"Man up, bro!" An exploration of masculine performances in the outdoor adventure field
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Chadwick Joseph Young (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Callie Schultz
Abstract: Masculinity is constructed and reinforced through interaction instead of passively internalized (Connell, 2006). The “space” of the outdoors is predominately regarded in the popular psyche as a male space (Kimmel, 1995; Newberry, 2003 & 2004; Warren, 2016). Societal expectations of men can produce harmful performances and representations of masculinity and can be detrimental to men, women, and non-binary individuals as they limit the “correct” ways to perform masculinity. Using feminist theory and performance ethnography, the purpose of this study was to explore how men perform masculinity in the outdoors. I asked two research questions to influence my study: (1) How do men in the field of the outdoors perform masculinities? and (2) How do these performances resist, reinforce, or repurpose dominant narratives of masculinity? Methodologically, Diawara (1996), suggests that performance ethnography explores the communicative actions within specific spaces. In alignment with performance ethnography, my methods were a co-performance, interviews, reflexive journaling and a focus group. There were three distinct results in this study. First, a video that is an expressive representation of qualitative data being used to highlight the experiences of six men, including myself, in the outdoor field. Second, a discussion of a social script that looks closely at how masculinity is showing up through competency in outdoor activities. And third, the review of a social script entangled in, masculinity, competition, neoliberalism, and capitalism among men in the outdoors. Throughout this paper the entanglement of masculinity and the outdoor adventure field are explored.
"Man up, bro!" An exploration of masculine performances in the outdoor adventure field
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Created on 3/1/2024
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2024
- Keywords
- masculinity, performances, outdoors, performance ethnography, gender performance theory
- Subjects
- Sex role
- Masculinity
- Outdoor recreation
- Ethnology
- Performative (Philosophy)