Masculinity studies: Between the 4th wave and the antifeminist backlash

Since its emergence in the mid-20th century, the category of gender has proven to be one of the main conceptual tools for denaturalizing and critically analyzing social structure, and for questioning the various ways in which inequality and violence are distributed asymmetrically in our societies. However, as several authors, such as Joan Scott, have pointed out, the approach to gender relations often takes a reductionist form that posits the equivalence between “gender” and “woman.”

While the place of men and masculinities in society and their implication in inequality and violence has been questioned since the beginnings of the feminist movement globally, it wasn't until the emergence of masculinity studies in the 1970s that different theoretical perspectives on the issue began to consolidate. From its inception, masculinity—in the singular—has been problematized. Some approaches began with a view that constructed a linear and individualizing causality in relation to power; however, it has proven to be a dynamic concept for analyzing the production and distribution of inequalities in the gender structure. Today, in the context of the so-called "fourth wave" of feminism, which presents new challenges and questions for men, the concept of masculinities has reached sufficient levels of visibility and critical analysis to transcend the academic and activist spheres, permeating different sectors and influencing the Argentine political and social agenda.

In this seminar, we propose to introduce the theoretical foundations and political possibilities of the concept of masculinity as a critical tool for analyzing and transforming gender relations, while also examining the main critiques and developments from an intersectional perspective. The program's structure involves a progression of content, with each class building upon and expanding the previous one. Following the theoretical discussion of the concept of masculinity, masculinities, and "hegemonic masculinity," we propose the analysis of thematic units, articulating theory and empirical research, with a journey that traverses the personal and the political. On the one hand, these thematic units allow us to explore fundamental dimensions for understanding the links between masculinities and emotions, sexuality, health, violence, and power. Furthermore, both the theoretical approach and the thematic units prepare and enable us to raise and discuss two current issues that function as opposing forces: feminisms and masculinism. In other words, we will address both the relationships (and tensions) between men and feminist movements, as well as men's responses and stances in relation to masculinist or antifeminist currents. Finally, a fundamental element of our proposal is the active participation of students; therefore, throughout the seminar, we will seek to foster reflection in spaces for debate and through special activities, thus stimulating a deeper understanding of the concepts and their sociopolitical implications through dialogue and peer exchange.

Objective

• Identify the different conceptualizations, their possibilities and limitations, and the debates in the field of masculinity studies.

Specific objectives

• To know and use the theoretical tools that enable the analysis and intervention actions in this field, considering gender and masculinity as relational concepts.
• To critically contextualize the Anglo-Saxon origins of masculinity studies and to recognize the specificities and tensions that ethnographic work from the global south has contributed to the field of study.
• To analyze the conception of hegemonic masculinity in its links with emotions and health, and in the relationships between homosociality, homophobia and sexuality.
• To analyze how violence is presented and articulated in the production of masculinity and the regulation of hierarchical relationships at the inter and intragender level.
• To critically explore the tensions, resistances, and emerging challenges that the feminist advance in our region presents for cisgender and heterosexual men.

• Introduction to masculinity studies
• Current debates in masculinity studies
• Masculinities in the South
• The role of emotions in the construction of masculinity
• Desire and sexuality, between homosociality and homophobia
• Masculinities and health
• Masculinity, violence and gender in men who perpetrated violence against women in their relationships
• Obstacles and cis-male resistance to the processes of depatriarchalization of organizations
• Antifeminist reactions: from backlash and online misogyny to the neoconservative vanguard

• Ana Clara Camarotti, D. Jones, and Paloma Dulbecco (2020). “The impact of treatments on the masculinity models of men with problematic drug use in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.” In Spanish Journal of Drug Addictions, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 47-63, 2020. ISSN 0213-7615.
• Ana Laura Azparren and Daniel Jones (2025). “Ex-prisoners visiting prisoners. The figure of the peer prison companion of the Hogar de Cristo as a community care strategy and post-penitentiary experience (Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, 2024)”. In Crime and Society Magazine, No. 60, 2025. ISSN: 0328-0101.
• Connell, R. (2015) From Northern to Southern perspectives in masculinity studies. in The genre seriouslyUNAM, Mexico.
• Connell, RW (2003) “The social organization of masculinity”, in RW Connell (2003) Masculinities, pp. 103-132. Mexico City: PUEG-UNAM.
• Connell, RW, Messerschmidt, J. (2021). Hegemonic masculinity. Rethinking the concept. [translation and commentary by Stéfano Barbero, M., and Morcillo, S.] RELIES: Journal of the Ibero-American Laboratory for the Sociohistorical Study of Sexualities, (6), 32–62.
• De Stéfano Barbero, Matías (2017) “Becoming a man in the classroom: the intersection between masculinity, homophobia and school bullying”, Paid notebooks No. 50. ISSN 1809-4449.
• De Stéfano Barbero, Matías. (2021) “When the violence exploded it was because I wasn’t valued”: recognition, dependencies, (im)balances and breakdowns.” In (Im)possible Masculinities: Violence and Gender, Between Power and Vulnerability, pp. 343-398. Buenos Aires: Galerna.
• Fabbri, L. (2019) The co-production of narratives with feminist women as a method-process for androcentric detachment (Chapters 5 and 6). Doctoral thesis, FSOC-UBA.
• Fuller, Norma (2012) “Rethinking Latin American Machismo”. Masculinities and Social Change, 1(2), 114¬133. doi:10.4471/MCS.2012.08
• Gutmann, M. (2011) The Fetish of Male Sexuality: Eight Common Mistakes. Hernández, O., García, , and Contreras, K. (coord.) Masculinities in contemporary Mexico, 29-46. Mexico: Autonomous University of Tamaulipas / UAMCEH / Plaza y Valdés.
• Kaufman, Michael (1989) “The Construction of Masculinity and the Triad of Male Violence”. In Pleasure, power, and change, pp. 19-64. Santo Domingo: CIPAF.
• Kaufman, Michael (1995) “Men, feminism and the contradictory experiences of power among men”. In L. Arango, M. León and M. Viveros (eds) Gender and identity. Essays on the feminine and the masculine, pp. 123-146. Bogotá: Tercer Mundo.
• Kimmel, M. (1997) “Homophobia, fear, shame and silence in male identity”, in T. Valdés and J. Olavarría (eds.) Masculinity/ies: power and crisispp. 49-62. ISIS-FLACSO: Women's Editions.
• Morcillo, S., Martynowskyj, E., and de Stéfano Barbero, M. (2024). "It's not a good time to be a man": antifeminist influencers in the hegemonic dispute over masculinities in Argentina. Plaza Pública, 17(32), 108–132.
• Morcillo, Santiago; Martynoswkyj, Estefania; de Stefano Barbero, Matias (2024) “I am not against feminism, but...” Reactions of opposition to feminism in online discourses in Argentina, Revista Mora; vol. 30
• Seidler, Victor (1995) “Heterosexual men and their emotional life”. Feminist DebateApril, pp. 78-111.
• Viveros Vigoya, Mara (2009) “Feminist theories and studies on men and masculinities. Recent dilemmas and challenges”. In JC Ramírez and G. Uribe (eds.) MasculinitiesThe game of men in which women participate, pp. 15-24. Madrid: Plaza y Valdés.

The basic requirements for taking a seminar are:

• Availability of at least 4 hours per week to dedicate to the seminar course.
• Internet access.
• Reasonable handling of communication and computer tools.
• Language proficiency in the language in which the course will be taught. The official languages ​​are Spanish and Portuguese.

The seminars last 10 weeks, plus the completion of a final project. A total of 90 hours of dedication will be credited.

A course consists of twelve classes, each accompanied by required reading bibliography, supplementary bibliography, discussion forums and training activities proposed by the teaching team, partial deliveries and a final project.
The course is online and asynchronous. Some instructors may propose synchronous activities. In those cases, the time and date will be agreed upon beforehand between the instructors and the students to ensure everyone's participation. Attendance at synchronous sessions is not mandatory.
To pass the seminar, you must participate in at least 80% of the discussion forums and activities proposed by the teachers, have completed the scheduled partial deliveries, and pass the final work.

The possible payment methods are by credit card or bank transfer.