'Did the Earth move?' The hazards of bringing men and masculinities into gender and development

Abstract

This article offers a critical review of the new 'masculinities' literature in the light of the continuing dominance of patriarchal relations in society and development institutions. It argues that this necessarily challenges accepted understandings of sex/gender in GAD, representing both risk and opportunity. 'Masculinity' is at present a highly ambiguous, multi-purpose term, which needs to be more sharply defined if it is to be of analytical use, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. The identification of the study of masculinity with the study of men needs to be broken. Bringing men in must not mean replacing a focus on women with a focus on men, but a genuinely integrated and relational approach. This should include locating gender within broader dimensions of power and social difference, and recognising its symbolic as well as material aspects.