Insider-allies: The precarious politics of men in identity-fluid feminism

Academic and activist conversations about the position of men in feminism often operate under the assumption that women are the movement's key beneficiaries and men are privileged outsiders lending their support. I use 59 interviews from a broader project on feminist and LGBTQ+ activism in the United States to illustrate how men's orientation to feminism is shaped by whether social movement organizations adopt what I call woman-centered or identity-fluid politics. While woman-centered politics treat men as allies whose intentions must be vetted by women, identity-fluid feminism imagines men as insiders with their own independent investment in the movement. I argue that the tension between these two models of identity politics gives men a liminal “insider-ally” position within feminism. Although feminist men are given a tentative authority to speak for the movement, the persistence of woman-centered understandings of feminism means men's insider status is contested, especially when they dominate feminist spaces, compromise women's sense of safety, and seek leadership.     

Former Athletes' Illness Stories of Brain Injuries: Suspected Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and the Entanglement of Never-Aging Masculinities

Examining former athletes' health-related beliefs and behaviors on the long-term effects of concussions and potentially developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) offers a domain to understand how men renegotiate their masculinities. In this paper, we explore how the cultural production of the concussion crisis shapes the ways in which men athletes make sense of self and their masculinity in the face of declining health. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 27 male, former athletes, this article examines the multiple ways in which gender shapes their experience and treatment of traumatic brain injuries or suspected CTE. We show how men are re-negotiating their aging masculinities through illness narratives and how the cultural production of the concussion crisis in sports shapes these narratives. We break down our analysis into three sections: (1) reflections of chaos narratives and stories of never-aging masculinities, (2) the ways the concussion crisis shapes their restitution narratives, and (3) quest narratives combining never-aging and aging masculinities. Whether or not these athletes have or are treated for CTE, we argue that they reformulate their masculinity to regain control over their manhood and to feel a sense of relief.     

Daytime dads and do-it-all dads: Understanding lead-dad families

One of the factors that perpetuates gender inequality is the inequitable division of household labor, and particularly the division of childcare labor. Even when women are employed outside the home, many remain primarily responsible for household duties and childcare. There is little research on the household division of labor and childcare in lead-dad households. I use the term “lead dad” to refer to a father, with or without an outside job, who takes primary responsibility for the household and children. This research explores how different lead-dad households operate, examining how two types of lead-dad households handle childcare and household chores, and what this means for the mother's domestic workload. From interviews with married or cohabitating heterosexual parents of children under five where fathers do most of the childcare, I find that lead-dad households come in two forms: some dads do-it-all and some do not (daytime dads). The key difference between do-it-all dads and daytime dads is that do-it-all dads take care of almost all household chores and childcare. Meanwhile, daytime dads' primary focus is on taking care of the kids while mom is at work. However, even in households where dads “do it all,” moms are still heavily involved in the cognitive labor required to operate a household (e.g., planning playdates and scheduling summer camps). These findings have important implications for the study of the household division of labor and parenting expectations of mothers and fathers, exemplifying how gendered expectations do not necessarily swap when lead-parent roles are reversed.     

Moderating masculinity in women-dominated digital spaces: Men and masculinity in the sims 4 online community

This article examines gender dynamics within a women-dominated online community centered around The Sims, a feminine-coded simulation computer game in which women are the majority of players. Based on qualitative analysis of 10 threads and approximately 400 comments from both the official Sims 4 forums and unofficial Sims 4 subreddit, as well as online ethnography, I find that some men responded to their minority status within the Sims community by arguing that men were neglected by the developers at the expensive the inclusion of women and LGBTQ players, for instance, due to an imbalance of content designed for men versus women. However, these men experienced pushback against these ideas in such a way that minimized their voices. I argue that this pushback is a form of moderating masculinity to defend the safety of the community for women. This study contributes to our understanding of gender dynamics in digital spaces, particularly those dominated by women.