Masculinity Ideals in a Contemporary Danish Context

Abstract

What are the prevailing masculinity ideals among contemporary Danish men? As one of the Nordic welfare states, Denmark has for decades focused on gender equality and changes in the gendered division of labour. Research has suggested a shift in masculinity ideals, but processes of change comprise not only changes but also continuities, as well as ambivalences and contradictions. This article investigates how normative masculinity ideals—the most accepted ways of being a man in a certain context—are expressed and negotiated by contemporary Danish men, and how these ideals are related to overall discourses of gender.

The article is based on a mixed methods design, consisting of: (1) a quantitative survey among lower-educated men in two male-dominated occupations, and (2) a qualitative, explorative analysis of data from five focus group interviews with both lower- and higher-educated men. The two occupations in the survey constitute a critical case, based on the argument that if traditional masculinity ideals are rejected here—among lower-educated men, who are likely to be more supportive of traditional gender ideals than the more highly educated—then Danish men in general are likely to reject traditional masculinity ideals.

Both the quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that traditional patriarchal masculinity ideals are not the most legitimate among the men. They seem to subscribe to more gender equality friendly masculinities, although this picture is not clear-cut as we also see negotiations and variations between the men. Thus, the article concludes that in a Danish context we can identify authoritative masculinity ideals that do not reproduce patriarchy or support traditional masculinity ideals in an unambiguous way.

Funding

This study was funded by the Danish Working Environment Research Fund [project number 34-2009-09].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ The term “traditional”—as opposed to modern—can be problematized; however, in the article we build on the arguments of Levant and Richmond (2007) and use their operationalization and indicators of the concept in the survey.

² The original seven dimensions on the MRNI scale are: the requirement to avoid all things feminine; the injunction to restrict one's emotional life; the emphasis on toughness and aggression; the injunction to be self-reliant; the emphasis on achieving status above all else; non-relational, objectifying attitudes towards sexuality; fear and hatred of homosexuals (Levant, 1996, p. 261). The questions to be measured were translated into Danish and pilot tested according to international standards for statistical validation.

³ Two of the participants in the focus groups have an Eastern European background. The rest of the participants are ethnic Danish men. Ethnic differences were not a focus of the analysis.

⁴ Two politicians, the Danish Crown Prince, a ballet dancer, a motorcycle gang member, two businessmen (one openly homosexual), four TV hosts (one homosexual), a professional cyclist/sports director, a drag queen, and a soccer player/coach.

⁵ This tendency is found among both the ambulance workers and the industrial slaughterhouse workers; however, it is stronger among the former and not statistically significant among the latter.

⁶ A specialized military corps working under harsh climatic conditions in Eastern Greenland.

⁷ It may be argued that these articulations implicitly rely on and reproduce a heterosexual norm. However, when asked directly about homosexuality, the men articulate a relatively non-homophobic family ideal.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lotte Bloksgaard

Lotte Bloksgaard is an Associate Professor at the Department for Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark. She has a PhD in Sociology of Gender and is research co-ordinator at FREIA, the Gender Research Centre in Aalborg. Current research fields: gender, masculinity, organizations, work life, work and family conflicts, parental leave, fatherhood, and professional identities. Danish project leader of the European research project RECPOL (Recruitment, Education and Careers in the Police: A comparative, longitudinal Study). Examples of publications within the area of gender and masculinity include: “‘No, gender doesn't make a difference…?’ Studying negotiations and gender in organizations”, Qualitative Studies, 3(2), 150–162, 2012; and “Negotiating leave in the workplace: leave practices and masculinity constructions among Danish fathers”, in G.B. Eydal & T. Rostgaard (Eds), Fatherhood in the Nordic Welfare States—Comparing Care Policies and Practice, Policy Press, 2014.

Ann-Dorte Christensen

Ann-Dorte Christensen is a Professor of Sociology at the Department for Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University and co-editor of NORMA International Journal of Masculinity Studies. Field of research: gender, intersectionality, masculinity, citizenship, everyday life, and belonging. Examples of publications within the area of masculinity include: “Combining hegemonic masculinity and intersectionality”, NORMA: International Journal of Masculinity Studies, 9(1), 2014 (with Sune Qvotrup Jensen); and “Gender, class, and family. Men and gender equality in a Danish context”, Social Politics. International Studies in Gender, State, and Society, 15(1), 2008 (with Jørgen Elm Larsen).

Sune Qvotrup Jensen

Sune Qvotrup Jensen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark. He has a PhD in Gender Research, and his current research interests involve gender, intersectionality, urban studies, and subculture. He is a member of CASTOR (Centre for Analysis of Social Transformations) and an affiliated member of FREIA, the Gender Research Centre in Aalborg. Examples of publications within the area of gender research include: “Doing intersectional analysis: methodological implications for qualitative research”, NORA—Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 20(2), 2012 (with Ann-Dorte Christensen); and “Combining hegemonic masculinity and intersectionality”, International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 9(1), 2014 (with Ann-Dorte Christensen).

Claus D. Hansen

Claus D. Hansen is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department for Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark. His research interests are focused mostly on inequality in health, sickness absence, and gender. Among his key publications in English are: “Going ill to work—what personal circumstances, attitudes and work-related factors are associated with sickness presenteeism?”, Social Science & Medicine, 2008 (with Johan H. Andersen); and “‘Making a virtue’ of going ill to work—reflections on the necessities of everyday workplace ‘suffering’”, Tidsskrift for Forskning i Sygdom og Samfund [Journal of Research into Health and Society], 2010.

Morten Kyed

Morten Kyed is post.doc, Department for Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark. He has just defended a PhD thesis entitled “John Wayne and Tarzan no longer work here: an ethnographic tale of masculinity, safety and ‘EMT-ship’”. His main research interests are within the intersection of masculinity, work, and cultural practice. Examples of previous publications within this area are: “Distinction meets ‘dirty work’: on the tracks of symbolic domination and autonomy among refuse collectors in a Danish city”, Praktiske Grunde [Practical Reasons] [Online], 2011; and “Masculinity, emotions and ‘communities of relief’ among male emergency medical technicians”, in Mathias Ericson & Ulf Mellström (Eds), Gender, Emergency Work and the Rescue Services: Contested Terrains and Challenges, Karlstad University Press (forthcoming).

Kent Jacob Nielsen

Kent Jacob Nielsen is deputy head of department at the Department of Occupational Medicine, University Research Clinic at Herning Regional Hospital, Denmark. He has a PhD in safety research, and is actively involved in the fields of safety intervention research, the measuring and managing of safety climate, injury epidemiology, and work environment. Examples of publications within these areas and within gender research include: “Improving safety culture through the health and safety organization: a case study”, Journal of Safety Research, 48, 7–17, 2014; and “A gender perspective on work-related accidents”, Safety Science, 64, 190–198, 2014 (with S.Q. Jensen, M. Kyed, A. Christensen, L. Bloksgaard, C.D. Hansen).