldian framework provides the analysis for the normalizing regimes of practice through which particular homophobic and heterosexist versions of masculinity are enacted. Several of the boys interviewed question the effects of particular forms of masculinity in their lives. Issues of masculinity in schools are discussed.
Teachers' Understanding of Homosexuality and Body Image: Habitus Issues
Authors: Desmarchelier Carmel
Published: May 2007

This article explores the understanding of sexuality and body image in schools by heterosexual and homosexual high school teachers. Machismo or traditional masculinity rejects those who do not conform to the dominant paradigm of the ideal heterosexual body, and those who are unaware of this marginalization commit symbolic violence, so new school policies are required. Throughout this article, the concept of “habitus” (Bourdieu, 1984), that is, a person's individualized encoded beliefs and strategies for action, is used to explain how making homosexual role models more visible in school can encourage acceptance.
Fathers' Socioemotional Investment in Their Children
Authors: Bradley Robert H. , Corwyn Robert F.
Published: May 2007

Sixty-five fathers, the majority of whom were white and middle class, participated in a study of the personal and contextual correlates of socioemotional investment in children. No single factor exerted dominance over all three components of investment examined, acceptance of the parenting role, delight, and knowledge and sensitivity. Work strain and the child's score on the Bayley scales were the strongest predictors of acceptance of the parenting role. Work strain and marital quality predicted knowledge and sensitivity. None of the variables in the model predicted delight.
The Enigma of Father Presence in Relationship to Sons' Violence and Daughters' Mating Strategies: Empiricism in Search of a Theory
Authors: MacKey Wade C. , Coney Nancy S.
Published: May 2007

Since the 1960s, the role for the U.S. father has undergone a kaleidoscope of interpretations: from supernumerary to optional to vital. Two routes of fatherlessness—out-of-wedlock births and divorce—are analyzed here in terms of an increased exposure to social problems (i.e., violent crime and sexually transmitted diseases), which occurs to their children who have grown to maturity. Violent crime is primarily a young man's event. Rates of violent crime within a community are strongly correlated to the level of out-of-wedlock births within that community. However, levels of divorce within a community are not correlated to rates of violent crime within that community. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are less gender biased than is violent crime. The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases in females within a community is strongly correlated to the level of out-of-wedlock births within that community, but not to the level of divorce within that community. Reasons for the different consequences aligned with the different routes of fatherlessness are tentatively explored.
Transcending the Myths of Patriotic Militarized Masculinity: Armoring, Wounding, and Transfiguration in Ron Kovic's Born on the Fourth of July
Authors: Shor Fran
Published: May 2007

Ron Kovic's autobiography, Born on the Fourth of July, offers a narrative look at how a young man from a working-class suburb grew to become a marine recruit, wounded Vietnam veteran, and anti-war activist during the period from the late 1950s to the 1970s. In examining Kovic's story, this article probes the cold war, patriotic, and military myths that informed Kovic's construction of masculinity. By highlighting the significant personal and political moments of his narrative, one can discern how these myths of patriotic militarized masculinity armored and wounded Kovic and many of his cohorts. The article concludes by determining to what extent Kovic's transcendence of these myths carried beyond his story (both in the autobiography and Oliver Stone's film) in the face of the regressive masculinism of the 1980s.
Teaming up for the New Men's Health Movement
Authors: Courtenay Will H.
Published: May 2007

How men's health is understood depends on the lens through which it is examined. While it has historically been viewed from biomedical perspectives, social scientists have also identified countless psychosocial factors that influence men's health. This paper explores the health concerns of two men viewed from diverse professional and disciplinary perspectives. It highlights the strengths and limitations of each perspective as it examines the complexity of these men's lives and well-being. The author proposes an interdisciplinary, biopsychosocial approach to the study of men's health that unites these complementary perspectives. Five initial strategies are recommended for fostering the men's health movement and for realizing a future interdisciplinary field of men's health.
“Looks Maketh the Man”: The Female Gaze and the Construction of Masculinity
Authors: Goddard Kevin
Published: May 2007

The paper examines the influence of the “female gaze” on the construction of masculinity. It attempts to show masculine identity cannot be interpreted separate from the image of men projected by, or perceived to be projected by, women. Using examples from literature, popular culture, and gender theory, the paper argues that men's identities are closely tied to their perceptions of what they think women expect of them. The paper suggests that one way of overcoming the power struggle inherent in gender stereotyping is to rethink the gender-based role of language itself. Julia Kristeva's and M. M. Bakhtin's linguistic theories are used as pointers toward a deconstruction of gender difference and the unbalanced powers that result.
Fathers' Qualitative and Quantitative Involvement: An Investigation of Attachment, Play, and Social Interactions
Authors: Kazura Kerry
Published: May 2007

This study investigated father-child relationships by recording fathers' level of involvement and by examining the quality of this relationship through attachment behaviors, play interactions, and social interactions. Although fathers were not as involved as mothers in child-rearing activities, children played at higher levels with their fathers. Children securely attached to their fathers played at significantly higher levels than did children insecurely attached to their fathers. Conversely, mothers with secure attachments to their children were more responsive and facilitative, and their children actively engaged in more social interaction, than in mother-child insecure dyads. These findings suggest that play is important for father-child relationships, whereas mother-child relationships revolve around social interactions.
Representing Gay Men on American Television
Authors: Hart Kylo-Patrick R.
Published: May 2007

This essay examines the representation of gay men on American television programs from the late 1960s to the present. It explores the impact of the process of media representation on the lived realities of gay males past and present, revealing not only how much progress has been made in recent decades regarding the representation of gay men on American television, but also how much progress has yet to be made. Such representations are examined briefly in the context of numerous television shows (including 21 Jump Street; All My Children; Dawson's Creek; Leg Work; Marcus Welby, M.D.; and Will & Grace) and more extensively with regard to three popular Fox prime-time series ( Beverly Hills, 90210; Melrose Place; and Party of Five).
Sex between Men and Boys in Classical Greece: Was it Education for Citizenship or Child Abuse?
Authors: Bloch Enid
Published: May 2007

For most of the past two thousand years no one would discuss Greek pederasty directly, and the innumerable references in ancient literature to erotic relationships between men and boys were ignored or suppressed. This situation has changed in recent years with the publication of important books about sexuality in the ancient world, but despite the openness of modern discussion, the question has yet to be raised whether Greek pederasty was good for the young boys who were the object of adult male sexual attention. Modern scholars have tended to accept without question or doubt the rationale of the ancient pederasts that their activities were beneficial to boys, that they were educating boys in the habits and ways of manhood and of citizenship. This paper explores sex between men and boys from the point of view of the child rather than the adult, drawing evidence both from ancient literature and from modern medicine to reveal how deeply troubling and damaging the pederastic experience must have been for many Greek boys.
Marginalizing the Battered Male
Authors: Migliaccio Todd A.
Published: May 2007

Being marginalized in Western society involves denial of access to resources, inability to assume a dominant identity, and the perception by others as a deviant. For marginalized men in American society, their deviant status can result in others' questioning their masculinity. Fearing emasculation, many men attempt to hide or deny those aspects of their identities or lives that result in this, such as being abused, which is normally an ascribed role for women. This paper analyzes the narratives of 12 marginalized, that is, abused men. Through interviews and Internet postings, information was obtained on these men's experiences, beliefs, and reactions to their violent marriages and how their fear of being feminized impacted their relationships, often prolonging the violence.
Black, and Navy Too: How Vietnam Era African-American Sailors Asserted Manhood through Black Power Militancy
Authors: Graham Herman
Published: May 2007

In the early 1970s, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the Chief of Naval Operations, launched a recruitment program targeted at black men, so that the Navy could attain sufficient manpower to meet the needs of its increasing role in the Vietnam War. Rather than experiencing manly fulfillment through rank and status, black sailors felt emasculated by the discriminatory treatment they received. This essay explores how African-American sailors asserted their manhood through racial militancy and violent protest.
Gender-Role-Conflicted Men's Poor Parental Attachment and Separation/Individuation Difficulties: Knights without Armor in a Savage Land
Authors: Blazina Christopher
Published: May 2007

This study reanalyzed an earlier study by Blazina & Watkins (2000), which focused upon gender role conflicted men's attachment to parents and their scores of separation/individuation. Study found that these men had poor attachment to parents and difficulties with separation/individuation issues. Implications for treatment and future research are discussed.
Teaching Men's Studies in Religion at an All-Women's College
Authors: Clark J. Michael ,   THE STUDENTS IN RS 220/WS 221
Published: May 2007

An all-women's college could provide the perfect opportunity to address two important issues: to develop an additional model for teaching men's studies within undergraduate religious studies and to facilitate a collective women's response to profeminist men's studies. To accomplish both these tasks, we piloted a new course at Agnes Scott College during fall semester 1999, entitled “Women, Masculinities, and Religion.” This course, including its female participants' responses to men's studies work in religion during the 1990s, constitutes one specific site of the intersection of men's studies scholarship and professional practice, the further exploration of which may both enhance pedagogical conversations within the academy and contribute to the future shape of genuinely profeminist men's studies work within the field of religious studies. To these ends, this paper describes the shape and content of the course, and examines both related pedagogical issues and students' responses to the course design and content.
Pessimism, Paralysis, and Possibility: Crisis-Points in Profeminism
Authors: Goldrick-Jones Amanda
Published: May 2007

Has men's anti-sexist or profeminist activism been following “a path from optimism to pessimism,” as Lynne Segal claims? An examination of documents produced by profeminist groups in North America and Britain suggests that “crisis” (a state of change) may be a more helpful description of profeminism today. Within these documents, certain key or resonant terms illustrate conflicts that challenge idealized concepts of group “unity” and provide insights into attitudes surrounding these conflicts. These conflicts and crises can destabilize “unity” to the point where attempts to sustain centralized, politically motivated profeminist organizations like NOMAS are jeopardized. While this may be cause for pessimism, the crises experienced by such groups may also be transformative, opening up possibilities for other forms of profeminist activism.
Negotiating Masculinities in American Drinking Subcultures
Authors: West Lois A.
Published: May 2007

Drinking cultures are the means by which men negotiate masculinities in leisure activities. This exploratory article examines similarities and differences between two American male drinking subcultures—the fraternity and the U.S. Navy. It shows that in their leisure alcohol use, men negotiate subordinate and dominant masculinities within real-life everyday experiences of increasing cultural diversity. Alcohol use facilitates the creation of masculine homosociality by developing a sense of community and trust, and perpetuates certain kinds of American masculine traditions. It facilitates and inhibits negotiations over social boundaries and hierarchies of class, race/ethnicity, and sexuality. Status hierarchies get negotiated through competitive drinking games, humor, and heterosexual significations. Male alcohol subcultures enact, contradict, negotiate, and challenge a society's masculinities in complex and diverse ways in this ethnography done on the West Coast.
An Exploration of Perceptions of Masculinity among Gay Men Living with HIV
Authors: Halkitis Perry N.
Published: May 2007

An ethnographic investigation was undertaken to explore the social construct of masculinity. Fifteen HIV seropositive gay men in New York City were interviewed via electronic medium in order to characterize behaviors and associated meanings attached to the conception of masculinity as physicality. Structured interviews were utilized to ascertain these data in order to illustrate how some men define masculinity in terms of their physical appearance and sexual adventurism. The data indicate that men who possess this ideological stance regarding masculinity seek to remain healthy, appear physically strong, and attract sexual partners. This hegemonic standard of masculinity is a result of both the men's HIV infection as well as their perceptions of gay community norms. Emphasis on physical strength and sexual prowess as means of defining masculinity has become a standard in the last two decades for some seropositive gay men.
Human Affection Exchange: I. Reproductive Probability as a Predictor of Men's Affection with Their Sons
Authors: Floyd Kory
Published: May 2007

The present study examines the communication of affection in men's relationships with their fathers and with their sons. Drawing from affection exchange theory and contemporary theorizing about fatherhood, three predictions are advanced: 1) heterosexual men receive more affection from their fathers than do homosexual or bisexual men; 2) fathers communicate affection to their sons more through the use of supportive activities than through direct verbal statements or nonverbal gestures; and 3) men communicate more affection to their sons than they received from their fathers. Fifty men with at least one son completed questionnaires regarding affectionate communication in their relationships with their sons and their fathers. Half of the men were self-identified as exclusively heterosexual and the other half were self-identified as exclusively homosexual or bisexual. The predictions received substantial support.
Combating Stigma in the Printed News: Contributions of Direct Quotations and Journalistic Story Type to Reader Perceptions of a Controversial Gay Man
Authors: Hart Kylo-Patrick R. , Powers Elizabeth C.
Published: May 2007

This study investigates how presenting the same factual content with varying narrators, as required by harder-versus softer-news formats, influences the way readers perceive the gay male subject of an actual news story. Because previous social-psychological findings have suggested that people typically respond to others first as members of distinct groups and then later as individuals if and only if they have sufficient motivation for doing so, the expectation was that presenting the same factual content with varying narrators—effected through the quantity of direct quotations included from the news subject—would provide such motivation. The findings of this study support this contention.
Exploring the Dynamics of Masturbation and Consensual Same-Sex Activity within a Male Maximum Security Prison
Authors: Hensley Christopher , Tewksbury Richard , Wright Jeremy
Published: May 2007

Research on the topic of masturbation and same-sex sexual activities within male prisons has been sparse in sociological and correctional literature. The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence, amount, and frequency of masturbation and consensual homosexual activity among male inmates. Surveys were administered to 142 inmates in a male Southern correctional facility. The most salient variable associated with the frequency of male inmate masturbation was education. Educated inmates were more likely to be frequent masturbators in prison than less educated inmates. Race and religion had significant effects on same-sex activities within male prisons. White inmates were more likely to engage in consensual homosexual behavior than non-whites. In addition, non-Protestants were more likely than Protestants to engage in same-sex sexual activities while incarcerated. The present study finds support for both the deprivation and importation models.
Part Objects, Infantile Fantasies, and Intrapsychic Boundaries: An Object Relations Perspective on Male Difficulties with Intimacy
Authors: Blazina Christopher
Published: May 2007

The difficulties men have with intimacy issues are documented within clinical lore as well as a growing body of empirical research. This paper traces these difficulties to the disidentification process and suggests that there are some specific ways in which this emotionally traumatic process manifests itself. This is expounded upon using an object relations perspective, in particular the work of Melanie Klein and Margaret Mahler. Implications for treatment are discussed.
Sport and Images of Masculinity: The Meaning of Relationships in the Life Course of “Elite” Male Athletes
Authors: Drummond Murray J. N.
Published: May 2007

This paper is based on a research project that investigated the social construction of masculinity in sports. Elite level male athletes from the sports of triathlon, surf lifesaving, and bodybuilding were interviewed in-depth to develop an understanding of the phenomenon of what it is like to be a man involved in sport and how it influences and impacts on other areas of their lives. The paper highlights the way in which sport, men, and relationships are uniquely interrelated. Specifically, men's relationships with women, fathers, peers, and, finally, other men from different sports will be explored and discussed in relation to elite level sport. It will then be discussed further with respect to men in general and related to men throughout contemporary Western culture. Sport has long been perceived as a masculine domain and is one of the primary sites for the social construction of masculinity in contemporary Western society. Sport can offer its young male participants many pleasurable experiences. However, it can also create crises within their lives. Utilizing life course theory within a psychosocial perspective, this paper identifies some of the changes that emerge throughout sportsmen's lives and the effects these changes can have upon personal identity and subsequent relationships. By using sport to identify the problems associated with masculine identity, it provides a looking glass for the problems associated with the social construction of masculinity for men in contemporary Western society.
Ordinary Masculinity: Gender Analysis and Holocaust Scholarship
Authors: Haynes Stephen R.
Published: May 2007

This paper addresses the reluctance of scholars who study the Holocaust professionally to acknowledge insights from the burgeoning discipline of men's studies. In recent years the scholarly study of masculinity has exploded among anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, and scholars of religion. The perspectives animating this “new men's studies” appear to be quite compatible with—and even a natural complement to—the gender scholarship that has made such a signal contribution to our understanding of women's experience in the Holocaust. Why, then, has the study of masculinity achieved so little scholarly recognition in the interdiscipline of Holocaust Studies? The paper suggests answers to this question, while attempting to demonstrate the relevance of gender analysis for interpreting the experience and behavior of perpetrators at every level of the Nazi Final Solution.