In what way do gender-specific interventions aimed at marginalised men reproduce and transform masculinities, and what kind of masculinity do social professionals, who carry out these projects, work with? This paper analyses how visual materials, spaces and artefacts enable professionals to deal with masculinity and gender-equality issues when working with men whom they assume hold traditional views on masculinity and gender roles. A three-year study of semi-public interventions that worked on individual empowerment, participation and gender equality with marginalised men in the Netherlands revealed that the professionals found it difficult to raise gender-equality issues. In contrast to the other project goals of individual empowerment and participation, gender-equality issues created a discomfort. The authors also discovered that gender equality in most cases was dealt with in more subtle ways than the issues of individual empowerment and participation. In this context, professionals worked with an ideal version of what the ‘new’ masculinity of the participants would look like, which we labelled ‘pacified masculinity’. The paper empirically shows how social professionals benefit from the use of space, images and artefacts to break down rigid gender roles and potentially enable men to construct other versions of masculine identity. Moreover, we argue that visuals and materiality create room for a reflection on the role of men in women’s emancipation., Iris van Huis, Marleen van der Haar., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The South Korean film industry represents a masculine-privileged gender regime that over the last few decades has shown a newfound strength both at home and abroad. However, challenging this masculine privilege are a growing number of important though unheralded female writers-directors operating in both the independent and commercial sectors of the industry. In this article, the authors present a case study that explores the work of five of these female writers-directors within this context. They begin by asking two key questions: can female writers-directors find a voice within the Korean film industry that challenges the traditional gender stereotypes both within the industry and in the wider Korean culture? How can the Korean experience connect to the Western experience? The first methodological step in explicating the case study is to set out a particularly Western theoretical approach that emphasises the idea that masculine privilege exists hegemonically within the so-called ‘hegemony of men’. The authors then go on to highlight specific elements in the work of these female writers-directors that expose aspects of both challenge and constraint within the hegemony of men. They conclude that, although the work of these female writers-directors indeed challenges tradition and gendered stereotypes sustained within the hegemony of men, such challenges represent moments of reformism rather than revolutionary systematic change., Richard Howson, Brian Yecies., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This article seeks to contribute to the discussion about literary images of fatherhood in contemporary Czech and Polish prose. It focuses on analysing the specific literary spaces that have emerged alongside a new type of literary character, namely, ‘new fathers’, who give up their professional activities to stay home and look after babies. A comparative analysis of two novels - Petr Šabach’s Putování mořského koně (The Pilgrimage of a Sea Horse) and Marek Kochan’s Plac zabaw (The Playground) - presents the similarities in the structures of their literary space and in the way masculinity is contextualised in the space of the playground and the home. The article sets the analysis against the backdrop of social changes affecting parenting and fatherhood in Poland and the Czech Republic in recent decades., Marcin Filipowicz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This article focuses on the topic of men working in feminised jobs and specifically on male teachers in kindergartens, who are in a specific position given that they are relatively few in number. There are several advantages for them in this position: they are accepted with enthusiasm and with expectations of change. This treatment gives them an opportunity to construct their own and relatively ‘elite’ version of masculinity, which is superior just to the femininity of the female teachers, but also to other versions of masculinity. This ‘elite’ version of masculinity is supported by female teachers and it contributes the survival of a dichotomous and hierarchical approach to men and women in kindergartens. The purpose of this article is to identify the main strategies that male teachers use in the construction of their version of masculinity in this feminised environment. The article is based on qualitative research, which included observation in several kindergartens and conducting interviews with male and female teachers in kindergartens., Nina Fárová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Since about 2004, the boom in the production of original Czech television series has been accompanied by the slow but steady increase in the appearance of non-heterosexual characters on TV. This analysis focuses on gay characters: what they are like, why and how they appear and disappear, how their non-heterosexuality is established and how it develops in the narrative of the series. A notable change can be observed in how gay male characters are being depicted: from depictions of mostly miserable characters whose coming out is their only dramatic potential in the narrative, to more complex portraits of characters who are incorporated into the story, experiencing love, partnerships and even parenthood - elements otherwise normal in series narratives. Alongside this more descriptive type of analysis, the author draws on Connell and Messerschmidt’s concept of hegemonic masculinity to draw attention to representations of practices that produce the masculinity of non-heterosexual (male) characters as subordinate , as complicit, and, in the case of recent characters, even as hegemonic. The representation of non-heterosexual characters as hegemonically masculine seems to be a form of ‘narrative redemption’ through homonormativity., Zdeněk Sloboda., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The aim of the paper is to present and analyse the current state of perpetrator programmes in Eastern European and Baltic countries as this issue has barely been raised in the literature. It is connected to the fact that in described region such programmes are still relatively new phenomena and, compared to other European Union countries (mostly in Western and Northern Europe), the number of the programmes is still insufficient. Moreover, the number and character of the perpetrator programmes in Eastern European and Baltic countries is to a large extent determined by traditional gender relations, glorification of the traditional family and specific definitions of masculinities and femininities, as well as by the nature of the anti-violence legislation that exists in particular countries. The presented findings result from research on the specificity of work with perpetrators of domestic violence in the region. The analysis is based on the cases of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland. It is to a large extent the result of research conducted within the Daphne III project IMPACT: Evaluation of European Perpetrator Programmes (2013-2014) and of analysis of national reports delivered by country experts for a project conducted by the Work with Perpetrators - European Network in 2013., Katarzyna Wojnicka., and Obsahuje bibliografii