Browsing by Subject "masculinity"

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Access status: Open Access ,
Kategoria męskości w dyskursie Kościoła katolickiego we współczesnej Polsce
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2016) Arcimowicz, Krzysztof
The objective of the article was to analyze principal discursive strategies employed in the period 1994–2015 in creating the category of masculinity by clergymen. Owing to the intertextuality of the ecclesiastical discourse the research material contained, beside statements of Polish bishops and priests, also official documents issued by Vatican as well as popes’ opinions. In addition, I included discourse on masculinity in the Catholic communities of laymen. The research material embraced nearly 100 texts. In the analysis I used proposals of discursive-historical approach in the critical discourse analysis. Most of the discursive strategies are characterized by a clear patriarchal nature. Polish hierarchs and priests opt for the equality of men and women, but simultaneously many expressions demonstrate a topos of asymmetry of gender roles, as well as the strategy of the man’s superiority over the woman. The ecclesiastical discourse clearly demonstrates homophobic opinions on homosexual relationships. The sharp attack of the Catholic Church on new progressive ideas referring to masculine roles as well as relations between women and men, which has intensified over this decade, should be perceived as an attempt to protect the shaky traditional gender order and to maintain the normative and symbolic power by the hierarchs.
Access status: Open Access ,
Older husbands as carers: constructions of masculinity in context of care-giving
(Wydawnictwa AGH, 2015) Kluczyńska, Urszula
The main aim of the article is to describe how older men who are caring for their wives construct their masculinity in the face of their new role and tasks. My research draws on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with ten men between 64 and 90 years old who are the primary carers for their wives. The findings revealed four ways in which older care-givers talk about masculinity, and for all of them hegemonic masculinity was a point of reference. Masculinity was defined not only in relation to the carer’s role, but also old age and the state of men’s health. The ways of perceiving the activity of caring were crucial. Analysis allowed the main motives of providing care to emerge: obligation, love, and attachment. The research findings showed that an important factor in the way masculinity is constructed by older men caring for their wives was the definition of care. Men who perceive care as a masculine task feel less frustrated in the care-giver role, and sometimes gain satisfaction and a source of self-esteem from care-giving.