Constructing Masculinity in Womens Worlds

-men in female occupations

Marie Nordberg Ph.D. student, Department of Ethnology University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Sven and Anders are busy cleaning the table after the lunch with 15 1-5-year old kids. They talk about the food and about the children being a little bit noisy, and request them to be more quiet. Sven lifts up one of the kids, hugs it and sweeps the childs hair with tenderness. Then he carries it to the nursing room and giggling puts on a clean napkin. He and Anders then discuss the childrens sleeping periods. Sven and Anders are two male preschool-teachers who together with a female colleague are working at a nursery-school in Sweden. Hans, who is the single man on another nursery-school, works in a different way. Once a week he separates the children in a boys group and a girls group. The boys group follows him to the forest, where they together are finishing a hut. Under his command the 3-6 year old boys drags branches, wood and twigs to the hut. They all intensively takes part in the sawing and hammering. On the way home they talk about hockey team and shout out the names of their favourite teams. The girls group remains with the female preschool-teachers and tends to other activities. The episodes above exemplifies two of the strategies I have noticed during my study of men in female dominated occupations. Sven and Anders in the first episode diminish gender identity and adopt the female tradition of the profession. Hans, in the second episode tries to create an alternative activity where gender identity is seen as important . As being a man he wants to become a model for the boys, give them a collective feeling of affinity and other kinds of activities than usually takes place in the nurseryschool. In this conference paper I will stress some aspects of how gender relations are reproduced and renegotiated when men and women meet in female dominated occupations. The discussion according to my point of view is about traditions of occupation, modernity and gender identity. I have chosen to study hairdressers, preschool-teachers and nurses. Data is collected by field observations and interviews. I have up to now completed about thirty interviews with both men and women and made observations in eleven workplaces. Occupations inherit different labour traditions and have different types of associated prejudices. Although there are certain similarities regarding how gender identity is expressed or undercommunicated by men who have chosen these occupations. THREE DIFFERENT TRADITIONS OF OCCUPATION Sweden has one of the most sex segregated labour markets in Europe (Olsson & Sundgren Grinups 1994). Women often end up in the caring domain. Despite state interventions concerning equality between men and women, few men today are working as hairdressers, preschool-teachers and nurses.

In 1994 only 3% of the preschool-teachers in Sweden where men (Jensen 1998). Among three forms of hairdressers in a region in Sweden 1998 only two was men (Skolkatalogen Gymnasieskolan Karlstad 1998). Men, that despite the sex segregation, choose these three professions meet labour traditions that to a great deal has been developed by women who earlier have dominated these occupations. Pre-school teachers occupation was formed in the end of the 19th century under influence from Germany and the kindergarten. The occupation became a working place for bourgeois women and the activities was grounded in giving children knowledge about nature, handicraft, textile work and simple housekeeping. In the nurseryschools1 directed to the working class women and children where presented a model for the good home. Cleanliness, diligence, moral and God-fearing was taught (Tallberg Broman 1991). The division between occupation role and mothering/female role could be regarded a somewhat indistinct (Annerblom 1983). Anyone who visits a nursery-school cant avoid noticing the homelike and cosy milieu that still is present. Home-made curtains side by side with flowers in the windows, tablecloths in joyful colours are on the tables and paintings and works of the children are decorating the walls. The occupation had even in the 1960s little male influence2. It can be understood as a free zone where women independent of men and mens influence, in contrast to patriarchy, could raise children ( see Segal 1997). At a conference in Paris it was stated that the occupation is not suitable for men (Johansson & stedt 1993 s. 140). Men who enters this field of occupation can adopt the traditions as Sven and Anders in the first episode and regard the routines and activities as a natural part of the profession. In the nurseryschoolgroup boys and girls are playing together and the activities dont take a starting point in different needs between the sexes. Sex as a basis for categorisation is not focused. In contrast, Hans is actualising conceptions about sex differences. He sees parts of the activities as female dominated and is searching for alternatives that are in resonance with his understanding of masculinity. He thereby wants to build up an alternative activity, where tasks that he sees as overlooked by women is emphasised. He also stresses the differences between boys and girls. One illustration of this strategy is the reaction by the preschool teacher Per at his first visit at the working place:
She (the female principal) showed round and told me about what the work was about. But I had a picture of how I wanted to work that differed from the way they (the women) worked /../ We could go fishing one day, play computergames or arrange indoor-landhockey tournaments.

This difference in strategies in relations to the working traditions appears both in interviews with the men and in the observations I have made in their workingplaces. The nurse profession has not been so much separated from male influence, even if the proportion of men in the last decades has increased. Women and men have been working together in the same place, but in different positions. Even here influences from the bourgeois values can be seen. The doctor can be regarded as the father, the nurse as the mother, assistants as servants and patients as children. The nurse profession was occupied mainly by bourgeois women (Emanuelsson 1990). Today the hierarchy has broken up and the former strict institutional milieu has been informalisied. Homelike furnishing and jolly colours had made its entrance in the former sterile milieu. The difference from the home is though
1

The nursery school was in the beginning named kindergarten. I use nursery-school so the reader will know that its the same occupation and workingplace I talk about. 2 I thereby refer to male presence. Of course women can adopt and express male structures. Men can also influence the profession without being physical part of it.

withhold by the working-uniform by the staff, and the uniform could be seen as the divisionline to the private life. An increased focus on caregiving has also taken a greater part in the nurse education. The majority of men in this profession are working in intensive care, anaesthesia and psychiatric care. Among the men that I have interviewed, on one hand there are those who regard the profession as a careerway to other positions, on the other hand there are those who have chosen the profession to avoid male hierarchies and competition in male dominated areas. There are both positive opinions about the increased focus on care, but also strategies where conception of gender and masculinity makes men reject this. Instead they try to change the contents of the work in accordance with their own conceptions of male activities and especially emphasising assumptions about gender differences:
Bengt: I dont think that we guys are as much participant in the childrens care, as close to the kids and the mothers as women are. I dough it /../ I believe that my need for caring is less than the womens need /../ When children get well, when there is speed and activity. I find fast decisions more fun. Then this everyday routine, I dont find so exciting /../ You get an adrenaline kick and has to use your professional knowledge and not only give food, change napkins and things like that.

The hairdressers profession has changed the last decades. Earlier there where barbers and hairdressers and the saloons addressed either men or women. The milieus differed significantly. In the ladies hairdressers in the 1960s you found hood hair-dryers, pastel covering-cloths and ladies magazines. The barbers saloon was a different kind of milieu. You could find condoms under the desk, mens magazines in the shelves and hood hair-dryers was hardly present! In the 1970s the sex roles where challenged by the mixed-sex fashion and hairstyles changed. Mixed hairdressers saloons became popular and finally in the 1980s and 90s the two educations where run together. Still there are older barber saloons left, but at the education the number of men has decreased. The middle-aged hairdressers I interviewed are educated womens hairdressers and the younger has fulfilled the mixed education. All of them are working as the only man together with women. These men are stressing the creative and artistic content of the professions tradition and as a motivation for choice of career. As Stefan expresses it:
For me hair is a material I work with. I create. Its in fact a piece of art. It isnt female vanity I work with, I create.

Womens hair is looked upon as inhelding more possibilities, while the old barber saloons are more regarded as cutting in a factoryline, not as handicraft skill. The tasks that some decades earlier was looked upon as female, for example serving coffee, cleaning mirrors, cleaning and decorating, are by the male hairdressers understood as servicetasks that is a part of the profession. The working traditions are not questioned from a gender perspective. On the other hand, the men tried to applicate a male touch to the milieu:
I try to have a kind of mixed and decorated saloon, that also could feel nice for a men to visit. I can easily (than the women) imagine how men prefer it. (Stefan)

MODERNITY- EXPERT STATEMENTS AND COMMUNITY DISCOURSES Globalization, time- and space comprehension are parts of the late modern society (Giddens 1991). Through media and the increased possibilities for travelling, we can today relate and take part of

alternative perspectives and conditions of life. In media we almost every day meet experts statements and new findings about differences and similarities of gender. Literature of popular science, who try to explain the differences between men and women, are offered by book clubs. In society you find a variety of discourses3 according the dominated view about gender. Men that in the 1970s trained to became pre-school teachers did so in an age spirit where the equality debate, the womens liberation movement and the questioning of older traditions were prominent. Several of these men looked upon childrens care as a possibility to influence children in the direction of change of sex roles, which were conceived as old-fashioned, and they also actively took part in work that earlier had been regarded as female. This was also reinforced by a allocation of quotas concerning men in the childrens care education, where the state pointed at the importance of more men in childrens care from an equality perspective. Men baked, cooked and weaved together with the children. An equality discourse can be said to rule and the specific nature of the sexes was down stressed. Sven in the above episode was educated during this period and considers the activities at the nursery-school as natural. He often emphasises the importance of childrens care. In the 1970s the togetherness between mother and child was also pointed out. Problems in the society were often related to disturbances in this relation. During the 1980s and 1990s we witness a change. The importance of men for childrens growth and life situation is put forward, and absence of men in the lives of children is beginning to be looked upon as a problem. Now the modernity discussion is turned to focus on absent fathers and lack of masculine models. Womens impact on children is questioned and there are calls for male alternatives. The Dane Bertil Nordahl says for example that boys are feminized in the childrens care and that men working in nursery homes are no real men. The importance of men for rearing boys is emphasised (Nordahl 1985, see also Bly 1990). A discourse about gender specific nature appears, which also is expressed by the informants in my study. In the above example Hans is during our interview often referring to the difference between the sexes, and points at the importance of standing up for what he defines as masculine. For him it is central to give expression to a certain kind of masculinity which differ from what can be seen as female. The arguments for bringing men into the nursery-schools are in the 1990s changed to be a discussion about what men could add to the other parts of the activity. The radical men who in the 1970s broke the gender barriers are now parody and looked upon as female and non-masculine. Economical reductions leads to larger childrens groups and a decreased density of the personnel. In the interviews with both women and men, thoughts about gender grounded differences are frequently brought up, and also opinions about division of activities according to what each one is best suited for. There is, compared with the 1970s, apparently a more traditional division of the tasks. Men are leading ball games, handicraft and hut building, whilst the women bake and sew with the children4. Modernity can thus be said to lead to a focusing of gender belonging. People can take part of new ways of being, alternative discourses of masculinity and femininity are spread at the same time as other

Discourse is here referring to a number of coherent statements about the world. Different discourses are expressed by different social groups. Some discourses is more powerful than others. They collide, challenge each other and are under constant transformation (see Foucault 1976).
4

This discussion is held on a general level, based on a limited empirical material. There are of course variations.

social belongings are loosened up and changed5. The sociologist Anthony Giddens says that the question Who am I? is central for people in the late modern society. (Giddens 1991). The social researcher Thomas Ziehe talks about ability of acting and ambivalence as aspects of the late modern society. Identity becomes something to try, something that is negotiable, when at the same time the choices you make can constantly be questioned (Ziehe 1993). To be man can thus hold several meanings and be expressed in several ways. The sociologist Ulrich Beck points out that there in modernity is not a either-or, but rather a bothand. He thinks that counter-modernity in the form of stubborn structures are working side by side with changes of earlier outlooks (Beck 1995). Precisely this complexity is something that can be seen in my data. In the same man there are tendencies of transformation of gender relations and a recreation of earlier gender patterns. GENDER IDENTITY - DIFFERENT WAYS OF MATERIALISING MASCULINITY Masculinity, as I understand it, is a process dependent on performance and repetitions in social settings (see Butler 1990). Conceptions and gender producing can also be seen as dependent on the discourses we have access to. When I have analysed the interviews, I have tried to emphasise the different discourses that are manifested in the informants conceptions of their self as gendered beings. Different discourses used under the same interview can contradict each other without bothering the informants. On other occasions contradictions are focused, assumptions are questioned and renegotiation takes place. To understand this complexity I have choosen to use the anthropologist Henrietta Moores thoughts about subject positions. Moore claims that people can express themselves through a variety of positions, for example as man, as hairdresser, as Swedish. The positions are not clearly separated, but influence each other6. The positions are discourse dependent and under constant transformation. When there are lots of discourses about how a man should behave, people in different settings and contexts can presumably give expression of alternative strategies. Social expectations and treatments are important and some ways of presenting oneself are more rewarding than others, says Moore (Moore 1994)7. From Moores perspective, Sven and Anders strategy can be interpreted as the position as preschool teacher is more emphasised than the position as man. For Hans the position as man is constantly emphasised in his work and this also influences his conception of the activities. Different conceptions and meanings of gender are expressed when the men understands and talk about themselves through different subject positions. Stefan, who is hairdresser and gay, says that the position as homosexual has given him a new understanding of sex and gender. Speaking as a homosexual the importance of sex is downstressed: There is not so much that is specially male and female. He refuses to see himself as masculine:

5 6

The traditional class categorisation can for example sometimes be less useful. Compare the use of the concept horizon in phenomenology (Gurwitsch 1964). 7 The theory of subjectpositions could not be equalised with role theory, since the manuscripts (discourses) cant be understood as static and possible to step out of. They cant be separated from the individual, you cant step out of them and take a neutral position. The contents of the subjectpositions are permanently transforming, they are flexible and new position is generated.

I dont perform any form of masculinity, I act as I am /../ We (gays) dont try to be the one or the other, but allow ourselves to have a female side. It isnt important for us to be masculine.

At the same time the concepts of masculinity and femininity are constantly returning in Stefans understanding. There are concepts that are available and they are used both for renegotiation and reproductions of gender (see Nordberg 1999):
Few men have talked with women as much as I, so I know their (kind of talk)..But it may be wrong, because women are so different. There will be female women and there are neutral and there are these who are masculine. The same with men . Yes, sometimes women and men arent so different either.

A bit further in the interview it suddenly becomes important to behave like a man and Stefan is now talking through the position as man. A certain view of masculinity is emphasised, the ideal man seen as a breadwinner and always hard working, when Stefan is talking about a male pupil:
He request for one day off during the week. But what kind of a man is this I thought, that at his best age wants to be free once a week?

Contradictory discourses about understandings of gender can thus be expressed at the same time without the informant problematizing this, because the informant talks through different positions. Renegotiations and reproductions of gender relations are thereby dependent both on situation and the position that is actualised. When the male pre-school teachers meet in the unisexual association they created, the belonging to the imagined community of men is central. But there is also conflicts about how to perform masculinity. Some men refuse to take part in the male jargon that is expressed in the association, while others think that is something they miss at their workplaces. In the male association a collective masculinity is negotiated that seldom is expressed in other situations (see Connell 1995) At the unisexed association meetings their female workingmates stand for what the men define themselves against. In the constructions of masculinity in the interviews and in my field observations three important relations are emphasised: 1. To become a man in relation to women (We versus them) Here the men relates to an imagined community of men. Women stand for the opposite and are everything the men is not. Variations and individual differences are neglected. The hairdresser Stefan says for example when he compares working with men to working with women:
Guys have another jargon. With girls everything has to be so perfect. Everyday you are reared.

2. To become a man in relation to other men ( I versus them). Here it is important to define oneself against certain ways of how to perform masculinity. Some of the men have choosen female dominated occupations because they havent felt comfortable with the masculine expressions they have met in male dominated workingplaces. Instead they want to express masculinity in other ways. It can be interpreted as rejection of a norm that they comprehend as hegemonic (see Connell 1995). Oskar says:

When I remember these factories and engineering plants that have been male dominated, it has been another type of jargon. I have adopt it, but I feel in a way that it hasnt been my way of being.

Aspects of class are of course also present in this example. Norms of masculinity differ over time, between different social groups and geography (see Frykman 1988). 3. Womens negotiations and expectations. At the workingplaces men are met by women with expectations about how a man should behave. Men are expected to express emotions and perform masculinity in an alternative way, not be machos. At the same time the women are very particular about men behaving man enough, or as Vera puts it:
Yes, they shouldnt be cowards (giggles). Soft as if you were a coward. They must be confident.

It is important for the women that men perform as they think men should, and does men deviate to much from their conceptions of masculinity they get suspicious. Several of the men tell about how they are expected to do woodwork and play ballgames with the children (see Bredesen 1998). Some of the men are trying to avoid to be incorporated in these activities, while others se it as natural. Several of the women tell about how they, before the men were employed, both played ballgames and did woodwork, but now they do other activities. Sometimes the male entrance can confirm more traditional division of labourtasks. Expectations of women makes it difficult for men who want to express themselves in alternative ways. The earlier so appreciated mixed-sex fashion several of the women repudiate and claims that that kind of men is not welcome. In the statements the conceptions of men as confident, strong and chargetaking are emphasised. PEOPLES EXPECTATIONS, STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICES Men who choose to work in female dominated occupations must also relate to certain stereotypes and prejudices that are connected to the professions. Women entering male dominated professions can for example become a mascot and emphasise femininity, or adopt the male jargon and thus become one of the guys. Men who enter female dominated professions get much appreciation. They are expected to raise both the salary as well as the professions status, and are often treated with extra care by the elder women. Men can also get into a mascot position, but if they try to adopt the female jargon and thus become one of the women, they are seen as parodic. It can be rewarding for women to perform in a way that is seen as masculine, but the reverse, when men behave too feminine, is almost unthinkable. Here the heterosexual matrix is present, in which man and woman are seen a natural couple and homosexuality is repressed. Men who perform too close to what is regarded as feminine, are looked upon as non-masculine and categorised into a homosexual position (see Nilsson 1998). By their choice of profession they are also questioned by other men. It is regarded as non-masculine to choose a female profession, to break the gender barrier. Bo tells: I do not know if I am too sensitive, but many people think that a man should have a real work, something that is more physical. The male informants find it important to look like a real man. One of the heterosexual hairdressers in my study has been subjected to mobbing because of his choice of profession. As a hairdresser he has to handle with the stereotype of male hairdressers being homosexual. To avoid this suspicion he has started body building, and avoids clothes which he associates to women. He is thereby 7

overcommunicating expectations of masculinity. Even for the homosexual hairdresser I have interviewed, it is important to perform as a man and not to be seen as effeminate. We (gays) are somewhat paranoid about this femininity (see Nilsson 1998). Femininity is in this way subordinated and the choice of profession actualises the conception of masculinity. The men in the nurse profession do not express any experiences of disparaging utterances about their choice of profession. Among the male pre-school teachers the attention that media has given to pedofile affairs, has had an severe impact. In Sweden there has during the last years been some cases where male employees have used children sexually. The applications from men to the pre-school teacher education have decreased dramatically, and many employees are feeling stigmatised. Parents, children and female personnel are supporting the men, but they are constantly met by headlines and articles about pedofily. One man that gets on well in the profession has decided to quit. One comment from a child that is misinterpreted could be enough. I change napkins every day, for example. The writings in media are actualising the mens gender belonging. By being a part of the male community they also in a way have to deal with other mens actions. In some working places men are today not left alone with the children and are not aloud to rest with them. Some tasks are thereby closed for men.

EQUALITY SEEN AS SIMILARITY OR AS DIFFERENCE To summarise, the study shows that men active in female dominated occupations both reproduce and renegotiate gender relations. Both their own and the social surroundings concepts of gender are important. Some men downstress gender categorisation and emphasise similarities between men and women, while the entrance in the female setting in others actualise thoughts about difference between the sexes. These last mentioned men place themselves in contrast to what they interpret as female traditions and try to negotiate the tasks of the occupation. In the understanding of themselves as gendered beings different discourses are used. To express oneself as a real man is important in some situations, while alternative masculinities are actualised in other situations. The changing arguments about mens presence in child care are also important. If equality and transformations of sex roles are emphasised and differences between the sexes are repressed, renegotiation is facilitated. Is the argumentation grounded in the importance of male influences for boys, it can be interpreted as men should express a certain form of masculinity. Gender identity then becomes important. Two different strategies are possible, on the one hand it is about emphasising older, more traditional definitions of masculinity, on the other hand it is about transforming forms of masculinity that are seen as out-of-date and creating new, alternative forms. Both strategies can be seen as grounded in conceptions of equality. If there is a renegotiation about the possible activities for men, this can be grounded in equality seen as similarity. If arguments about sex differences are used and consolidating of older definitions of masculinity is taking place, it can be grounded in equality seen as equal, non hierarchic difference. We do tasks that we are good at, men and women are different, is a sentence often repeated by the informants. To be a man and work in a women dominated occupation is thereby about relating to traditions of the occupation, conceptions of gender and the expectations that the male body actualises. Some

expressions of masculinity are encouraged, while other expressions are seen as more problematic in society. Both the mens own conceptions of gender, the conceptions of their female work-mates and males in the surroundings are important in this process. In society discursive understandings about sex and gender are permanently changing. Cultural and social explanations are challenged by sociobiological assumptions and arguments for the presence of men in child care. By the effects of the modernity, the conditions of life and conceptions of gender are changed. Gender relation is open for renegotiation, but older gender conceptions are also reproduced. REFERENCES Annerblom, Marie-Louise 1983: Att frndra knsroller: ett feministiskt perspektiv p diskussionen om knsroller p dagis. Lund: CWK Gleerup. Beck, Ulrich 1995: Att uppfinna det politiska: Bidrag till en teori om reflexiv modernisering. Gteborg: Daidalos. Bly, Robert 1990: Iron John: A book about men. Longmead: Element. Butler, Judith 1990: Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge Bredesen, Ole 1998: En svale gjor ingen sommer. In: Leif Askland & Svein Ole Sataoen (edt):Hva skal vi med menn?: Om betydningen av menn i pedagogisk arbeid med barn. Oslo: Pedagogisk Forum. Connell, R. W. 1995: Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press. Emanuelsson, Agneta 1990: Pionjrer i vitt. FoU-rapport nr 34 Svenska hlso- och sjukvrdens tjnstemannafrbund, Huddinge. Foucault, Michel 1976: Sexualitetens historia. Vol 1. Viljan att veta. Hedemora: Gidlunds. Frykman, Jonas 1988: Dansbaneelndet: Ungdom, populrkultur och opinion. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur. Giddens, Anthony 1991: Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press. Gurwitsch , A. 1964: The Field of Consciousness. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press. Johansson, G & stedt I-B 1993: Frskolans utveckling: fakta och funderingar. Stockholm:HLS. Jensen, Jytte Juul 1998: Menn i dagsinstitusjoner - Et Europeisk perspektiv. In: Leif Askland & Svein Ole Sataoen (edt): Hva skal vi med menn?: Om betydningen av menn i pedagogisk arbeid med barn. Oslo: Pedagogisk Forum. Moore, Henrietta 1994: A Passion for Difference. Cambridge: Polity Press. Nilsson, Arne 1998: Modernisering och manlig homosexualitet: Svenska storstadsmn kring mitten av 1900-talet. In: Claes Ekenstam et al (red): Rdd att falla: Studier i manlighet. Gidlunds. Nordahl, Bertil 1985: Vilse i damdjungeln. Lund: Tidelunds. Nordberg, Marie 1999: Vem r Bjrn: Manlighetskonstruktioner och omfrhandlingar av kn. In: Ylva Hagstrm, Lena Martinsson, Magnus Mrck & Magdalena Petersson (edt): Portrtt utan ram: Om kn och representation. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Olsson, Lena & Sundgren Grinups, Berit:Jmstlldhetskunskap. Jmstlldhetscentrum, Hgskolan i Karlstad

Segal, Lynne 1997: Slow Motion: Changing Masculinities, Changing Men. London: Virago Press. Skolkatalogen Gymnasieskolan Karlstad 1998 Tallberg Broman, Ingegerd 1991: Nr arbetet var lnen: en kvinnohistorisk studie av barntrdgrdsledarinnan som folkuppfostrare. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. Wernersson, Inga & Lander, R. 1979: Mn och kvinnor i barnomsorgen.: En analys av knskvotering, yrkesval och arbetstrivsel. Jmstlldhetskommitten. Ziehe, Thomas 1993: Kulturanalyser: Ungdom, utbildning, modernitet. Stockholm/Stehag: Symposion.

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