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Abstract
As childcare workers, men are in a contested position. On the one hand, they are in danger of being depicted as the pedophile; on the other hand, they are expected to bring something new and innovative to the thus-far female-dominated field. These men are experiencing ‘identity dissonance’ and have to find ways to manage and facilitate legitimate subject positions as both childcare workers and as men. Applying a perspective of discursive positioning, this article discusses men's positioning practices in nine qualitative interviews conducted with male childcare workers in German-speaking Switzerland. We identified a total of six discursive practices that men engage in to manage identity dissonance and construct a legitimate subject position. We found that men are engaging in a greater variety of practices than have been discussed so far. Unlike findings from other studies of men in female-dominated occupations, ours do not point to a clear-cut typology with regards to hegemonic and alternative masculinities; instead they show a variety of practices that are mobilized throughout all interviews.
Acknowledgements
The three-year research-project ‘Dolls, building blocks and outdoor activity days: (un)doing gender in the nursery’ is funded by the Swiss National Foundation (406040_129314/1) within the National Research Programme NRP 60 tackling issues of gender equality in Switzerland. For more information on the project and the NRP 60 please go to: www.nrp60.ch. We would like to also thank the nurseries and child care workers participating in our study.