"Kvinnlig maskulinitet" och "manlig femininitet". En möjlighet att överskrida könsdikotomin?

Abstract

This artide problematises, from a poststructuralist and queer perspective, the linking of men and masculinity, which is common in the main part of Men's Studies. The genealogy of the concepts is discussed and also how Connell, Kimmel and Hearn, the Second Wave feminism and poststructuralists have used them. Judith Halberstam's concepts of "female masculinity" and "male femininity" are then suggested as a fruitful way to exceed the sex dichotomy. By focusing on how both femininity and masculinity are materialised and used in identity constructions of both men and women, it is argued that a more complex understanding of gender is possible. Halberstam's concept is also linked to Lisa Adkin's discussion of gender flexibility in the late modern labour märket, and to Adkin's argument that new gender hierarchies are hidden behind what is supposed to be more equal gender relations. In the last part of the artide the author exemplifies from a study of men in female occupations how men working as nurses, hairdressers and pre-school teachers position themselves by using masculinity and femininity concepts. These men both integrate and position themselves in contrast to femininity and masculinity concepts. While feminine characteristics are highly prefered, femininity connected with gay men is by the heterosexual matrix made unthinkable. In conclusion it is argued that in the future gender researchers need to problematise heterosexual gender presumptions and study how both women and men perform femininity and masculinity.