Le discours de la «crise de la masculinité» comme refus de l'égalité entre les sexes: Histoire d'une rhétorique antiféministe

Abstract

Today, the «crisis of masculinity» discourse is a «cliché». But this alleged crisis occurs while men still hold more power and privileges than women. It is therefore important to critically investigate the rhetoric about the «crisis of masculinity» and assess its political meaning. In order to do so, we begin by looking at Western history and show that men have been claiming to be in crisis for the last five centuries. After discussing more specifically three historical periods (England in the seventeenth century, France during the 1789 Revolution, and the West in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century), we pay special attention to contemporary discourse. The analysis confirms that the rhetoric about «crisis of masculinity» carries a critique of feminism and a rejection of gender equality. This discourse also justifies the (re)affirmation of conventional masculinity. © 2013 L'Harmattan. All rights reserved.