Fall 2008

SOC 321K • Sociology of Masculinities

Course Description

Why do we study men and masculinity? Isn't traditional academic knowledge male biased, anyway? Yes, most scholarship has been androcentric but women's studies intellectuals have facilitated the emergence of a critical analysis and study of men as men. This course is devoted to a sociological examination of the most important debates and discussions about men's experiences of masculinity in contemporary patriarchal societies. In this course, we will examine social and individual meanings of masculinity, the dominant paradigms of masculinity that we take as the norm, and the problems, contradictions and paradoxes men experience in modern society. We will examine these themes while looking at the social and cultural dynamics shaped by class, race/ethnicity, sexuality, age, and culture in a variety of social contexts and arrangements. Although we will study men representing the diverse cultural groups in the United States, we will pay special attention to the experiences of Latino men. We will examine the privileges as well as the costs of rigid expressions of masculinity. In our discussions we will explore avenues for social justice and change.

Grading Policy

Class participation and attendance 5%
4 freewriting papers 20%
Exams 45%
Final paper 30%

Texts

Kimmel & Messner, Men's Lives, Seventh Edition, Allyn and Bacon
Course reader

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