Caring moments and their men: masculine emotion practice in nursing^*

* My title is a variation on Goffman’s admonishment that sociology study ‘moments and their men’ rather than ‘men and their moments’ (1967, p. 3). Admittedly, this title is a bit misleading in that it is Bourdieu’s theory of social practice that I draw on most heavily. Despite this, I think it well encapsulates the main theoretical contribution of this article, which is to examine the evolving fit between environment (as moments) and self that habitus, capital, and practice highlight within Bourdieu’s framework.

ABSTRACT

Theory on men and masculinities has emphasized practice—situated action—as the key site to analyze masculinity. Individual and organizational practices as well as cultural resources are sites to investigate gender dominance. Similarly, though more recently, theory on emotion has called for a shift toward an emotion-as-practice approach in which emotion is seen as both an outcome and resource situationally activated and embodied by constrained actors. Using empirical work on men in nursing, this article develops a synthesis of masculine and emotion practice. Bourdieu’s [(1990). The logic of practice. (R. Nice, Trans.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press] broader notion of social practice provides a link between the two fields. Reflections from men in nursing suggest a new masculine ideal centered on the emotionally adept man. Rather than signal an alternative form of masculinity that challenges gender dominance, these changes might signal a new hegemony—a reconfiguration of practices better suited to an era of post-industrialization. Economic shifts, including an increase in both the number of middle-class women in the labor force and the number of emotionally demanding, service-based jobs, may be the catalyst for a new ideal, particularly for white, middle-class men.

KEYWORDS:

• Practice
• emotional capital
• masculinity
• hybridity
• affect

Acknowledgements

I thank the editors of the special issue and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Marci D. Cottingham is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. Her work examines emotion and social inequalities broadly and in relation to healthcare and biomedicine. Her research has appeared in Theory and Society, Social Psychology Quarterly, and Gender & Society. Her current projects include theorizing emotion in relation to social practice, biomedical risk in the pharmaceutical industry, and the high-risk care of epidemic health workers. More on her work can be found here: https://uva.academia.edu/MarciCottingham.

Notes

* My title is a variation on Goffman’s admonishment that sociology study ‘moments and their men’ rather than ‘men and their moments’ (1967, p. 3). Admittedly, this title is a bit misleading in that it is Bourdieu’s theory of social practice that I draw on most heavily. Despite this, I think it well encapsulates the main theoretical contribution of this article, which is to examine the evolving fit between environment (as moments) and self that habitus, capital, and practice highlight within Bourdieu’s framework.

1 I use these terms interchangeably.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here uses data from a larger study, ‘Identity and Emotional Management Control in Health Care Settings’, funded by the National Science Foundation (SES-1024271) and awarded to Rebecca J. Erickson (PI) and James M. Diefendorff (Co-PI). Participant compensation and research travel was also made possible through the financial support of the Barbara J. Stephens Dissertation Award from the University of Akron, Department of Sociology.