Reconstructing masculinity and the America dream: Cultural transformation in the mythopoetic men's movement.

摘要

This dissertation examines the social construction of cultural discourse in the mythopoetic men's movement. Using ethnographic methods, the study is based on research spanning six years of participant-observation within the movement. Examining the ideological dynamics of the movement, the work analyzes the construction and negotiation of cultural discourse concerning masculinity, gender and other perceived dominant ideologies of American society. Using the concept of hegemony in a fully cultural way, the analysis examines the ways in which, in face-to-face interaction, the men of the movement develop structured moral understandings of a hegemonic masculinity and a hegemonic culture and simultaneously, a counter-hegemonic masculinity and counter-hegemonic culture.; Theoretically, the study draws upon and advances contemporary cultural work in sociology to understand the structured systems of meaning constructed by the members of this movement. Developing this approach further, the analysis uses ethnographic data to forward understandings more sensitive to the micro-level dynamics of interaction, individual agency, and contingency. Further, issues of power and hegemony are included in ways that deepen the theoretical perspective while at the same time maintaining the fully cultural nature of the approach.; The members of the mythopoetic men's movement explicitly see themselves as reacting to a dominant form of gender identity which they view as having limited and damaged both men and women. It is the formulating of a counter-hegemonic masculinity that is their personal and political project. Overall, this is an organized, sustained identity creation movement. It is a seed movement, crystallizing a new model of masculinity, creating new possibilities for the culture at large.; The men of the mythopoetic men's movement are also actively involved in the construction of critical interpretations of what they see as a dominant culture that stresses the importance of the work ethic, professional success, and material achievement. As an alternative, they form an opposing model of a style of life that instead prioritizes emotional growth, family life, love, creativity, and spiritual pursuits. Thus, overall, the dissertation contributes to the growing field of cultural sociology in a way that correspondingly allows a deeper understanding of the empirical dynamics of this important social movement.