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Like father, like son: new research shows how young men ‘copy’ their fathers’ masculinity

Today’s men express their maleness in different ways. Some adhere to more traditional models of masculinity, characterised by beliefs in male superiority and endorsement of risky or violent behaviours. Others embrace more progressive stances. But how do men develop their ideas, beliefs and behaviours in relation to masculinity? Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-023-01364-y">new study</a> addresses this question by focusing on one important factor influencing how young men express their masculinity – their fathers. Our research set out to ask: do young men “copy” their fathers’ masculinity? We found that young men whose fathers support more traditional forms of masculinity are more likely to do so themselves. This highlights the critical role fathers play in steering boys towards healthier ideas about masculinity. <h2>Measuring masculinity</h2> We analysed data from 839 pairs of 15-to-20-year-old men and their fathers. These data were taken from a large, Australian <a href="https://tentomen.org.au/">national survey</a> on men’s health. The survey asked men a set of 22 <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Ft27381-000">scientifically validated questions</a> about how they felt and behaved in relation to many issues around masculinity. For example, they were asked about: <ul> <li> the significance of work and social status for their sense of identity </li> <li> their take on showing emotions and being self-reliant </li> <li> their endorsement of risk-taking and violent behaviours </li> <li> the importance they assigned to appearing heterosexual and having multiple sex partners </li> <li> and their beliefs about winning, dominance over others and men’s power over women. </li> </ul> Taken together, the answers to these questions offered us a window into whether the men participating in the survey adopted more of a traditional or progressive type of masculinity. They also enabled us to compare fathers’ and sons’ expressions of masculinity. <h2>What we found</h2> We found that, on average, young men are slightly more traditional in how they express their masculinity than their fathers. On a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 indicating high conformity to traditional masculinity and 0 indicating low conformity, the average masculinity score for young men was 44.1, and for their fathers, it was 41. Using statistical models, we then examined whether there was an association between how traditional a father’s masculinity is and how traditional their son’s masculinity is. To make sure we isolated the effect of fathers’ masculinity, the models took into account other factors that may also shape young men’s expressions of masculinity. These included their age, education, sexual orientation, religion, household income and place of residence, among others. The results were clear. Young men who scored highly on the traditional masculinity measures tended to have fathers who also scored highly. We identified similar results for 20 of the 22 individual masculinity questions. The strongest father-son associations emerged for questions about the endorsement of violence, importance of appearing heterosexual, and desirability of having multiple sexual partners. This indicates these aspects of masculinity are comparatively more likely to be “passed on” from fathers to sons. <h2>What our findings mean</h2> As is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X21000740?via%3Dihub">well-established</a>, social learning is important in shaping young people’s attitudes and behaviours. While fathers aren’t the only influence, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-023-01364-y">our study</a> suggests young men learn a lot about how to be a man from their dads. This is an intuitive finding, but we had little empirical evidence of it until now. Confirming that dads “pass on” their masculinity beliefs to their sons has far-reaching implications. For example, it goes a long way in explaining why traditional models of masculinity remain entrenched in today’s society. Our study indicates that breaking this cycle requires bringing fathers into the mix. Policies, interventions and programs aimed at promoting <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0216955">healthy masculinity</a> among young people are more likely to work if they also target their dads. This proposition is consistent with a growing body of programs focused on <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31495253/">engaging fathers</a> in positive parenting. What’s more, our findings underscore the potential long-term effects of successful intervention. If a program manages to help young people develop <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Adolescent-Boys-and-Young-Men-final-web_0.pdf">positive masculinity</a>, it’s likely that — as they themselves become fathers — their own children’s masculinity is also positively affected. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-father-like-son-new-research-shows-how-young-men-copy-their-fathers-masculinity-203834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

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Film review: Moffie is a harrowing meditation on white masculinity

In the opening moments of the film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10699362/">Moffie</a>, Nicholas van der Swart is walking away from a family gathering. As he disappears into the darkness, he is wishing that a part of himself will disappear. It’s 1981. The 16-year-old is about to leave for his two years of <a href="http://www.saha.org.za/youth/the_militarisation_of_the_south_african_state.htm">conscription</a> into the South African army. During <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid</a> it was compulsory for white men to serve in the military because South Africa was waging wars against liberation forces on its borders and beyond. Nicholas must enlist to fight the <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/CWIHP_SouthAfrica_Final_Web.pdf">“communist threat”</a> at the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/angolan-civil-war-1975-2002-brief-history">Angolan border</a>. Nicholas is gay. To the Christian nationalist rulers, he is just as much of a threat as the black resistance fighters who are nameless, faceless enemies to be exterminated in the film. Everything that is not <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lingering-unspoken-pain-of-white-youth-who-fought-for-apartheid-46218">in service of the apartheid state</a>must be extinguished or repressed. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rMOycDIbNTg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> This repression is hammered home for the viewer through the constant verbal assaults that the young men suffer – and mete out – during their military training. In the South Africa portrayed in Moffie, every white character, be it a parent, general, pastor, even a friend, is policing borders and boundaries; there are clear lines that cannot be crossed. Moffie examines the violent persecution of gay men under apartheid. Violence and language The most powerful way that this mental conditioning takes place in the film is through the use of the word <a href="https://dsae.co.za/entry/moffie/e04835">“moffie”</a> (often translated as “faggot”) which those in charge use relentlessly to <a href="https://www.channel24.co.za/Movies/News/watch-marc-lottering-armand-aucamp-pieter-dirk-uys-on-being-called-a-moffie-20200305">insult and control</a> the troops. The scenes of training are often harrowing, and the word comes to be an act of violence on the viewer as well. Its effect is to strip away any resistance, and to associate femininity, diverse sexuality and any emotional range as weakness. To be gay, then, is the ultimate offence against this regime of machismo. The violence of the word is reinforced with physical violence – menial tasks that lead to exhaustion and deprivation – along with other epithets (racist, gender shaming) that destroy any sense of self-worth or individuality. The young recruits are becoming the men that apartheid South Africa needs in order to cling to life: men who are violent, hateful and emotionless. Fear and desire Only in moments of darkness and isolation do the characters feel able to be intimate. In the first scene where Nicholas (Kai Luke Brümmer) is alone with his love interest, Dylan Stassen (Ryan de Villiers), the young men are ordered to spend the night waiting in deep trenches. Their commanding officer, Sergeant Brand (Hilton Pelser), seems to take pleasure in setting a boundary that they cannot cross, to stay in the trenches no matter what, until the sun rises. What Nicholas and Dylan find, trapped in the confines of these limitations on their freedom and movement, is a moment of intimacy, a spark of desire. The fear that Nicholas feels in realising his attraction for Dylan is palpable. He can never be caught, because not only will he be subject to violence, but he will be sent to a mental facility to “cure” him of his desire. These forbidden moments are riddled with anxiety, which seems to rob the boys of the love story which this film might have become. The black body Hermanus is masterful in linking oppressive masculinity to racism in Moffie. I’ve <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1021-14972018000100002">written before</a> about his 2011 film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1922721/">Skoonheid (Beauty)</a>, and how toxic masculinity and racism place limits on intimacy. Moffie is in many ways a superior film, with striking cinematography emphasising the bleakness of the surroundings and a punching, unnerving score that points to the conflict and anxiety of the characters. The film is bookended by two moments of violence against black characters. The first is when the young conscripts throw a bag of vomit into the face of a black man, demanding he not sit on a bench at a train station. The second is when Nicholas kills a black soldier in combat. Nicholas looking down at the corpse, in the dark of the night that he had once found refuge in, shows how he can never escape the racist and patriarchal duties that define apartheid. There is a similar consciously political placement of black bodies in Skoonheid. Hermanus – a black man – features black characters in two highly charged moments in a film about the secret gay sex lives of white Afrikaner farmers. The one is before a sex scene and the other is on a university campus as Skoonheidreaches its terrible conclusion. Standout performances The actors in Moffie brilliantly portray these moments of being subject to the assault of toxic masculinity, with a particularly strong performance by Matthew Vey, who plays Nicholas’s best friend, Michael. Another strong performance is from Stefan Vermaak, who plays Oscar, the more willing participant in racist and patriarchal ideology. Brümmer’s powerful performance as the central character shows both subtle resistance and then participation as an agent of the apartheid state. At the end, it is unclear whether the young men are able to escape the encroaching ideology that dictates their lives, and whether the moments of refuge and isolation are enough to free them from the memory of the incessant labelling of “moffie” that defined their youth. Moffie is a challenging and deeply affecting film that represents the important, often overlooked realities of living in apartheid for gay men. Written by Grant Andrews. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/film-review-moffie-is-a-harrowing-meditation-on-white-masculinity-133182">The Conversation.</a>

Movies

Big men do cry: cricketers are leading the charge for inclusive masculinity

Rising <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/will-pucovski-test-debut-australia-victoria-justin-langer-shane-warne-mark-waugh-sheffield-shield/2019-10-24">Australian cricket star Will Pucovski</a> has recently taken the surprising step of asking not <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/will-pucovski-non-test-selection-mental-wellbeing-australia-pakistan-first-test-gabba/2019-11-14">to be considered for selection</a> for the national men’s team ahead of the First Test against Pakistan, which starts on Thursday. Pucovski cited a need to focus on his mental well-being. For a player to turn down potential selection for the national team may at first glance be surprising, or even scandalous. But Pucovski is one of a recent trio of professional Australian cricketers to take a break from playing to boost their mental well-being, alongside <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-31/glenn-maxwell-to-take-mental-health-break-from-cricket/11659592">Glenn Maxwell</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-09/victorias-nic-maddinson-out-of-australia-a-match-mental-health/11689620">Nic Maddinson</a>. Internationally, other high profile male athletes have spoken out about problems with mental health, including English Premier League footballer, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/06/danny-rose-tells-family-not-travel-world-cup-player-racism-fears-abuse-england-football-team">Danny Rose</a>, Wales rugby player, <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/former-wales-rugby-player-dafydd-15840808?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar">Dafydd James</a>, and NBA basketball player, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/2018/02/25/raptors-derozan-hopes-honest-talk-on-depression-helps-others.html">DeMar DeRozan</a>. Negative stereotypes associated with mental health issues were once a <a href="https://slideplayer.com/slide/9439004/">matter</a> of shame and embarrassment, only to be discussed quietly in fear of being branded as “weak”. This is particularly true for traditionally “manly” sportsmen who have come under fire in the past for opening up. But as the contemporary definition of masculinity becomes less rigid, more athletes are able to speak out about their mental health issues while, at the same time, paving the way for their fans to say it’s okay to not be okay. Opening up wasn’t always well-received For elite athletes, training and performance demands <a href="https://www.bases.org.uk/imgs/7879_bas_expert_statement__pages_735.pdf">can lead to</a>high psychological stress. This is on top of facing media and public scrutiny, threats of sudden and enduring injuries, and retirement. Despite these pressures, elite athletes don’t often seek help for, or even recognise, poor mental health. In fact, a raft of ex-England cricketers (Marcus Trescothick, Mike Yardy, Jonathan Trott and Steve Harmison), have written about experiencing mental health issues in their autobiographies. In all cases, their off-field battles halted their international careers, but their struggles were poorly understood at the time. When Mike Yardy left the 2011 World Cup, one outspoken pundit proclaimed: "he must have been reading my comments about his bowling. That must have upset him because it’s obviously too much for him at this level. One of <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/10701664/Jonathan-Trott-must-accept-team-mates-and-opponents-will-feel-he-did-a-runner.html">Jonathan Trott’s critics</a> said he felt “conned” by the player reporting a “stress-related illness” when he left an Ashes series. He suggested Trott “did a runner. He did not fight and got on a plane and went home”. Steve Harmison never openly disclosed mental health problems until the end of his career, due to his belief that if fans and “… people in the England set-up knew how bad it was I’d never play for my country again”. His struggles were written off as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/24/steve-harmison-cricket-depression-public-interview">homesickness</a>”. When Marcus Trescothick <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/marcus-trescothick-i-thought-i-was-going-to-die-942688.html">returned home in the middle of a tour in 2006</a>, he battled with how to report this, eventually saying: "Having picked up a virus and also some personal issues to resolve, I decided to return home. Today, mental health is more readily accepted in the wider community to be an illness, making it easier for male athletes to disclose mental ill health as a reason for not being fit to play. For Will Pucovski, the response from the media and the public has, for the most part, been to applaud his bravery at speaking out, demonstrating care and understanding of his situation. Cricket Australia general manager of national teams Ben Oliver <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/will-pucovski-non-test-selection-mental-wellbeing-australia-pakistan-first-test-gabba/2019-11-14">said</a> everyone in the “Australian cricket family” support’s Pucovski’s decision. And Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket captain, and one of the most prominent and influential players in the sport, <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/virat-kohli-mental-health-comments-glenn-maxwell-will-pucovski-nic-maddinson/2019-11-14">described</a> the moves as “remarkable” and having “set the right example”. Sport and masculinity Historically, men were taught that being “masculine” meant to revere violence and stoicism and to hyper-sexualise women, in an attempt to <a href="http://dro.dur.ac.uk/12142/1/12142.pdf">distance themselves from associations of weakness and homosexuality</a>. Sport has been a key avenue for developing and displaying masculinity from early childhood; for developing “real men”. Australia, in particular, has a history of celebrating “manly” sporting displays and sports such as rugby league and Australian rules football are valued, in part, because they are <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ics/news/blog/what_sam_burgess_face_tells_us_about_australian_sport">tough, physical games</a>. Athletes are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228495414_Search_for_the_hero_An_investigation_into_the_sports_heroes_of_British_sports_fans">often labelled heroes</a> and role models because they uphold national archetypes and images of a “typical” person. In Australia, they are prime examples of the typical <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-enough-to-be-a-hero-71631">masculine “matey” hero</a>, and true Australians. But in recent years, the definition of masculinity has softened to become more inclusive. Behaviours like talking about feelings, recognising mental well-being and playing more active roles in family life (particularly around childbirth) are now more acceptable than they used to in our recent past. This means it has become easier for male athletes to admit when they’re not okay. And their position as role models in turn triggers more discussion, including among sports fans, who are often a hard to reach group when it comes to mental health awareness. If athletes, as masculine heroes, can admit to experiencing poor mental health, then so too can those that look up to them. Cricket Australia’s Ben Oliver <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/will-pucovski-non-test-selection-mental-wellbeing-australia-pakistan-first-test-gabba/2019-11-14">said</a>: "By Will bravely taking this position, he will undoubtedly inspire others facing similar challenges to speak up and take positive steps towards improving their mental well-being." Rather than honouring athletes who endure both physical and mental pain in silence, it’s time to recognise that those who can admit they’re struggling and seek help <a href="https://www.cricket.com.au/news/mental-health-true-role-models-alex-kountouris-australian-players-pucovski-maddinson-maxwell-bolton/2019-11-15">are the real heroes</a> and real men. Written by Keith Perry, Eric Anderson and Matthew Smith. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-men-do-cry-cricketers-are-leading-the-charge-for-inclusive-masculinity-127108">The Conversation. </a>

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Like father, like son: new research shows how young men ‘copy’ their fathers’ masculinity

Film review: Moffie is a harrowing meditation on white masculinity

Big men do cry: cricketers are leading the charge for inclusive masculinity

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