‘Little children are not for dad's?’ Challenging and undoing hegemonic masculinity

Abstract

Studies on work and organizations state that traditional gendered cultures support hegemonic masculinity and obstruct an engaged form of ‘new’ fathering. Not only do employers hinder fathers in sharing equally in childcare, but the dynamics within the couple also matter. An examination of the negotiations within couples regarding paid and unpaid work reveals the need to revise conceptualizations of masculinity, with a focus on undoing masculinity. Based on in‐depth interviews with couples in Germany, I argue that social change at the interactional level encompasses at least the possibility that gender, as a resource of the differentiation and hierarchization of masculinities and femininities within the realm of paid and unpaid labour, can be fragile or can even be episodically undone. Hence, more empirical and theoretical work within and beyond the context of fathering is crucial to further theoretical approaches to undoing masculinity.

Ideological Discourses of Fathers on Paternity Leave in Spain

“…From this perspective of the leave as a right, fathers have the right, like mothers, of being recognized as main caregivers and not be prejudiced, as some research indicates, by institutional measures (Bailey, 2015;Brandth & Kvande, 2016;Jurado-Guerrero et al, 2018). They also add, with a view to legitimizing their position in the FG2, that the attribution of exclusive responsibility to mothers is a form of machismo toward which they are opposed which may actually suggest changes in the hegemonic masculinity model of these fathers (Peukert, 2018). Such discourse weakens the gender barriers because these fathers claim the legitimacy of their orientations toward care, traditionally associated with the mothering role.…”

“…The more progressive nuclei make it clear that this "negotiation" tends to push mothers toward taking most of the leave because they tend to have worse working conditions. This idea constitutes a resistance to the possibilities of change through negotiation (Peukert, 2018). However, the nuclei of the same FG7, while recognizing this unequal situation, value ambivalently the impact that the leave might have had on their professional career.…”

“…On the other hand, several studies (Borgkvist et al, 2018;Brandth & Kvande, 2016;Doucet, 2017;Peukert, 2018) demonstrated the persistence of gender ideologies that legitimize motherhood as "natural care" based on the belief that women have more experience and are more physically oriented toward care activities. Moreover, childcare appears to be, within this ideological framework, a secondary option for fathers since mothers are supposed to be the main caregivers, responsible for attending to the child and thus taking the corresponding parental leave.…”

Mentoring as affective governmentality: Shame, (un)happiness, and the (re)production of masculine leadership

“…In this section, I thus analyze how mentoring in the mentoring program invests the object of high priority of family with a promise of unhappiness while simultaneously investing a promise of happiness in an opposite (hegemonic) masculine life of prioritizing a career outside the home (Peukert, 2018).…”

Pandemic and macho organizations: Wake‐up call or business as usual?

“…Masculinities are therefore in a constant process of being constructed in specific social situations, reproducing or changing social structures (Connell, 1993; Messerschmidt, 1993). Organizations are an important setting for the achievement and performance of masculinities (Ackroyd & Crowdy, 1990; Cheng, 1996; Collinson & Hearn, 1996; Kerfoot & Knights, 1998) as well as where hegemonic masculinities can be challenged (Peukert, 2019).…”