Machines and Masculine Subjectivity

Abstract

This article draws on anthropological work among two groups of technical specialists, mechanics in Malaysia and engineers in Sweden. From a cross-cultural perspective, it focuses on and critically examines ways in which masculine bonds are mediated and communicated through interactions with machines, in particular, motorbikes and cars. In these different social settings, technologies can be understood as means of an embodied communication for forming homosocial bonds. These masculine practices continuously exclude women and perpetuate highly genderized societal spheres where men form communities based on passion for machines. Such passion involves an anthropomorphization of the man-machine relationship in which the machines are transformed into subjects in what might be termed a heterosexual, masculine, technical sociability and subjectivity.

Gender performance in an out-of-school science context

“…Faulkner 2003). Ulf Mellström (2004) further points out how men, through their interactions and relationships with artefacts, create heterosexual gendered spaces where females are symbolically present since the interaction with the artefact often involves its feminisation. As a school subject, technology has been associated with boys experiencing school fatigue and their needs for practical applications (e.g.…”

The Pride and Joy of Engineering? The Identity Work of Male Working-Class Engineering Students

“…11 Drawing on Wajcman's work, Mellström has shown that identification with technology across very different contexts is considered an important part of the performance of masculinity. 12 Mellström also argues that, in Sweden, practical skills have traditionally been highly valued and are tightly interconnected with 'being a man', particularly in rural areas and among working-class men. 13 In both the engineering contexts where he did ethnographic studies the engineers related the ability to take care of a wide range of practical problems to being recognized as a competent man.…”

Science centres, gender and learning

“…In addition, toy cars (and real cars) have a long tradition of being marketed to boys (and men) (Caldas-Coulthard and Van Leeuwen 2002). Cars are also frequently associated with technology, technical advances and are something that is also commonly associated to men and masculinity (Mellström 2004). Cars can, therefore, be said to be a carrier of masculinized discourses and this needs to be taken into consideration when discussing the use of Lego cars in science education at a science centre.…”