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Social sciences
The Global Concept of "Unmanliness"
- Somewhere in the back of their minds, everyone knows what masculinity is. We have performed research and developed models. No-one, however, has so far posed the question of what unmanliness is, which behavior and practices are considered as such, says Prof. dr hab. Tomasz Szlendak, a co-author of global scale studies on this topic. The results have been published in a renowned journal.
The authors of the article entitled What makes a man unmanly? The global concept of "unmanliness", published in the "Humanities and Social Sciences Communications" journal are sociologists and social psychologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Prof. dr hab. Tomasz Szlendak (Department of Cultural Studies at the Institute of Sociology NCU) and the University of Gdańsk, dr hab. Magdalena Żadkowska; dr hab. Radosław Kossakowski, Prof. UG; and dr hab. Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, Prof. UG. They are the first researchers who took up the topic of “unmanliness".
It may seem strange, but the topic has not been discussed so far. Previous research was focused on contrasting perceptions of masculinity with one of the known models, says Prof. dr hab. Tomasz Szlendak. We were not interested in "unmanliness": what it is and what it is shaped in opposition to.
Masculinity in research
"Unmanliness" is understood as a concept broader than "hegemonic masculinity", "precarious manhood", and "emasculation", the three main concepts which refer to the Western theoretical frameworks. The first one refers to the universality of dominant masculinity norms. Studies in this area address the social and professional roles, identity and appearance features, practices and gestures. The results largely reflect values and norms of Western, rich, democratic societies. Precarious manhood, in turn, highlights the fragile and socially contingent nature of manhood. The researchers analyze whether men feel threatened and what compensatory attitudes they adopt or actions they undertake to restore their gender status. The concept of emasculation, however, is focused on the consequences of perceived threats to masculinity. The researchers are interested in when and how men (predominantly white and Euro-American men) experience emasculation, and how they express it in their own words.
The frameworks not only indirectly define "unmanliness" by focusing on socially constructed masculinity, positioning what is considered unmanly as the inverse of what it means to be manly, explains Prof. Szlendak.
Majority of contemporary meanings of unmanly behaviors have been extrapolated from their opposition to hegemonic masculinity. The research so far has shown that the practices which can be indirectly considered as unmanly are showing weakness, avoiding confrontation and not acting from the position of strength in relations with other men, reluctance or inability to have sex with women, lack of initiative-taking in sexual relations with women, 'not having' a woman, or being same-sex oriented in identity or behavior. According to this concept, inability to provide for the family, not being a breadwinner, or being economically dependent on a woman as well as supporting gender equality are also considered unmanly.
- It should be remembered though that attributes considered as 'violating' masculinity can significantly vary across different cultural contexts. In the already existing studies questions have not been asked about what is defined as unmanly. We have decided to pose the question, says Prof. Szlendak.
The Global Concept of Unmanliness
The research has been called the Global Concept of "Unmanliness" since it concerns what is universally perceived as unmanly by men. It has been conducted on a large scale: it involved young men (26 years of age on average) from 62 countries, which means they represented many diverse cultures. The data were collected within the framework of an intercultural project, "Towards Gender Harmony".
Participants provided open-ended responses to identify traits and behaviors considered unmanly in their within their cultural contexts. This form encouraged them to think about masculinity beyond their own experience and insight into broader cultural perception. The study was designed so that respondents would not have to refer to any particular masculinity model.
The authors of the research did not wish to direct respondents, so they gave up on survey tools which usually involve predefined responses. They were mostly interested in behaviors, practices and actions. In further analysis, rather than on statistical correlations they could focus on interpreting the cultural and contextual meanings embedded in the responses.
A survey that collected open-ended responses alongside demographic data such as age, gender, nationality complemented the research.
It was a compilation of quantitative and qualitative analyses, and the latter is only occasionally applied in social psychology and sociology. We have combined the freedom of the quantitative studies with the precision of the qualitative studies, explains Prof. Szlendak. We were interested in how societies define and enforce masculinity norms and how cultural and structural gender dynamics shape the boundaries of masculinity and offers a new lens for cross-cultural research on gender norms. We also wanted to find out whether the global perception of "unmanliness" is influenced by Western masculinity norms.
The sociologist also highlights that the sample group, rather homogeneous in age, can provide a valuable insight into processes and certain changes occurring in their countries and their cultures.
Global Inequalities
3525 coded answers provided by men from 15 countries were selected for analysis. The researchers decided to correlate the collected data with the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI). Reports published annually (since 2006) by the World Economic Forum (WEF) concern gender inequality in more than 100 countries all over the world. The index measures women's national disadvantages relative to men's across four dimensions: economic opportunities (salary, level of participation and access to highly qualified positions), educational attainment (access to primary and higher education), political empowerment (representation in decision-making structures), and health (average lifespan).
For many years countries such as Sweden, New Zealand, Iceland, Finland, or Norway, i.e. those recognized as egalitarian, occupy high positions in the GGGI ranking. Conversely, countries with the lowest GGGI ranking positions such as Pakistan, Sudan, Chad, and Iran tend to have more patriarchal social structures and traditional gendered labor divisions where men predominantly occupy roles as economic providers and political decision-makers, while women are more often homemakers, caregivers, or low-status workers. Poland is in the middle of the ranking list.
GGGI is one of the most comprehensive measures of gender equality, effectively capturing differences in the relative status of men and women across countries. It presents gender gaps as a function of both objective and subjective country-level egalitarianism and captures vertical segregation in access to resources and power. For the researchers, the index was the key analytical axis in the study. They analyzed responses from men in countries at the extremes of the index as well as those in intermediate positions. They identified three main themes: emotionality and femininity, acting and looking like a woman, and violence against women.
The analysis of responses revealed a certain pattern which we found surprising. The more egalitarian a given country is, regarding gender equality, the more efforts men put to distinguish from women. To put it briefly, unmanly means feminine, explains Prof. Szlendak. In the lowest-ranked countries in the GGGI, i.e. in strongly non-egalitarian countries, the question of physical differentiation from women does not virtually exist. Even though such responses appeared, they were occasional. Much more frequently we had to deal with something which in literature on the subject is called camouflaged patriarchy and paternalism. It is a kind of pseudo-caring for women, taking care of their protection. In responses, it was also indicated that the man is the one who protects women and is not violent against them.
Boys don't cry
Is there any common, global understanding of unmanliness?
Standard, almost stereotypical female behavior is considered unmanly, particularly in public spaces. In all the countries of the world crying in public spaces and emotionality, especially that effusive, are unmanly It is not culture-based, so we can call it universal.
- Unmanliness is related to emotional expression, demonstrating emotions particularly in public space. It is crying, excessive sensitivity, worrying about little things, showing compassion e.g. at workplace, gesturing, walking and talking like a woman, says Prof. Szlendak.
Feminine look
In countries ranked higher on the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), practices associated with femininity: walking, talking, external appearance, the care associated with it, wearing make-up, painting nails, underdoing plastic surgery and treatment are recognized as unmanly. In countries such as Norway characterized by one of the highest levels of gender emancipation and equality, referring to body care was far more frequent than in e.g. Poland, which is in the middle of the ranking list.
There is a concept according to which who imitates who constitutes a certain indicator of power in a society For instance, fashion from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries can illustrate this. Lower classes tried to imitate higher classes, they copied certain trends in clothing or interior design. Unequal relations between women and men in Western societies were expressed by women trying to wear men's outfit, the outfit of the social group in power, says Prof. Szlendak. For at least twenty years we have been observing something completely opposite. For example, we notice introducing pink to men's collections or, in the street fashion, adopting various elements of women's clothing such as rings, necklaces, pearls in men's collections. As a sociologist I can say that from my perspective, in certain cases, we are facing the reversal of power relations. In different areas women start to dominate, which is indicated by the fact that men try to imitate the gender maybe not in power but already economically and socially prevailing in a number of fields. The reference to this standard femininity can be connected with discerning a change in the relationship of power between women and men just in egalitarian countries.
The sociologist also explains that changes resulting from an increase in gender equality in countries ranked highest on the GGGI list contribute to the blurring of differences between female and male appearance. Men, therefore, perceive the possibility of keeping their masculinity just in appearance, and hence, the behaviors and practices considered in this area as feminine are indicated as unmanly. What seems interesting, references to appearance in responses given by representatives of countries ranked lowest on the GGGI list occurred incidentally.
- This can be influenced by cultural norms regarding clothing. More rigorous norms prevail in countries with less gender equality. So, the appearance does not necessarily have to be the area of male threats if it is deeply guided and regulated by cultural norms, explains Prof. Szlendak. In countries ranked lower on the GGGI list, a shift is visible: we have collected more mentions on physical and sexual violence.
Unmanly violence
In countries ranked lower on the GGGI list, violence against women including physical, psychological, verbal and nonverbal, or sexual aggression are considered unmanly. Participants' responses concern the necessity to protect and properly treat women. This was unanimously pointed out by e.g. Nepalese, Nigerian and Moroccan respondents.
The perception of physical dominance and aggression towards women as unmanly may resemble protective and benevolent sexist behavior of men: women deserve protection against violence and dominance from other men, and thus, the real man provides security and comfort to women. This, in turn, may give men a broader access to women. There is evidence that lower levels of gender equality are correlated with benevolent sexism against women, which can take the form of men taking on the duty to treat women in a special way in order to protect them against other men, says Prof. Szlendak. Such a paternalistic approach defines male dominance as care and protection, reinforcing traditional gender roles under the guise of protection offered to women.
In this group of countries not being a breadwinner, or being economically dependent on a woman is also considered unmanly.
- These countries are characterized by the dominant traditional division of gender roles and duties. The obligation to maintain the family rests mainly with men, whereas women are more supposed to fulfill caring roles, says Prof. Szlendak. Such responses were given by e.g. Moroccan men, which may suggest that in this country even young men find it difficult to recognize the women's right to emancipation.
In opposition to femininity
- Generally speaking, in all the examined countries and cultures, it turned out that femininity is what men stand in contradiction to: "unmanliness" above all means femininity and emotionality, sums up Prof. Szlendak. The respondents perceive masculinity in contrast to femininity rather than as an independent concept; they do not refer in any way to the commonly known models of masculinity either. In most countries, highlighting what is considered unmanly emphasizes the traditional boundary between being "like a woman" and being "like a man".
Prof. Szlendak emphasizes that the discussed research has focused on only one country-level variable: the GGGI. In his view, in future research, it would be worthwhile to include other indexes in order to verify whether our model's dimensions of 'unmanliness' are related to other cultural variables, such as values.
- We are preparing the ground for a Global Concept of "unmanliness" that could provide a nuanced understanding of manhood and its opposites across numerous cultural settings using more culturally sensitive methods, says Prof. Szlendak. – Moreover, the continuation of research in this field can contribute to better understanding of gender norms within and between cultural contexts.
