The Everyday Lives of Men

207 Pages·2009·0.6 MB·English

The Everyday Lives of Men: An Ethnographic Investigation of Young Adult Male
Identity
Peter Gill
Victoria University
Thesis Submitted for a Doctor of Philosophy Degree at Victoria University, Faculty of
Arts, Education, and Human Development, School of Psychology, 2008
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Abstract
There has been increasing social debate in recent times surrounding men’s identities,
men’s health and wellbeing, and men’s place within contemporary western society.
The purpose of this thesis was to contribute to new knowledge of these issues through
an ethnographic exploration of two small sub-cultures of young adults. Utilising
participant observation the researcher described in detail the ways in which
masculinities were constructed in everyday life. The researcher spent over 2 years as a
participant observer of a small group of men from a gymnasium in Melbourne, which
followed a briefer but still illuminating period spent with a group of men from a small
community in Australia. An ethnographic approach and a non-clinical and non-
deviant sample were used to build in-depth knowledge from a neutral lens that did not
assume an existing male deficit or crisis.
The major findings revolved around the complexity of the male social
networks, including the men’s need for belonging and in particular same sex
friendships, the implicit and explicit rules of engagement, rational reflective
discussion, and male engagement in their social worlds. In addition this thesis
illuminated the salient masculine discourses for constructing and negotiating
identities, which included heterosexual attraction, competition and social comparison,
and biological predispositions and simplicity.
This thesis also presents a dynamic psychosocial theory of male identity, and
illustrates the relevance of this theory to the everyday lives of men. The men were
shown to both collectively and individually negotiate and construct their identities by
utilising the key processes of identification, sublimation, and reflection. By combining
both phenomenological and discursive research methods the researcher was able to
illustrate in everyday life the dialectic between the social and subjective elements of
identity.
The researcher also discusses the challenges he faced as an ethnographic
fieldworker, and contributes to the development of improved understandings of the
practical requirements of fieldwork, such as time, support, and flexibility.
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Acknowledgements

Thankyou to my supervisor Marion Kostanski for her support, guidance, and hard
work over the last 5 or so years. Marion’s supervision has helped me to critically
evaluate and push the boundaries of known theory and practice, develop my writing
and reporting techniques, and develop an academic career.

I’d like to thank my associate supervisor Chris Sonn for his continued guidance and
support over the last 5 last years. Chris was particularly helpful in developing,
analysing, and understanding this project.

I’d like to thank the participants of this study for their friendship and invaluable
contributions.

I’d also like to thank Lutfiye Ali, Joe Losinno, Andrew Jago, Romana Morda, and
Kerry Gill who all made significant contributions.

In addition, I’d like to thank all my friends and family for supporting me through this
process.
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Declarations
I, Peter Gill, declare that the PhD thesis entitled ‘The Everyday Lives of Men: An
Ethnographic Investigation of Young Adult Male Identity’ is no more that 100,000
words in length including quotes and exclusive of tables, figures, appendices,
bibliography, references and footnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been
submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree
or diploma. Except when otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work.

Signature. Date.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ..........................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................iii
Declarations ..................................................................................................................iv
Table of Contents...........................................................................................................v
List of Tables ..............................................................................................................viii
List of Figures ...............................................................................................................ix
Preface ..........................................................................................................................ix
Glossary of Australian Slang .........................................................................................x
Chapter 1......................................................................................................................11
Introduction..............................................................................................................11
Epidemiological Data...........................................................................................11
Gender Role Theory.............................................................................................12
Developmental Theory.........................................................................................13
Social Constructionist Theory..............................................................................14
Dynamic Psychosocial Identity Theory ...............................................................14
Aims.....................................................................................................................15
Design ..................................................................................................................16
Contribution to Knowledge..................................................................................16
Thesis Overview ..................................................................................................17
Chapter 2......................................................................................................................19
Revisiting the World of Men ...................................................................................19
Crisis of Masculinity? ..........................................................................................22
Men’s Physical Health and Well-Being...............................................................23
Men’s Psychological Health and Well-being ......................................................27
Consistencies........................................................................................................28
Changes................................................................................................................28
Male Emotions .....................................................................................................30
Male Friendship ...................................................................................................34
Summarising Men’s Health Statistics ..................................................................35
Young Men ..........................................................................................................36
The Rural Setting .................................................................................................37
Summary ..............................................................................................................39
Chapter 3......................................................................................................................41
A Dynamic Psychosocial Theory of Identity and Well-being .................................41
Cornelius Castoriadis ...........................................................................................42
The Psychoanalytic ..............................................................................................43
Relational/Interpersonal Aspects .........................................................................44
The Developmental ..............................................................................................45
Social Learning Aspects ......................................................................................45
Overall..................................................................................................................46
Reflectivity...........................................................................................................47
Identity .................................................................................................................49
Identity and Psychosocial Well-being .................................................................52
Summary ..............................................................................................................59
Chapter 4......................................................................................................................61
Psychosocial Identity Development in Early Childhood .........................................61
Birth .....................................................................................................................63
Triadic Phase........................................................................................................65
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Oedipal Phase.......................................................................................................66
Sublimation Phase................................................................................................72
Summary ..............................................................................................................74
Chapter 5......................................................................................................................77
Reflecting on Practice: Negotiating the Competing Needs of Participants,
Researcher, and Institution.......................................................................................77
Connecting the Social and the Psychological through Fieldwork .......................78
Critique of the ‘known’ Process ..........................................................................81
Chapter 6......................................................................................................................92
Methodology ............................................................................................................92
Ethnographic Description ....................................................................................92
Summary ..............................................................................................................93
Context and Participants ......................................................................................93
Data Collection ....................................................................................................95
Participant Observation and Focus Groups..........................................................95
Participant Observation and Individual Interviews..............................................97
Analysis................................................................................................................98
Participant Observation and Focus Groups..........................................................98
Participant Observation and Individual Interviews............................................101
Participant Validation ........................................................................................102
Researcher’s Positioning....................................................................................103
Chapter 7....................................................................................................................104
Contextualising the Subcultures of Men................................................................104
Study 1: Men in the Rural Village .....................................................................104
Study 2: Beyond the Grunt, the Men of the Gym ..............................................108
Study 2: Ethnographic Participant Observations and Description.....................112
Chapter 8....................................................................................................................114
The Characters .......................................................................................................114
Stan the Wedding Leper.....................................................................................114
Profanity Aaron..................................................................................................117
The Golden Greeks ............................................................................................118
My Brush with Celebrity ...................................................................................121
The Computer Technician..................................................................................122
The Mighty Hawks ............................................................................................124
Grumpy Old Men...............................................................................................127
Reflections on the Group ‘Fit’ ...........................................................................129
Positioning the Data...........................................................................................131
Chapter 9....................................................................................................................133
Men Talk................................................................................................................133
Conversational Style and Language...................................................................134
Motivations and Behaviours ..............................................................................140
Shared Values ....................................................................................................149
Defining Man (Masculine Discourses) ..............................................................158
Summary ............................................................................................................165
Chapter 10..................................................................................................................169
Discussion ..............................................................................................................169
Dynamic Psychosocial Male Identity ................................................................171
Overview............................................................................................................176
Skills and Competencies ....................................................................................177
Connection with Friends and Friendship Circles...............................................179
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Intimate Relationships .......................................................................................183
Independence and Autonomy ............................................................................186
Reflectivity.........................................................................................................188
Chapter 11..................................................................................................................191
Conclusion .............................................................................................................191
Approach............................................................................................................191
Findings..............................................................................................................192
Limitations and Future research.........................................................................196
Implications........................................................................................................196
References..................................................................................................................197
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List of Tables

Table 1. Early childhood developmental transformation from primary
imagination to social imagination 62

Table 2. Methodological Summary 94

Table 3. Summary of Findings: Conversational styles, motivations and
behaviours, and discourses 134

Table 4. The three major lenses for conceiving of men’s well-being
contextualised by the Process of Dynamic Psychosocial Reflection 173
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List of Figures

Figure 1 Age specific suicide rates per 100,000 population 2005 36

Preface
This thesis contains some strong language that might offend. In order to accurately
represent the everyday lives of men, the author included excerpts which sometimes
contain strong language.
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Glossary of Australian Slang
Slang Word/Phrase Meaning
bowl bronzer someone who makes a mess on the toilet
butch masculine female
cause because
chip on their shoulder someone who is defensive
cunt derogatory term e.g. worse than Ashole
dingo type of Australian dog
dona blanket, quilt, duvet
em them
for’em for them
geez jesus
get’em get them
gota got to
guna going to
muck around mes around
nuts testicles
old man father
on tap to have unlimited aces to
pea heart mentally week in competitive situations
puting on size gaining muscle density
sayin saying
snubed to ignore
soft/week as piss mentally and/or physically week
sorta sort of
sucked in taken advantage of
tal popy person with high social standing
ute type of car with a rear tray for storage
wana want to
ya you
yep yes