Journal | Men and Masculinities |
---|
Date | Accepted/In press - 23 Aug 2014 |
---|
Date | E-pub ahead of print - 2 Oct 2014 |
---|
Date | Published (current) - 2015 |
---|
Issue number | 1 |
---|
Volume | 18 |
---|
Number of pages | 21 |
---|
Pages (from-to) | 100-120 |
---|
Early online date | 2/10/14 |
---|
Original language | English |
---|
Inclusive masculinity theory has recently been proposed as a new approach to theo- rizing contemporary masculinities. Focusing particularly on the work of the theory’s key exponent, Eric Anderson, this article offers a critical reading of inclusive masculinity theory in relation to the context of contemporary postfeminism. Building on feminist scholarship that analyzes the emergence of a distinctive postfeminist sensibility within the academy, I consider how inclusive masculinity theory both reflects and reproduces certain logics of postfeminism. My central concern is the manner in which this scho- larship deemphasizes key issues of sexual politics and promotes a discourse of optimism about men, masculinities, and social change. Against this view, I argue that critical masculinity studies must foreground the analysis of gendered power relations and posit that the interrogation of contemporary postfeminism is critical to this endeavor.
This article was published as a result of research undertaken while I was a PhD candidate at King's College London.