Is ‘Caring Masculinity’ Possible? Prospects and Limits of Elliott’s Theoretical Concept

What are the alternative notions of masculinity that would be compatible with the emerging trend towards an ethics of care? Such debates are being conducted in the field of masculinity studies in connection with the discussion of the limits of economic growth, the economic crisis, gender egalitarianism, and the transition to a care society. An important effect of this approach is the expansion of the task of social reproduction—previously prescribed to the female gender in the private and public spheres—to include men. The most debated concept is Carla Elliott’s ‘caring masculinity’ (as opposed to hegemonic masculinity), which includes an ethics of care where there is no place for dominant behavior and related qualities, where the focus shifts to positive emotions and interdependent social relations, from masculine identity itself to real practices of care. Analyzing theoretical studies in this field, the authors investigate the largely paradoxical combination of care and masculinity, suggesting that men engaged in care practices will themselves change, forming a new identity and new values. But the concept of caring masculinity, although it opens up promising prospects in the process of redistribution of power/authority, confronts the concept of hegemonic masculinity, which contains resources for hybrid adaptation strategies that intercept the discursive agenda. The appropriation of individual discursively attractive practices of alternative masculinities and the values of care ensures the internal diversification of hegemonic masculinity and hybridizes the hegemonic masculine alliance for the purpose of adaptation. As a result, caring masculinity remains an ethical and partly utopian concept that underestimates the adaptation of patriarchal power and the critical potential of the sociology of care.

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