Being the “Go-To Guy”: Fatherhood,Masculinity, and the Organization of Work in Silicon Valley

Based upon in-depth interviews with fathers who are employed as knowledge workers in Silicon Valley, this article argues that a newly constituted masculinity has emerged that coincides with the new way work is organized in the new economy. The article examines the relationship among this gendered subjectivity, processes of labor control, and fathering. It finds that the new masculinity functions as a key mechanism of control in high-tech workplaces that rely on identity-based forms of control and that the enactment of this new masculinity impacts the way fathers think about, experience, and manage their work and family lives.     

Do Traditional Fathers Always Work More? Gender Ideology,Race, and Parenthood

Research has shown that men who express traditional gender ideologies spend more time in paid work when they become fathers, whereas men who express egalitarian ideologies spend less time in paid work. This study extends previous research by examining racial differences among men. We drew on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N = 23,261) and found that fatherhood was associated with an increase in married White men's time spent in paid work. The increase was more than twice as strong for traditional White men than for egalitarian White men. In contrast, both egalitarian and traditional African American men did not work more when they became fathers. These findings suggest that African American men may express gender traditionalism but adopt more egalitarian work–family arrangements. This study also presents evidence of an interaction among race, class, and gender ideology that shapes fathers' time spent in paid work.     

“Outside and Inside, Male and Female” Reconsidered

This paper reconsiders Judith Kestenberg's classic work Outside and Inside, Male and Female in the light of subsequent work on gender identity and psycho-sexual development. Kestenberg argued that the fear of internal genital sensations was common to both men and women and an obstacle to sexual development. An understanding of the fears and phantasies men and women have about their bodies which they project onto each other is an important aspect of therapeutic work, which the author believes does not receive adequate attention. Through two case examples she shows where Kestenberg's theory is still valid and where it needs to be revised. While Kestenberg could assume a normative heterosexuality, the author suggests we must now reexamine our theories in the light of challenges presented by homosexuality, bisexuality and transexuality.     

Do Women’s Orgasms Function as a Masculinity Achievement for Men?

Orgasms have been promoted as symbols of sexual fulfillment for women, and have perhaps become the symbol of a woman’s healthy sex life. However, some research has suggested that this focus on women’s orgasms, though ostensibly for women, may actually serve men; but the mechanisms of this are unclear. In the present experiment, we hypothesized that women’s orgasms specifically function as a masculinity achievement for men. To test this, we randomly assigned 810 men (M age = 25.44, SD = 8.31) to read a vignette where they imagined that an attractive woman either did or did not orgasm during a sexual encounter with them. Participants then rated their sexual esteem and the extent to which they would feel masculine after experiencing the given situation. Our results showed that men felt more masculine and reported higher sexual esteem when they imagined that a woman orgasmed during sexual encounters with them, and that this effect was exacerbated for men with high masculine gender role stress. These results suggest that women’s orgasms do function—at least in part—as a masculinity achievement for men.     

Valdemar’s Abjection: Poe,Kristeva, Masculinity,and Victim-Monsters

This article explores intersections between Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 tale “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” and Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1982). Highly influential, Kristeva’s work illuminates Poe’s depiction of a man mesmerized on the point of death, his vibrating tongue the only indication of life. In his liminal condition between life and death, Valdemar transforms into a spectacle witnessed over time by a male group whose members remain intimately tied to yet always distant and aloof from him. As a spectacle of body horror, Valdemar evokes many of the attributes of Kristevan abjection theory, especially the fluids and waste materials associated with the maternal body. Challenging the maternal focus of abjection theory and its reception, I track the ways in which Poe’s tale locates abject affect in the fears of the male body and in the male group’s relationship to the expulsed, isolate male. Another antebellum author, the health reformer Sylvester Graham, provides a striking point of comparison in his focus on the young male onanist. Through Kristeva’s and Poe’s works, I develop a theory of the victim-monster, a being whose suffering initially incites sympathy but ultimately repels the spectator; the victim becomes monstrous, his or her suffering the true site of a horror that must be transcended to ensure the survival of the spectator. The victim-monster of Poe’s tale intersects with the figure of the grotesque and anti-Semitic caricature.     

Private money,public scrutiny? Contrasting perspectives on remittances

Migrant remittances have received unprecedented attention over the past decade and scholars have interpreted remittance flows from a range of vantage points. In this article, we explore the meaning of remittances from three perspectives – (1) as an ingredient of terrorism and crime; (2) as a contribution to development; and (3) as an obstacle to integration. We explore these perspectives through an analysis of eight years of public debate in Norway and a review of the academic literature. Our analysis shows that remittances are open to public scrutiny, often within a strongly normative framework. Such public scrutiny is at odds with the private nature of remittances and affects migrants' everyday lives both structurally and emotionally. This scrutiny of remittances also suggests underlying assumptions about migrants' legitimate loyalties and belonging that fail to take adequate account of their multiple attachments.     

Who Helps with Homework? Parenting Inequality and Relationship Quality Among Employed Mothers and Fathers

This study investigated the relationship between parenting inequalities and feelings of relationship quality, and whether those patterns differed for women and men. Using data from the nationally representative 2011 Canadian Work, Stress, and Health Survey (N?=?1427), we documented the relevance of perceived unfairness of the division of parenting and the ways that employment status and work hour preferences (“mismatch”) modify those relationships. We found that mothers in dual-earner households experience greater parenting inequalities than do similarly-situated fathers, net of housework inequalities. The negative association between parenting inequality and relationship quality was stronger among mothers—but that was due to perceived unfairness in the division of parenting tasks. We also observed that the detrimental effect of parenting inequality was stronger for mothers who worked part-time—but that was because of work hours mismatch: they tended to prefer to work longer hours. Our results contribute to the gendered nature of the division of parenting labor and its intersection with work hours and preferences.     

‘Dirt,Death and Danger? I Don't Recall Any Adverse Reaction …’: Masculinity and the Taint Management of Hospital Private Security Work

Drawing on an ethnographic narrative written by one of the authors following his resignation from a hospital private security team in Ottawa, Canada and interview data gleaned from eight security men (all former colleagues), this article explores how hospital private security officers draw on discourses of masculinity to navigate the ‘dirty’ boundaries of their work, and to preserve their alpha‐guard statuses as controlled, autonomous and authoritative subjects. We found that hospital guards manage and deflect taint status by emphasizing their resiliency, emotional detachment and enthusiasm towards morbid, disturbing and dangerous tasks. Guards who seek to challenge these components of the job may be subject to gender harassment and reprisal from other guards, senior security officials and nursing staff. Overall, these narratives call attention to the necessity of hospital training programmes, de‐briefing exercises and best‐communication practices that promote the physical and emotional well‐being of persons who engage in intensive forms of dirty work.     

Do Young Mothers and Fathers Differ in the Likelihood of Returning Home?

Building on research examining “boomerang” adult children, the author examines multigenerational living among young parents. Returning home likely differs between young mothers and fathers given variation in socioeconomic characteristics, health and risk taking, their own children's coresidence, and union stability. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), the author finds that more than 40% of young parents (n = 2,721) live with their own parents at their first child's birth or subsequently. Mothers are generally less likely to move home than fathers but only when not controlling for child coresidence and union stability. Individuals who live with all their children are less likely to return home, and controlling for child coresidence reverses gender differences, though this association disappears in the full model. Young parents who are stably single and those who experience dissolution are highly likely to return home compared to the stably partnered, with the association significantly stronger for fathers than mothers.     

Biology Matters? Intimate Relationships of Young Adults From Divorced and Intact Family Backgrounds as a Function of Biological Father and Male Model Involvement

Parental divorce generally results in reduced paternal involvement (i.e., decreased availability of a male model). The consequences are severe given the father's role in shaping children's intimate relationship beliefs and behaviors. Yet, after divorce, other sources of modeled behaviors might be available (e.g., stepfathers or grandfathers). To date, no research has compared biological paternal involvement and other male model involvement with regard to young adults' intimate relationships. Our results indicate that young adults who experience high paternal or male model involvement report more positive intimate relationship behaviors. Further, no differences were found between the high paternal involvement and high male model involvement groups, suggesting positive male model involvement might moderate the effects of divorce and low paternal involvement.     

The Unmaking of Management? Change and Continuity in British Management in the 1990s

In the late 1980s, a series of reports —notably, The Making of Managers by CharlesHandy-outlined a development path for management in theU.K. This was to be based on the development of aneducation and training base and the model set by leadingcorporations. A decade later, this paper reviews currenttrends in managerial work and employment against theexpectations of the late 1980s. In doing so, it distinguishes between the objectivecondition of British management and itsinstitutionalized meaning within wider British society.It argues that recent accounts of changes in managerialwork and employment have focused solely on incremental changes inthe empirical domain and have neglected importantdiscursive shifts in the way management is understoodand enacted within organizations. These shifts have been catalyzed by the emergence of a series oforganizational initiatives-first, Total QualityManagement (TQM) and, latterly, lean production andBusiness Process Reengineering (BPR)-which aim tosystematically deconstruct management by emphasizing workerempowerment, delayering, downsizing, and theredistribution of managerial functions. In short,initiatives such as these are contributing to theunmaking of management. Managerial groups aresubject to intensification and polarization, whilemanagerial practices are diffused throughout the workprocess.     

What Is Love without Mourning? Male Intimacies and Cultures of Loss

In this article, the author considers loss and mourning in relation to male homosexual love. He uses mourning as a framework through which to raise questions about the social and cultural status of gay male love in contemporary societies. He argues that loving within heteronormative cultures of intimacy creates forms of vulnerability for gay men and that this is often compounded at times of personal loss. He uses a psychoanalytic framework to consider the important role of culture in the mourning process and reflects on the ways that cultural forms, practices and representations provide the context through which mourning can be both facilitated and disabled. Recent examples from popular culture are used to consider the important role, and often significant absence, of symbolic frameworks through which gay men can enter into dialogues of mourning. In conclusion, the author argues that the social valuing of loss is intimately bound up with the social valuing of love.     

Henry Abelove’s “Freud,Male Homosexuality,and the Americans”

This is the first in a set of papers to revisit Henry Abelove’s “Freud, Male Homosexuality, and the Americans” (1985–1986) 30 years after initial publication. By way of introduction I describe the social and academic context of the early 1980s and Dr. Abelove’s search to find a receptive audience. For those unfamiliar with the work I briefly outline some important arguments made by Dr. Abelove and reflect on the changing social environment—politically, socially, and within psychoanalytic thought—since initial publication. With my colleagues Dr. Cushman and Dr. Layton, we reflect on Dr. Abelove’s scholarship and prescience and pause to give it the belated recognition from psychoanalysis that it has long deserved.     

Privatisation as professionalisation? Attitudes,motives and achievements among Swedish social workers

The purpose of this article is to discuss the relationship between privatisation and professionalisation in social work. In social services, privatisation is often seen as a politically planned (policy-driven) process as part of liberalisation strategies for market orientation of the welfare state. However, there are several reasons to believe that there is also a process of spontaneous privatisation (sometimes driven by demand), where professionals go private and provide various types of services to local welfare authorities. In this article, our aim is to explore the extent, impact and consequences of such profession-driven privatisation and to discuss whether privatisation is a strategy for professionalisation.

This article investigates: (1) attitudes among social workers and social work students toward privatisation in general and private practice in particular; (2) the extent and types of activities being performed privately; (3) the motives whether or not to choose self-employment; (4) the differences between public and self-employed social workers in terms of professionalisation.

Data are based on surveys of 1,000 Swedish social workers and 801 social work students. The results show ambivalence among professionals toward privatisation. The authors discuss the reasons for this at an individual and collective level. Although the share of social workers in private practice in Sweden is low, between 6 and 8%, more than one third of Swedish social workers expect to be working in private practice within 10 years. The circumstances faced by self-employed social workers, who rank higher on almost every professionalisation indicator (i.e. formal education, attitude toward research, internal status, wage level, autonomy), support the hypothesis about profession-driven privatisation.     

Do Predictors of Gambling Involvement Differ Across Male and Female Adolescents?

We examined gender-specific factors, which might be related to adolescent gambling behavior, using a comprehensive set of predictors from neighborhood, school, family, peer, and intrapersonal domains. Discriminate function analyses revealed a unique pattern of results for each gender. The noteworthy predictors for males were similar to what is found to be predictors of other risk behaviors, suggesting that there may be a similar etiology to gambling participation as found with other risk behaviors. Compared to males, the model for females suggests that parents and peers may have a greater influence on engagement in gambling behavior. Participation in unstructured activities, and risk attitudes/perceptions were the only consistent noteworthy predictors across both males and females. Implications are discussed.     

He is a Firm,Strong‐Minded and Empowering Leader,but is She? Gendered Positioning of Female and Male CEOs

The article focuses on how management and gender are done in written stories about female and male chief executive officers (CEOs). The stories were written by young Finnish business school students. The logic for studying stories written by students lies in the argument that the new generation will not reproduce common stereotypes about soft, democratic and caring female managers and hard, authoritarian and strong male managers. In the analysis, we rely on positioning theory, which focuses on how the CEOs are discursively positioned, that is, what kinds of roles and duties they are assigned and how their positions shift as the story unfolds. The analysis shows that while there is little difference in the rights and duties assigned to the CEOs, the positioning of female and male CEOs construct a very different picture of their abilities as business managers and leaders of people. The female CEOs are depicted as successful business managers but lacking in interpersonal skills. The male CEOs are also successful business managers but they are constructed as naturally competent leaders of people. This finding is linked to the Finnish management context as well as to the institutionalized leadership and management discourses.     

Do Nonresidential Fathers’ Financial Support and Contact Improve Children’s Health?

Nonresidential father investment of time and money has been shown to ameliorate the negative consequences of family dissolution on children’s behavior and achievement; however, no research has shown whether this investment also has positive effects on child health. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten cohort, this research uses a two-wave cross-lagged model to examine how child support and contact are associated with maternal reports of children’s physical health over time following parental separation. Child support in kindergarten is not associated with child health in third grade. Instead, children who are healthier in kindergarten receive greater financial support from their father. Although contact and child support are positively related, greater contact is not associated with better child health.     

Nation-states as empires,empires as nation-states: two principles,one practice?

Empires and nation-states are generally opposed to each other, as contrasting and antithetical forms. Nationalism is widely held to have been the solvent that dissolved the historic European empires. This paper argues that there are in fact, in practice at least, significant similarities between nation-states and empires. Many nation-states are in effect empires in miniature. Similarly, many empires can be seen as nation-states “writ large.” Moreover, empires were not, as is usually held, superseded by nation-states but continued alongside them. Empires and nation-states may in fact best be thought of as alternative political projects, both of which are available for elites to pursue depending on the circumstances of the moment. Ultimately empires and nation-states do point in different directions, but it is not clear that the future is a future of nation-states. Empires, as large-scale and long-lasting multiethnic and “multicultural” experiments, may have much to teach us in the current historical phase of globalization and increasingly heterogeneous societies.