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Thoughts on the Workplace as a Masculinity Contest
Author(s) -
Ely Robin J.,
Kimmel Michael
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12290
Subject(s) - contest , masculinity , feeling , identity (music) , survival of the fittest , social psychology , sociology , work (physics) , psychology , gender studies , political science , aesthetics , law , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , evolutionary biology , biology
We consider how the research featured in this special issue reveals the deeply emotional nature of men's gender‐identity constructions at work: men qua men feeling threatened and insecure and thus compelled to prove their manliness in survival‐of‐the‐fittest competitions. These papers locate this behavior not in individual bad actors nor in men's supposed biological drives, but rather in the organizational norms and practices that foster masculinity contests. We offer possible ways forward for organizational practice and policy aimed at eliminating masculinity contest cultures and their negative effects.