Academic literature on the topic 'Exploring masculinities programme'

Fathers’ uptake of paternity leave and care of children is shaped by various factors, including structuralbarriers and gender norms, which influence masculine identity formation. Such barriers to accessing leave and caring for children are thus influenced by a complex intersection of individual and institutional factors. Focusing on Australia, this article looks at migrant fathers’ decisions about parental leave and caregiving, and its intersection with gender (masculinities) and culture (race/ethnicity). We do so to unpack the structural barriers these men face, including those that influence their (mental) health and well-being. The authors identify a gap in research, and argue that there is a need to better understand the intersection of gender and culture on migrant fathers’ decisions to access parental leave and care for children. A better understanding of these decisions is integral to building better policy and programme supports for different groups of fathers and, ultimately, improving their mental health and well-being. It also identifies the need for research and policy to recognise the diversity of “migrant” fathers in both quantitative and qualitative research.

‘All Tee, No Shade’ is a practice-led research project that explores the use of the men’s T-shirt to challenge and disrupt hegemonic subjectivities that contribute to the marginalization and discrimination of the queer Asian diaspora. Through an exploration of my pilot project of the same name, produced as part of the arts programme of Virgin Australian Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2020, I propose that norm-critical design methodologies exploring intersectional experiences of fashion and dress can produce material outcomes that challenge the discrimination and oppression associated with compounding conditions of race and sexuality. I use the notion of ‘subtle’ traits as a condition of the East Asian diasporic experience to reveal how race and sexuality might be expressed through fashion production to disrupt conceptions of ‘otherness’. This is achieved with T-shirts that have printed graphic configurations that align with contemporary streetwear but with ‘subtle’ signifiers embedded through the signs and lexicons of Asian and queer communities. Using an autoethnographic approach, the work is informed by my past fashion design industry experience and reflects on racial and queer marginalization and discrimination through styling and fit. The project contributes to broader discourses aimed at decentralizing dominant narratives in fashion practice and responds to a lack of academic research into diasporic Asian experiences of dress and, more specifically, queer diasporic Asian dress.

The pathways to manhood for young adult African men in urban settings are based more on socio-economic demands than socio-cultural expectations of being a man. This study was a qualitative explorative research on the perceptions of HIV-prevention practitioners on the different pathways to manhood among young adult African men in urban settings in Gauteng, South Africa. From the findings it was clear that there are diverse socio-cultural and socio-economic pathways to manhood, including the media, older men, peers, religion and women. These pathways affirm, confirm, validate and value a man as a man and not a boy in urban settings such as cities and informal settlements in Gauteng. The research concluded that a great deal more could be done to ensure that men get involved in HIV-prevention programmes by ensuring dialogue on manhood and masculinities between men and men, and men and women.
Sociology
M.A. (Social Science)