Endorsement of Traditional Masculinity Ideologies is Associated With Differences in Psychotherapy Use Among Heterosexual-Identified but not Non-Heterosexual-Identified Men

Background: Heterosexual-identified men, as compared to non-heterosexual-identifiedmen, are less likely to seek out psychotherapy when experiencing psychological distress. Stronger endorsement of traditional masculinity ideologies (TMI) has been reported to be associated with reduced psychotherapy use among men. However, the relationship between psychotherapy use, TMI, and sexual identity needs to be explored.Methods: A total of 728 psychologically distressed men (59.9% heterosexual-identified, 40.1% non-heterosexual-identified) from German-speaking parts of Europe completed an online questionnaire asking about current psychotherapy use, endorsement of TMI, experienced gender role conflict, depression symptoms, and externalizing depression symptoms.Results: In total 34.5% (N = 251) of the men were currently using psychotherapy, of which 47.4% (N = 119) identified as heterosexual and 52.6% (N = 132) as non-heterosexual. Heterosexual-identified men used psychotherapy significantly less than gay- and bisexual- identified men, while showing comparable psychological distress. Additionally, heterosexual-identified men exhibited higher endorsement of TMI across all domains and experienced more masculine gender role conflict, especially in the domains Success, Power, Competition and Restrictive Affectionate Behavior Between Men. In heterosexual- but not non-heterosexual-identified men, stronger endorsement of TMI was associated with reduced psychotherapy use.Conclusion: Higher endorsement of TMI is linked to reduced psychotherapy use among psychologically distressed heterosexual-identified men. Thus, challenging TMI and advocating for alternative masculinities that include health promoting behavior can especially help heterosexual-identified men.

Uncles’ Generation: Adult Male Fans and Alternative Masculinities in South Korean Popular Music (Translation into Russian)

This article discusses the recent emergence of adult male fans of Korean pop (K-pop) music who openly engage themselves in fan activities typically associated with teenagers (particularly teenage girls) and the significance of their adoration of young female celebrities. The recent appearance of the ‘samchon/uncle fans’ in the K-pop culture discourse marks the first instance since the early 1990s, when teenagers became the primary target audience of South Korea’s entertainment industry, in which male adults reclaimed a significant position as a demographic group of fans. The samchon fans differ from the traditional ajossi (middle-aged, patriarchal men) listeners of adult contemporary music in the kinds of singers and musical genres to which they listen, as well as in their self-identification as fans, participation in fan activities and mass media portrayals. I investigate the implications of the men’s consumption pattern and their representation in South Korean mass media within the contexts of the history of the construction of hegemonic masculinity in South Korea and of recent developments in East Asian popular culture. I also explore possible ways to apply, complicate and question existing theoretical and conceptual frameworks to explain the phenomenon and argue for the possibility of politically potent, alternative masculinities constructed and manifested through the men’s conspicuous consumption of cultural commodities.

Re-framing women’s agency in #Blessed sex: Intersectional dilemmas for African women’s theologies

The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians has since its inception, affirmed the agency of women in their theological reflection and praxis. In doing so, they have called on their male colleagues to stand in solidarity with them in forging alternative masculinities that renew culture, curb gender-based violence and mitigate HIV infection. This essay argues that there are three assumptions that form the basis of the work of the Circle theologians. Firstly, that women seek to be in egalitarian relationships with men that bring dignity and respect. Secondly, women assert their agency to achieve this goal and in so doing bring healing and wholeness to both groups who are transformed through this process. Thirdly, women assert their agency in solidarity with other women as they build alternative egalitarian communities. Yet, the recent phenomenon of the #Blessed community of young women who seek out ‘blessers’, older men who engage them in transactional sex, in order to fund opulent lifestyles contradicts these assumptions. Their agency embraces non-liberative ideology and practice and chooses not to unseat the dominant ideologies of hetero- and econo-patriarchy.Contribution: The essay concludes that a lack of sustained economic analysis and engaged theological reflection on sexual ethics means the Circle is ill-equipped to respond to the challenge posed by the #Blessed community of young women.

Stumbling into sustainability: The effectual marketing approach of Ecuadorian entrepreneurs to reframe masculinity and accelerate the adoption of slow fashion

The prevalent business model of fast fashion has received widespread criticism for being antithetical to sustainability. Therefore, many Gen-Y fashion entrepreneurs routinely base their business models on principles of sustainability. Additionally, the green-feminine stereotype not only hinders male consumers’ adoption of ecofriendly products but also poses cultural obstacles for male slow fashion entrepreneurs. By example of the Ecuadorian slow fashion company Remu Apparel, this article investigates how male entrepreneurs craft alternative masculinities through both personal and marketing narratives with the intent to mobilize the adoption of slow fashion and to overcome the aforementioned stereotype by reframing hegemonic masculinity. Interviews with the company’s founders indicate that the causal fast fashion business model is recognized as harmful and unsustainable; consequently, a sustainability-oriented, effectual, slow fashion business approach is implemented, which opposes the globalized hegemonic business system and concurrently challenges and reframes traditional masculinity. Through respect for natural growth, intermittent compromises and career as self-discovery, an alternative, reflective masculinity is crafted and enshrined in Remu’s business objectives. A visual content analysis indicates that social media tools are used to promote and stabilize the image of this alternative masculinity. The findings highlight avenues to mobilize slow fashion adoption within entrepreneurial networks and how sustainable, ecofriendly fashion can be promoted among male consumers.

I Do It, but I Decide With Whom

Social interactions and communication shape the desires and preferences of men and women. While it is true that some men have modified their behavior due to feminist women, the same happened with some women, who changed attraction patterns thanks to new alternative masculinities (NAM). This study examines the latter, focusing on social interactions mediated by language, as a crucial element to impact and change the desires of people. For this purpose, six autobiographical interviews were conducted with women aged 19–39 years, from two different countries and continents, paying attention to the narratives of their sexual-affective relationships. Using the communicative methodology, interactions have been analyzed from verbal communication and nonverbal communication, based on the consequences of the actions rather than intentionality. The results of this study show how dialogic communicative acts with NAMs influenced some women who first defended or justified actions of male perpetrators to later prefer to support female survivors against their perpetrators. Analysis reveals that communicative acts grounded in such language that enacted the desire of NAM for women of solidarity have shaped some memories of women of relationships with dominant traditional masculinities (DTM) and, ultimately, contributed to change their attraction and election patterns.

I Only Want Passionate Relationships: Are You Ready for That?

Research shows the existence of a coercive dominant discourse that associates attraction with violence and influences the socialization processes of many girls and women. According to previous studies, the coercive dominant discourse constitutes a risk factor for gender violence, as men with violent attitudes and behaviors are socially presented as attractive and exciting while egalitarian and non-aggressive men are considered “not sexy.” Yet fewer evidences indicate that men acting from the New Alternative Masculinities (NAM) model overcome this double standard through verbal and non-verbal communicative acts, which tell that they do not choose women acting under the coercive dominant discourse for a relationship because they are not “jumping for joy” when meeting them. Drawing from communicative daily life stories conducted to men and women from diverse sociocultural backgrounds and ages, this article presents how language is used in concrete heterosexual sexual-affective relationships. The analysis resulting from the fieldwork focus on how NAM men’s communicative acts with women set conditions of desire. This article shows evidence on how communicative acts of NAM empowerment incorporate “language of desire,” taking a clear position for egalitarian and passionate relationships. Implications for gender violence prevention are presented.

“Three Steps Above Heaven? Really? That’s All Tactic!” New Alternative Masculinities Dismantling Dominant Traditional Masculinity’s Strategies

Research on preventive socialization of gender violence has contributed abundant empirical evidence that attraction to violence is common among adolescents. This has meant that “bad guys,” or those who reflect the Dominant Traditional Masculinity (DTM) model, are chiefly perceived as appealing, while “good guys” are perceived as good friends but not desirable. The mainstream media tends to reproduce this traditional model of affective-sexual relationships, which has harmful effects on young girls concerning gender and sexuality. However, New Alternative Masculinity men are challenging this traditional and unsatisfactory model of affective-sexual relationships. The 2010 Spanish version of the movie Three Steps above Heaven, a good example of this kind of media product, has proven to greatly impact communicative acts among adolescents. This article explores how this influence on adolescents is because the communicative acts about Hache – the main character in the movie – are full of the language of desire, and his own communicative acts are full of violence. On the one hand, we analyze how Three Steps above Heaven employs communicative acts to enhance the attractiveness of DTM. On the other hand, based on the evidence gathered in a communicative focus group (CFG) addressed to 15- and 16-year-old female adolescents, we analyze how New Alternative Masculinity men are demystifying Hache and the idea of having a “Three Steps Above Heaven” by demonstrating with the powerful language of desire that men like him employ farce strategies. The article includes evidence from interventions with adolescents where discussion of movies like this, with the involvement of New Alternative Masculinity men and grounded in the language of desire, can transform the perception about the sexual-affective relationship in the movie, thus counteracting their negative influence in terms of attraction to violence.

Making Choices in Discourse: New Alternative Masculinities Opposing the “Warrior’s Rest”

Psychology research on men studies, attractiveness, and partner preferences has evolved from the influence of sociobiological perspectives to the role of interactions in shaping election toward sexual–affective relationships and desire toward different kinds of masculinities. However, there is a scientific gap in how language and communicative acts among women influence the kind of partner they feel attracted to and in the reproduction of relationship double standards, like the myth of the “warrior’s rest” where female attractiveness to “bad boys” is encouraged or supported. Some women imitate “the warrior” behavior of men by choosing dominant traditional masculinities (DTM) to have “fun” with and oppressed traditional masculinities (OTM) for “rest” after the “fun” with DTM—choosing an OTM for a stable relationship, but perhaps without passion, while also feeling attraction toward DTM, a response which perpetuates the chauvinist double standard that the feminist movement has condemned when men behave in this sexist way. Through conducting a qualitative study with communicative daily life stories, this article explores, on the one hand, how language and social interaction among women can lead to the reproduction of the DTM role by women and, on the other hand, also how new alternative masculinities (NAM) offer an alternative by explicitly rejecting, through the language of desire, to be the rest for the female warrior, the second fiddle to any woman. This has the potential to become a highly attractive alternative to DTM. Findings provide new knowledge through the analysis of communicative acts and masculinities evidencing the importance of language uses in the reproduction of the double standards in gender relations and to understand how and why these practices are maintained and which kind of language uses can contribute to preventing them. Implications for research and interventions on preventive socialization of gender violence are discussed.