Read: Gutmann, The Meanings of Macho

1. As we saw with Bourgois's book, anthropological explanations of individual behavior often combine attention to structure and agency. How does Gutmann use these terms to understand "what men say and do to be men" (17)?

2. What does Gutmann see as the problems of a unitary notion of maleness?

3. Gutmann identities the key theoretical concepts of his book as contradictory consciousness and cultural creativity. What does he mean by both of these terms? What examples of them can you find in the text?

4. What different attitudes and behaviors surrounding fathering does Gutmann identify in Chapter 3? What are some of the broader factors that he argues help to account for these differences?

Questions for Chapters 4-6: In class, you were assigned one of these three chapters. As you read your chapter, please think about the relevant questions below. You should be prepared to address these questions in class on Friday. Pay particular attention to examples of contradictory consciousness and cultural creativity (see question 3, above).

5. How are men's identities defined in concert with, or in opposition to, women's identities? What are the diverse ways that men define masculinity?

6. What role do sexual desire and sexual relations play in the construction of masculinity?

7. What kinds of gendered divisions of labor did Gutmann find?

8. How have gender roles, relationships, and divisions of labor changed over the past two decades? What factors does Gutmann see as causing these changes?

Questions for Chapters 7-10:

9. What are the connections between alcohol consumption and masculinity?

10. How are ideas about violence and machismo changing, according to Gutmann? How is masculinity connected to nationalism and images of Mexican identity?

11. What methods does Gutmann use in his research? Are they effective in documenting day-to-day behavior and attitudes? Why or why not?

Journal Entry #4: Masculinity (due in class on February 12 and by email to aleshkow[at]holycross.edu).
For this journal entry, you can choose between two topics:

Option 1: Fatherhood. Using Gutmann's discussion in chapter 3 as your guide, interview your father (about whom you wrote in class on Wednesday) about his sense of himself as a father. What have been his goals? What kinds of day-to-day fathering activities has he performed? How does he think his fathering compares to that of other men? What kinds of pressures has he faced as a father? What does he see as his strengths and weaknesses, successes and shortcomings as a father?
After you have interviewed your father, write up a brief summary of what you see as the most important or interesting aspects of what he told you. How does his description of himself as a father compare to the one you wrote in class on Monday? What broader structural factors (class, age, race/ethnicity, religion, politics, economics, social relations) have shaped your father's approach to fathering? In what ways?

Option 2: Contradictory consciousness and cultural creativity. Gutmann uses the terms contradictory consciousness and cultural creativity to try to capture the relationship between structure and agency that shape the things that men in Santo Domingo do to be men. What do these terms mean, and how useful are they in capturing the factors shaping masculinity? To answer this question, pick concrete examples illustrating each term from the text and evaluate whether Gutmann effectively analyzes the factors at work.

For more information, contact: aleshkow@holycross.edu