Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Sense Of Loss: The Effect Of Prisoner Camp Conditions On German Pows’ Masculinity During The First World War, Analucia Lugo

The Purdue Historian

During the First World War, almost a million German soldiers became prisoners of war (POW) and held captive in enemy camps. The moment of capture and arrest caused these men to experience debilitating emotions, including guilt and fear. Varied conditions at POW camps bolstered these responses and often determined prisoner health and morale throughout the war. This article examines how camps in Britain, France, and Russia treated German POWs, and how German nationalism affected these soldiers' senses of masculinity and patriotism during and after the war.

Republican Manhood And The Disabled Revolutionary War Veteran In The Early American Republic, 1789 – 1797, Virgil Clark

Madison Historical Review

In the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, several Disabled Continental Army soldiers scattered across the burgeoning Republic were driven by desperation to write letters, pleading with General George Washington for his support. The soldiers’ decision to draft these letters stemmed from their profound frustration and disillusionment with the post-Revolution American state. The soldiers' discontent resulted from the sense of neglect they experienced after the state rejected their petitions for a Disabled Veteran’s pension. As time passed and rent went unpaid, medical bills piled up, and the threat of vagrancy loomed over these men like a malevolent specter. Unable to …

Middle-Earth’S Middleman: Exploring The Contradictory Positionalities Of Faramir In J.R.R. Tolkien’S 'The Lord Of The Rings', Kelsey A. Fuller-Shafer

Journal of Tolkien Research

In the large pantheon of characters in The Lord of the Rings, Faramir stands out for his position of unbelonging, and is usually analyzed comparatively to other characters rather than in-depth in his own right. However, more focused considerations of Faramir can articulate the breadth of Tolkien’s influences that were incorporated into Middle-earth as well as the ways in which those influences conflicted with Tolkien's own moral compass, and thus needed to be openly challenged and modified. Those internal conflicts can be interrogated throughout Faramir’s contradictory positions within the literature, history, and societies that Middle-earth represents. His positioning in a …

The Mutation Of The Model Man: 1936-1945, Andrea Rassmussen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Masculinity, or the ideal male model, differed significantly in the war years from the late 1930s. This evolution can be seen through articles in Coronet, in which the majority of stories had male heroes whose physical characteristics, personalities, and social graces all changed as the war started and progressed. The ideal man shifted from the Successful Businessman of the 30s to the Individualistic Team Player of the 40s. I chose these names because they encapsulate the contradiction that made up the model man of the war years. No more was the ideal a cutthroat businessman concerned with nothing except succeeding, …

The Manifestation Of Misogyny In The Pick Me Boy Trend On Tiktok Indonesia, Ying Wang, Mina Elfira

International Review of Humanities Studies

Misogyny is hatred, contempt, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism used to keep women in a lower social status than men, thereby maintaining patriarchal social roles. Hegemonic masculinity is the most exalted configuration of gender practices that legitimizes patriarchy. This article draws on the framework of Raewyn Connell's theory of masculinity and Kate Manne's concept of misogyny to discuss the phenomenon of Indonesian TikTok videos with the hashtag “Pick Me Boy” or #Pick Me Boy. Pick Me Boy challenge traditional masculinity to gain women's attention, and then demean women if rejected. This article uses …

Film Review: Beyond Men And Masculinity–Exploring The Detrimental Effects Of Masculinity And Envisioning A New Paradigm, Raheleh Akhavizadegan

Journal of International Women's Studies

The documentary Beyond Men and Masculinity explores the negative impact of traditional masculinity on men’s mental and emotional health, as well as its broader societal implications. It advocates for a redefined version of masculinity based on vulnerability, compassion, and equality. The experts in the documentary emphasize the need for men to express their emotions, challenge traditional gender norms, and create a more just and equitable society. By redefining masculinity, the documentary envisions a future where men can thrive beyond rigid expectations and embrace their authentic selves, leading to improved mental health, reduced violence, and stronger communities.

Hypertrophy As Nato’S Masculinity: Out-Of-Area Operations And Enlargements In The Post-Cold War Context, Carlos González-Villa, Branislav Radeljić

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Russian intervention in Ukraine in February 2022 has served as a catalyst or actualizer of a long-standing trend in NATO: that of justifying its existence by its geographical expansion. This is both in organic terms, through the incorporation of new states into its structure, and in operational terms, through the execution of so-called out-of-area operations, and the intensification of its rivalry with Russia. This dynamic, which has been firmly established since the mid-1990s, has been overridden by the growing contradictions between the interests of its members, the successive changes in US administrations, and the transformation of the international system, …

Chaos In Congress: Masculinity And Violence In The Congressional Struggle Over Kansas, Ian L. Baumer

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

According to Joanne Freeman's recent book on congressional violence, in the years between 1830 and 1860, members of Congress engaged in 'manly' violence against one another more than seventy times. However, no issue caused more violent personal disputes in the legislature than slavery. In particular, the debate over the legal status of slavery in the Kansas Territory caused a panoply of incidents in Congress, including near-duel between John C. Breckinridge and Francis Cutting in 1854, Preston Brooks' caning of Charles Sumner in 1856, and a brawl in the House of Representatives in 1858. This article examines how these lawmakers' views …

Bollywood As A Site Of Resistance: Women And Agency In Indian Popular Culture, Sheetal Yadav, Smita Jha

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article evaluates the contemporary Indian redefinition of gender norms, subjectivity, and practices by analyzing Bollywood films as a major influence upon its global audiences. This study explores how Indian cinema redefines women’s status and promotes gender-neutral entertainment by harnessing the powerful energies of current movements such as #MeToo. The article closely examines the textual and conceptual features of current women-focused movies like Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga (2019), Thappad (2020), and Paglait (2021). This examination focuses on key insights from popular Bollywood actresses’ critical feminist roles to understand their assertions of women’s power, agency, and equality. Additionally, …

Masculinist Constructions Of Nationalism In India: Gender, Body Politics, And Hindi Cinema, Nupur Ray

Journal of International Women's Studies

Nationalism is an evocative concept with multiple philosophies around its meanings, purposes and contentions. Symbols, imagery, and spectacle play an important role in cultural expressions of nationalism that sustain an emotional response. The paper argues that imaginative constructs of nationalism in India are primarily constructed around women’s bodily metaphors, sexual norms, and their maternal roles in families. Popular culture, particularly cinema, tends to reinforce power hierarchies in which women symbolizing the nation are in need of protection by men or the state as a masculine authority. Hindi cinema has been an integral part of the socio-cultural lives of people in …

Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman (2020): A Psychoanalytic Review Of Masculinity And Rape Culture, Marjorie A. Briones

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

TW: mentions of sexual violence and rape

When it comes to the subject of sexual violence, there are systemic and cultural effects that prevents assaulters from being properly prosecuted. In the U.S., perpetrators of sexual violence largely consists of heterosexual, white men (RAINN, 2022). So, we begin to question the ways in which sexual violence and masculinity are interconnected. By conducting a psychoanalytic analysis of Emerald Fennell’s 2020 film Promising Young Woman, the ideas of toxic masculinity and “rape culture” will be deconstructed in regard to Cassie’s–the protagonist–story. Theories by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung will be connected to real-life …

Rosalind's Masculine Self: As You Like It And Criticism Of Male Communities, Faith Langford

Merge

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Onlooker Gender And Restrictive Emotionality On Help-Seeking Behavior, Kassidy M. Patarino, Mia Mclaughlin, Amelia Trembath, Chris Gunderson, E. Paige Lloyd

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Endorsing traits associated with masculinity, such as restrictive emotionality (RE), may have negative implications for the health and well-being of both male and female individuals, specifically in terms of help-seeking. The current work examines whether gender of an onlooker (i.e., a coworker) impacts participants’ self-reported likelihood to seek help for a physical ailment or injury in the workplace. We also investigate if RE moderated the relationship between onlooker gender and intent to seek help. We hypothesize that participants would be more likely to seek help from a female (vs. male) coworker and this anticipated effect would be exacerbated for those …

Being The Bigger Ram: Arable Vs Pastoral Masculinities In The Towneley Mactacio Abel, Daisy E. Black

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This article addresses the construction of rural masculine identities through a study of the Towneley manuscript play Mactacio Abel (The Killing of Abel) and the relationships the play stages between human, animal, and land. It argues that the Mactacio Abel places pastoral and arable agricultural labor in competition through the play’s two brothers, and that this competition takes the form of a gendered attack on the masculinity of each. The article begins with Cain’s arable farming and how the character’s antagonistic relationship with the earth hints at his failures as laborer and as a man. It examines Cain’s …

May Medica: Divine Healing And The Garden In “The Merchants Tale”, Maria Zygogianni

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

The motif of the woman as a healer and/or cure (as a nurse, interceding saint, or beloved lady) occurs across medieval literary genres from romance to hagiography. This article explores the ways in which the character of May in Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale reflects and parodies the figure of the female healer. The first section explores the healing women of romance and hagiographic traditions, as well as the frameworks of magic and saintly intervention which underpin them. The second section applies a framework of disability studies to the enfeebled body of May’s husband January, and his attempts to reconstitute his …

Another Paris: Gabriel And Greek Mythology In “The Dead”, Rebekah Olsen

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

The works of James Joyce, including his short story collection Dubliners, have been studied to distraction by academics throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In this paper, I expound on ideas of Edwardian masculinity in Joyce's "The Dead," as well as the links between the myth of the Judgement of Paris and Gabriel's experience with the three key women in the story: Lily, the maid, Molly Ivors, the modern woman, and Gretta, Gabriel's wife. These women are first perceived as graces, merely ornamental figures, but they force their personhood onto Gabriel, and he is shocked by their deviation from his …

Fraternity, Martyrdom And Peace In Burundi: The Forty Servants Of God Of Buta, Jodi Mikalachki

Journal of Global Catholicism

During Burundi's 1993-2005 civil war, students at Buta Minor Seminary were ordered at gunpoint to separate by ethnicity—Hutus over here, Tutsis over there! They chose instead to join hands and affirm their common identity as children of God. The forty students killed were quickly proclaimed martyrs of fraternity. Their costly solidarity defused the cry for reprisals and continues to inspire Burundians and others on the path of reconciliation. Drawing on fifty interviews with survivors, parents of martyrs, neighbors, religious leaders and other Burundian intellectuals, this essay examines how Burundian Catholics understand the significance of the Buta martyrdom to their …

Editor's Introduction, Mathew N. Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

The Tragedy Of Gregory And Sampson: Teaching Romeo And Juliet’S Opening Scene, Heather G.S. Johnson

Feminist Pedagogy

Romeo and Juliet is as much about hate as it is about love. The tragedy focuses on a kind of toxic masculinity that thrives on aggression and anger and that turns communities into battlefields, men into adversaries, and women into prizes or prey. This short critical commentary zooms in on the conversation between Gregory and Sampson at the beginning of Act I.

Demigods And Gender Roles: Non-Heteronormative Gender Expressions And The Works Of Rick Riordan, Lee M. Witkowski

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Gender serves as a powerful ideology to systematically oppress minorities, such as women and people within the LGBTQ+ community. This ideology is learned at a young age through media such as fantasy literature. By analyzing several fantasy texts through a lens of gender politics, I track the history of gender in the fantasy genre and posit that inclusive works such as those of Rick Riordan influence children and adolescents to become more accepting of sexual and gender minorities.

Racial, Gender, And Sexual Imagery And The Black Queer Man: An Excerpt From “I Cannot Go Home As I Am: Exploring Identity In Black Queer Men At Yale In The Context Of The Hiv/Aids Epidemic”, Maxwell Richardson

The Yale Undergraduate Research Journal

Situated in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Black queer men were and continue to be one of the most affected groups by the epidemic. Looking back as to why, it is very apparent that intersecting themes of racism, homophobia, and masculinity norms, among various other forces contribute to the difficulty many Black queer men had in accessing agency in the epidemic. Through oral histories, as well as analysis of primary source material from the 1980s, I examine the topic of racial, gender, and sexual imagery as it informs and impacts the Black queer male identity throughout this time.

Masculinity And Challenges For Women In Indian Culture, I. Sivakumar, K. Manimekalai

Journal of International Women's Studies

Construction of masculinity in India has been approached and studied from a variety of feminist perspectives. The feminist perspective focused on the discourse and gained much greater momentum during the pre-colonial and colonial periods. During the pre-independence era, the status of women in the areas of productive, reproductive, sexual health, mobility, and economic resources deteriorated to great extent owing to intense patriarchal oppression. Now in the post-colonial period sex-determination tests leading to the massacre of female fetuses, declining sex-ratio are unfavourable to women. Rapidly changing sex-ratios and increasing evidence of violence against women are the strong pointers that have justified …

Eat Like A White Man: Meat-Eating, Masculinity, And Neo-Colonialism, Saphronia Carson

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Gender Studies scholarship has argued that one significant way contemporary hegemonic masculinities are constructed and reinforced is through meat consumption. Conversely, plant-based diets such as veganism and vegetarianism are considered feminine. This paper builds on an emerging body of research that traces this gendering of meat and plant-based diets to British colonialism in India. Drawing on ecofeminist and postcolonial theory, it shows how British colonizers feminized Indian dietary cultures, specifically Hindu vegetarian diets, to reinforce their own sense of masculinity. Through critical analyses of marketing and media, it demonstrates how these colonial gendered food images continue to populate contemporary imaginations. …

Precarious Manhood: Adolescence And Group Rape In Late Medieval Europe, Michelle Armstrong-Partida

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Sexual assault, through coercion or violence, was omnipresent at every level of medieval society and perpetrated by males from all socio-economic backgrounds. This article argues that a specific type of sexual violence—group rape—committed by two or more individuals, was a phase of men’s social development. It explores the connection between adolescence and sexual aggression to show that collective rape was a feature of male youth culture used a form of recreation to gain sexual experience, forge bonds with peers, and publicly prove masculinity as adolescents transitioned from childhood to adulthood. Many young males first learned to rape in groups before …

Architectural Filth And The Heroic Passivism Of Farhadi's Salesman, Vahid Vahdat

Interiority

Architecture in Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman (2016) is not a mere passive backdrop to an otherwise unaffected narrative; it is an autonomous agent that takes part in the events that unfold, complicates the narrative, and even occasionally defies the ideological position of the film. By analysing interior spaces, architectural elements, urban infrastructure, and maintenance practices, I suggest that 1) the fluid visual boundaries of Farhadi’s spatial settings are instrumental in blurring the borders of truth and morality—themes that are central to his film; 2) the ontological study of architecture, from the moment of excavation to its ultimate fracture/failure serves as …

Peeta’S Virtue In The Hunger Games Trilogy, Gabriel Ertsgaard

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

The Latin virtus literally means “manliness” (vir = man) and, by extension, the positive qualities that a man should have. During the transition from Latin to French to English, “virtue” lost its gender specificity, but retained its reference to positive qualities. Thus, by the Enlightenment period, separate standards of virtue had emerged for women and men. Suzanne Collins disrupts this gendered virtue dichotomy in her Hunger Games trilogy. Peeta Mellark is a natural diplomat and peacemaker, a gentle soul who fits the feminine model of virtue better than the masculine model. Although Peeta engages in violence when necessary, he …

"Because It’S 2015!": Justin Trudeau’S Yoga Body, Masculinity, And Canadian Nation-Building, Jennifer Musial, Judith Mintz

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In 2015, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters he chose a gender-balanced cabinet “because it’s 2015,” a sentiment that resonated with Leftists and feminists. Trudeau showed he was a different kind of male politician through his yoga practice. Through candid yoga photographs, Trudeau represented himself as a sensitive new age guy who challenged hegemonic masculinity through wellness, playfulness, and a commitment to multiculturalism. Using discourse analysis, we examine visual, print, and social media texts that feature Trudeau’s connection to yoga, masculinity, and nation-building. We argue that Trudeau’s yoga body projects a “hybrid masculinity” (Bridges 2014; Demetriou 2001) that constructs …

Making It Through The Wilderness: Trees As Markers Of Gendered Identities In Sir Orfeo, Danielle Howarth

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Wood was an essential material in the Middle Ages, but trees – and human relationships with them – are too often ignored. Using trees as a lens through which to view medieval romance can provide us with a new perspective on the genre, on medieval gender norms, and on human relationships with the material non-human. This article focusses on the trees in the Middle English Sir Orfeo in order to interrogate how Orfeo’s identity is linked to trees and wooden objects. Although Orfeo’s harp is the most obvious wooden marker of his identity, the ympe-tree in Orfeo and Herodis’s orchard, …

Angry White Men On Campus: Theoretical Perspectives And Recommended Responses, Kyle C. Ashlee, Pietro A. Sasso, Christina Witkowicki

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

In this article, the authors explore a rise in violent protest among white college men, theoretical interpretations of this trend, and recommendations that student affairs educators can implement to address the harmful acts of white male on campus. By examining hegemonic masculinity, the theory of dispossession, anomic protest masculinity, and white men’s disengagement in college, student affairs professionals can begin to understand the larger contemporary trend of student activism among white college men. Moreover, evaluating common strategies for engaging college men, including behavior-only approaches, bad-dogging accountability practices, and white privilege pedagogy, educators can gain perspective on how current responses in …

Examining Fatherhood Through Historical Empathy In Tristram Shandy, Marygrace King

The Criterion

Laurence Sterne’s eighteenth-century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy follows the tangential musings of Tristram Shandy — musings so roundabout and convoluted that they force modern readers either to eyerolls of frustration or to a reconceived sense of humor. Within this essay, I explore the character of Tristram’s father, Walter Shandy, through a lens of historical empathy. To twenty-first century standards, Walter’s fatherhood is lacking and distant, even uncaring; yet when viewed through the lens of an eighteenth-century perspective, Walter’s motivations and eccentricities begin to make sense in the context of eighteenth-century mortality rates. I explore his unorthodox …