Studies of Masculinities: State of the Art and Latest Trends

While offering a quick look at the state of the art of masculinity studies, this chapter emphasizes some new directions within the field, particularly the repercussions of poststructuralist thinking on the latest research on gender. While studies of masculinities concentrate on the analysis of men and male identities, poststructuralism has recently challenged rigid concepts of identity, including gender identity. By questioning a number of binary oppositions, such as man/woman or masculine/feminine, this line of deconstructive thought, supported mostly by queer studies within gender studies, has demonstrated that gender identity is very far from being stable and fixed.