UC Davis experts: Masculinity

Since feminism grew into a critical movement during the late 1960s, scholars have been researching women in depth, but the critical study of men and their various masculine identities is a relatively new field. With the largest gender studies program in the University of California system, UC Davis has a rich variety of faculty members focusing on this field. If you need help on a similar topic not found here, contact Claudia Morain, News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu.

• Masculinity in the United States
• Men's movements, masculinity studies
• Masculinity in fashion
• Chicano/Latino/Mexican masculinity
• Asian American masculinity

Masculinity in the United States

Jay Mechling, professor of American studies, writes and teaches about the construction of masculinity in the United States, from the socialization of boys in family and organizations to the mass-mediated images of masculinity in film and television. His book, On My Honor: The Boy Scouts and American Culture, was published the fall of 2001 by the University of Chicago Press. Contact: Jay Mechling, American Studies program, (530) 752-9043 office, (510) 865-8858 home, jemechling@ucdavis.edu.

Men's movements, masculinity studies

Judith Newton, professor and director of women and gender studies at UC Davis, writes on men, masculine identities, men's relation to feminism, and masculinity studies. She is completing a book on movements organized around the transformation of masculinity tentatively titled Born -- Again. The Struggle to Transform Masculinity From Panthers to Promise Keepers. She is also the author of "Starting Over: Feminism and the Politics of Cultural Critique and of Women, Power, and Subversion: Social Strategies in British Fiction, 1778-1860." Contact: Judith Newton, Women and Gender Studies, (530) 756 3604 or (530) 752 8988, jlnewton@ucdavis.edu.

Masculinity in fashion

Susan Kaiser, professor and chair of textiles and clothing, and professor of women and gender studies, studies issues of gender, race, and sexuality in relation to clothing and appearance style. She is a past president and fellow of the International Textile and Apparel Association, and her work over the past 10 years has included a focus on how masculinity is socially constructed through style. Drawing on interviews with men of diverse racial and sexual identities, as well as popular cultural depictions of men and their styles (e.g., the film Men in Black,) she examines how differences among men become created and understood. Her widely used textbook The Social Psychology of Clothing: Symbolic Appearances in Context has been translated into two foreign languages. Contact: Susan Kaiser, textiles and clothing (530) 752-9277, sbkaiser@ucdavis.edu.

Chicano/Latino/Mexican masculinity

Sergio de la Mora, an assistant professor of Chicana/o studies, studies the representation of Chicano/Latino and Mexican men in film and video. He is currently researching a book-length project on the emergence of queer media in Mexico in the context of socio-political struggles. His publications have appeared in "Film Quarterly," "Jump Cut," Journal of Film and Video, and various anthologies. Contact: Sergio de la Mora, Chicana/o studies, (530) 754-8743, sedelamora@ucdavis.

Asian American masculinity

Wendy Ho, associate professor in Asian American studies and women and gender studies, examines the constructions of masculinity in literatures by Asian American male writers. She is exploring their engagements with often conflicting concepts of masculinity in mainstream and historically marginalized racial-ethnic communities of the United States. Her earlier book "In Her Mother's House: The Politics of Asian American Mother-Daughter Writing" includes a discussion of the relationships of fathers and daughters in the work of Chinese American women writers. Contact: Wendy Ho, Asian American Studies, (530) 752-3625, waho@ucdavis.edu.

Media contacts:

• Claudia Morain, News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu

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