Taking Care of Men

Abstract

The idea of the sensitive, post-feminist 'new man' has received great attention. This book sets out to determine how much of the hype is based on fact, and why such images have proliferated in the media. McMahon focuses on the pivotal issue of men's relationship to the vital daily work of caring for people - both physically and emotionally - revealing much confusion about the extent and the interpretation of change. Using statistical data, as well as interview transcripts and media analysis, McMahon draws insightful distinctions between pleasure and performance, assistance and responsibility, gendered personality and gendered jobs, and - underlying all - between consumption and production. Incorporating social theory, psychology and popular culture, this book argues that recent social conversation about men largely avoids the important political point that men's material interests provide a major motivation for resistance to pro-equity change.

Resources Versus Capabilities: Social Endowments in Egalitarian Theory

“…5 For empirical evidence supporting this claim see Hochschild (1989), McMahon (1999 and Risman (1998).…”

Gender, Class, and the Art and Craft of Social Capital

“…Theoretical and empirical work has shown little concern with the ways in which women directly and indirectly contribute to building social capital, yet the family is a critical, if taken‐for‐granted, institution in which aspects of social capital are rooted. Indirectly, the well‐documented and disproportionate responsibility that women have for household and child‐related tasks (Dempsey 1997; McMahon 1999) limits their participation in public spheres such as formal associations, workplaces, and civic settings, while supporting men’s availability for participation in these arenas. At the same time, women’s efforts to foster and nurture informal social connections within families, friendship networks, and communities directly contribute to building social capital (Lowndes 2000; Putnam 2000).…”

‘They See You Coming'. A Comparative Study of Sexual Politics and Women Union Officials in (English) Canada and Australia

“…These well-known effects of the 'second shift' on women (Hochschild, 1989) continue to impact on their public politics, and thus constitute a powerful barrier to the achievement of women's equality through sameness (Trebilcock, 1991;Ledwith, Colgan, Joyce and Hayes, 1990;Chaison and Andiappan, 1989). Without significant changes to gender relations in the domestic sphere, women will not be able to achieve positions and power as men (McMahon, 1999).…”