The politics of vulnerable masculinity in couple therapy.

Couple therapy and related literature has problematized men's emotional inexpressiveness as constraining for men and as contributing to men's privileged and dominating position vis‐à‐vis women. Fostering men's emotionality in and outside of therapy has been proposed as a way to improve men's well‐be...

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Published in:Journal of Marital & Family Therapy Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 427 - 447
Main Authors: Smoliak, Olga, LaMarre, Andrea, Rice, Carla, Tseliou, Eleftheria, LeCouteur, Amanda, Myers, Madison, Vesely, Leslie, Briscoe, Cara, Addison, Maggie, Velikonja, Linnea
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Apr2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2022
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
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        156362439
        10.1111/jmft.12530
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        atl: The politics of vulnerable masculinity in couple therapy.
      aug:
        au:
          Smoliak, Olga
          LaMarre, Andrea
          Rice, Carla
          Tseliou, Eleftheria
          LeCouteur, Amanda
          Myers, Madison
          Vesely, Leslie
          Briscoe, Cara
          Addison, Maggie
          Velikonja, Linnea
        affil:
          Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph ON,, Canada
          School of Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
          Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, Thessaly, Greece
          School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA,, Australia
      su:
        Masculinity
        Gender inequality
        Practical politics
        Social change
        Thematic analysis
      sug:
        subj:
          Masculinity
          Gender inequality
          Practical politics
          Social change
          Thematic analysis
      keyword:
        clinical
        couples
        qualitative
        research
        clinical
        couples
        qualitative
        research
      ab: Couple therapy and related literature has problematized men's emotional inexpressiveness as constraining for men and as contributing to men's privileged and dominating position vis‐à‐vis women. Fostering men's emotionality in and outside of therapy has been proposed as a way to improve men's well‐being and relationships and promote gender equality. Critical masculinity scholars have noted that many men now enact vulnerable ("softer") and emotional forms of masculinity. Yet, there is lack of insight into how such enactment may intersect with gender inequality. This article presents a critical thematic analysis of 30 transcribed videotaped couple therapy sessions focusing on the performance of men's affective masculinities and the political dimensions of men's increasing emotionality within couple therapy. The study shows that vulnerable masculinities, although argued as bearing the potential to foster relational and social change, may also obscure continuing commitment to dominant masculinity norms. Implications for practice are discussed.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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