Moving masculinities: Polish migrants in Norway navigating transnational gender hierarchies

ABSTRACT

This article is based upon a study of 10, primarily younger (ages 22–35) unmarried Polish men in Norway and explores the role that gender plays in their migration and how these men navigate between different gender ideals in Norway and Poland. By using an intersectional approach and transnational lens, this article draws attention to how Polish men in Norway negotiate their gendered identities between the social fields they exist within. The research on Polish migrant masculinities has mainly taken place in the UK and focused on men in family situations. This article contributes to this growing field by drawing attention to a less studied demographic in a country like Norway which has similar and different gender hierarchies as the UK. I draw attention to the plurality of masculinities that exist among Polish migrants, and the welcome changes/tensions that emerge as they encounter different gendered expectations in Norway. This article also highlights how the participants see stereotypes about Polish men as both beneficial in situations in Norway, and also serve as a source of marginalization, and the different ways these men then respond to this perceived marginalization.

KEYWORDS:

• Masculinity
• Polish migration
• Norway
• intersectionality
• gender

Acknowledgements

Thank you to my MA thesis supervisors Thomas Michael Walle and Marta Bivand Erdal for their incredible support during my thesis, and which the findings for this article are adapted from. Additionally, I would like to thank Kamila Fiałkowska and her colleagues at the Centre for Migration Research for providing useful comments during my thesis. Finally, thank you Katarzyna Wojnicka and the reviewers for their insightful comments on this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kelly Fisher

Kelly Fisher is an advisor at Reform – Resource Centre for Men, which is an NGO based in Oslo working with men and boys on topics connected to masculinity and gender equality. His research interests include intersectional perspectives about men and boys, men and masculinities in an international context, and masculinities and childhood.