The power of character : Middle-class masculinities, 1800–1900

This is a study of continuity and change in middle-class conceptions of ideal manhood. My theoretical cues are the notions of the male as an unproblematised and genderless norm, masculinity as homosocial, and George L. Mosse’s use of countertypes. Notions of passions, youth, and character were important throughout the century. If young men could learn to master the dangerous passions especially in the precarious period of youth, they would develop character. If men instead gave in to the passions, they would fall and become countertypes. Meanwhile, young men lived according to another notion, that young men should have their fling. The meaning of manhood also changed over time. In the decades around 1800, manhood meant to lead a life which would be beneficial to society as a whole. Another ideal, that of the man of the world, was founded on urbane manners as a tactic to further one’s career. By mid-century, the ideal of the self-made man came to the fore. The homosocial world of business was now seen as a good way to mould manly characters. In the last decades of the century, moralists criticized the sexual double standard and male sexuality. To remain chaste until marriage became a central mark of manhood. Autobiographers, however, reveal that to many men, Don Juan was a hero rather than a villain. The notion that men were genderless and that masculinity was not a subject of discussion cannot be sustained. Masculinity was indeed the subject of intense discussions. Meanwhile, neither moralists nor autobiographers shed critical light on married, adult men. The problem was how young men should best be guided into an adult position of legitimate power; that position of power in itself was not problematised. While most masculinities were homosocial, this was not exclusively so. Countertypes were more complex than what Mosse allows for. Men who had taken ideal manhood too far could be countertypes, and at times men endorsed ideals which meant unmanliness to moralists.

The power of character : Middle-class masculinities, 1800–1900

This is a study of continuity and change in middle-class conceptions of ideal manhood. My theoretical cues are the notions of the male as an unproblematised and genderless norm, masculinity as homosocial, and George L. Mosse’s use of countertypes. Notions of passions, youth, and character were important throughout the century. If young men could learn to master the dangerous passions especially in the precarious period of youth, they would develop character. If men instead gave in to the passions, they would fall and become countertypes. Meanwhile, young men lived according to another notion, that young men should have their fling. The meaning of manhood also changed over time. In the decades around 1800, manhood meant to lead a life which would be beneficial to society as a whole. Another ideal, that of the man of the world, was founded on urbane manners as a tactic to further one’s career. By mid-century, the ideal of the self-made man came to the fore. The homosocial world of business was now seen as a good way to mould manly characters. In the last decades of the century, moralists criticized the sexual double standard and male sexuality. To remain chaste until marriage became a central mark of manhood. Autobiographers, however, reveal that to many men, Don Juan was a hero rather than a villain. The notion that men were genderless and that masculinity was not a subject of discussion cannot be sustained. Masculinity was indeed the subject of intense discussions. Meanwhile, neither moralists nor autobiographers shed critical light on married, adult men. The problem was how young men should best be guided into an adult position of legitimate power; that position of power in itself was not problematised. While most masculinities were homosocial, this was not exclusively so. Countertypes were more complex than what Mosse allows for. Men who had taken ideal manhood too far could be countertypes, and at times men endorsed ideals which meant unmanliness to moralists.

Kvinnor, män och alla Andra : En svensk genushistoria

Svenska historieböcker är ofta genusomedvetna. Den genushistoria som har skrivits bortser dessutom ofta från andra maktförhållanden som påverkat människors liv och samhället i stort. Den här boken är en genushistoria som handlar om kvinnor och män och om maktrelationerna mellan dem – men också om alla Andra.Det finns etniska Andra, sexuella Andra, kroppsliga Andra och många andra Andra. Gemensamt har de bara att de definierats som mindre värda, problematiska och annorlunda. Kvinnor, män och alla Andra handlar om genus, etnicitet, sexualitet, funktionshinder och maskulinitet i svensk historia från 1700-talets mitt till i dag. Genom att studera olika maktordningar i ett intersektionalitetsperspektiv ger författarna en mer fullständig bild av den svenska historien och visar på de mekanismer som skapar underordning och utanförskap.Denna utökade upplaga följer genushistorien fram till 2021. Ett nytt slutkapitel diskuterar omstruktureringen av välfärdsstaten sedan 1990-talet och effekterna av samhällets digitalisering, liksom #metoo-kampanjen och Black Lives Matter-rörelsen. Ett helt nytt kapitel om transhistoria har också tillkommit. Boken riktar sig till alla som vill fördjupa sin kunskap om den svenska historien ur ett genus- och mångfaldsperspektiv. Den är lämplig som kurslitteratur för universitets- och högskolestuderande i historia och genusvetenskap

Kristen manlighet. Ideal och verklighet 1840-1940

I denna antologi diskuteras med fokus på nordiska förhållanden sambandet mellan kristen religion och konstruktionen av manlighet under perioden 1840 till 1940. En central fråga är hur kristna ideal som exempelvis ödmjukhet, mildhet och självförsakelse, vilka i den borgerliga genusdiskursen kommit att knytas till kvinnokönet, inverkade på konstruktionen av kristen manlighet och vilka uttryck detta tog sig i enskilda mäns liv. Vidare analyseras de teologiska och ideologiska perspektiven och deras betydelse för konstruktionen av manlighet och hur det manliga kontrasterats mot det kvinnliga. Teoretiskt utgår undersökningarna dels från de till synes motsägelsefulla teserna om religionens feminisering och om samhällets rekonfessionalisering, dels från nyare manshistorisk forskning. Artiklarna speglar det komplexa samspelet mellan konfession, nation, religiös kultur, genusrelationer och manlighetsideal under en period präglad av religiös mobilisering. Konkret handlar antologin dels om män som agerade inom ramen för en etablerad kyrklig struktur på hemmaplan, dels om män i kyrkliga motkulturer och/eller kristna missionsrörelser. Så undersöks till exempel den kristna manliga filantropin, väckelserörelsers och frikyrkors mansideal, manliga missionärer i Kina, kristen manlighet inom skönlitteratu-ren samt prästerlig manlighet inom katolicism och protestantism