Positive humanity, when? Is masculinity worth saving?

Mackay, Finn

Abstract

Women have demanded their humanity as full human beings; perhaps it is because this is a women’s demand that so much policy aimed at saving men and alleviating men’s suffering is instead focussed on saving masculinity. Many programmes addressed at the challenges facing men as men rarely make their case with claims to men’s humanity and human rights, as if this is so obvious and given that it would be feminizing to point it out. Instead, claims are made for masculinity and manhood, which stand in for men and come to define men. This article will argue that a shift away from this fixed, gendered lens, could enable a new view of men as equal humane humans, as inclusive people, positive people, and healthy people, without having to be constantly marked out as men and masculine. In this article I am not arguing for a new type of man to add to the lists of types of men that are already familiar, such as the new man, for example. I am not arguing for a new type of masculinity to add to the typologies of masculinity that already abound. Instead, I am arguing that men be categorised as human beings, rather than types of men or types of masculine.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 28, 2025
• Online Publication Date: May 12, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 14, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 14, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Gender Studies
• Print ISSN: 0958-9236
• Electronic ISSN: 1465-3869
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1-19
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2025.2502679
• Keywords: toxic masculinity; feminism; radical feminism; masculinity
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14422661
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09589236.2025.2502679?src=exp-la
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=cjgs20; Received: 2024-11-07; Accepted: 2025-04-28; Published: 2025-05-12