Materials, skills and gender identities: men, women and home improvement practices in New Zealand

Abstract

The article explores the interactions of materials, skills and gender identity through examining DIY practices in New Zealand. It traces the relationship between materials used for home repairs, the competences needed to use them and the (re)production of specific gendered identities. It argues that housing and building materials were an important part of the European settler history of the country and this history forms the context within which New Zealanders work on their houses today. Drawing on interviews with 30 Pākehā homeowners, it explores how both men and women respond to the materials of their homes, how skills are acquired in relation to the demands of the materials used and how these skills become part of the (re)production of specific white, heterosexual gender identities. The figure of the ‘Kiwi bloke’ is discussed as an important imaginary in the negotiation of gender identities for both men and women. Interviewees saw their DIY activities in the light of the creation and re-creation of this specific national and gendered identity. The article reveals the intertwining of history and materiality in the continual negotiation and contestation of gendered identities.

物质、技术与性别认同：新西兰的男性、女性与居家修缮(实践

El artículo explora las interacciones de materiales, capacidades e identidades de género examinando las prácticas de DIY (hágalo usted mismo, por sus siglas en inglés) en Nueva Zelanda. Sigue las relaciones entre los materiales utilizados para realizar las reparaciones en el hogar, los conocimientos que se necesitan para utilizarlos y la (re)producción de identidades generizadas específicas. Sostiene que los materiales de la vivienda y la construcción fueron una parte importante de la historia de los pobladores europeos del país y que esta historia forma el contexto dentro del cual lxs neozelandesxs trabajan en sus propias casas hoy. Basado en entrevistas con 30 propietarios Pākehā, explora cómo tanto hombres como mujeres responden a los materiales de sus hogares, cómo las capacidades son adquiridas en relación a las demandas de los materiales utilizados y cómo estos materiales se vuelven parte de la (re)producción de identidades específicas de género, heterosexuales y blancas. La figura del “muchacho kiwi” se discute como un imaginario importante en la negociación de las identidades de género tanto para mujeres como para hombres. Lxs entrevistadxs vieron sus actividades DIY a la luz de la creación y la re-creación de esta específica identidad nacional y generizada. El artículo revela el entrelazamiento de la historia y la materialidad en la continua negociación y contestación de identidades generizadas.

Materiales, capacidades e identidades de género: hombres, mujeres y prácticas de mejoramiento del hogar en Nueva Zelanda

本文透过检视新西兰的自己动手做（DIY）的实践，探讨物质、技术与性别认同之间的互动。本文追溯居家修缮所使用的材料、使用这些材料所需的能力、以及特定的性别化认同的（再）生产之间的关联。本文主张，住宅与建筑材料，是欧洲人移居新西兰历史的重要部分，而这段历史，构成了今日新西兰人修缮自家房屋的脉络。本文运用对三十位新西兰白人房屋所有者进行的访谈，探讨男性与女性如何回应家的构成材料、如何获取与材料使用需求相关的技术，以及这些技术如何成为特定白人异性恋性别认同（再）生产的一部分。本文将探讨“奇异小子”（Kiwi bloke）之人物，同时作为男性与女性协商性别认同中的重要想像。受访者依照此一特定国家与性别化的身份认同的创造与再创造，设想自身的DIY活动。本文揭露性别化认同持续不断的协商与竞争中，历史与物质的相互交缠。

Keywords::

• DIY
• New Zealand
• masculinities
• home
• materiality

Palabras claves::

• DIY
• Nueva Zelanda
• masculinidades
• hogar
• materialidad

关键词::

• 自己动手做（DIY）
• 新西兰
• 男性气概
• 家庭
• 物质性

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Lynda Johnston and the three anonymous referees for their very helpful and constructive comments on this article. Also thanks to Divya Tolia-Kelly and Scott Rodgers for comments on an earlier version and Annabel Cooper, Andrew Gorman-Murray, Mike Mackay, Carey-Ann Morrison and Harvey Perkins for very many useful conversations whilst I've been working on this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^1. My selection criteria for participants was people who were responsible for the maintenance of their homes rather than homeowners specifically, however everyone who took part in the study did in fact own their home.

^2. Many thanks to Lynda Johnston for making me aware of this campaign and explaining its resonances for a New Zealand audience.

^3. Number 8 wire is often used inventively for applications other than fencing. It is now used as a term that epitomises the Kiwi bloke as someone who can turn their hand to anything using the things which are easily available (see Bridges and Downs 2000).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rosie Cox

Rosie Cox is Reader in Geography and Gender Studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She researches inequalities within the home, particularly paid domestic labour. She is author of The Servant Problem (2006, I.B. Tauris); co-editor of Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Consumption (2007, I.B. Tauris); co-author of Reconnecting Consumers, Producers and Food: Exploring Alternatives (2008, Berg) and Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life (2011, Profile Books). She has just completed an ESRC funded project on au pairs in the UK and has edited a collection related to this, Au Pairs in Global Context: Sisters or Servants? (2015, Palgrave).