Masculinities and emotional expression in UK Servicemen: “Big boys don’t cry”?
Article
McAllister, L., Callaghan, J. and Fellin, L. 2018. Masculinities and emotional expression in UK Servicemen: “Big boys don’t cry”? Journal of Gender Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2018.1429898
Authors | McAllister, L., Callaghan, J. and Fellin, L. |
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Abstract | Dominant discourses of military servicemen position them as more prone to psychological damage than the general population, but as reluctant to seek psychological assistance, because of the military culture of ‘toughness’, a military masculinity, that values stoicism, emotional control and invulnerability and implicitly excludes ‘feminine’ characteristics like emotionality. This is seen as a barrier to military personnel seeking help, by implicitly discouraging emotional disclosure and expression. This article presents an analysis of semi-structured interviews with six male military and ex-military personnel, focused on their experience and understandings of emotion, emotional expression and ‘mental health’ in the military. The dominant construction of military masculinity certainly renders some forms of emotion inexpressible within certain contexts. However, we argue that the construct is more complex than a simple exclusion of the ‘feminine’ and the ‘emotional’. We explore how the highly masculine notions of military solidarity and 'brotherhood' create a ‘safe’ masculine space within which men could share their emotional experiences, but also highlight how this space for emotional expression is relatively constrained. We argue that these notions of solidarity and brotherhood open a space for emotional connection and expression that must be respected and worked with creatively, in therapeutic and other interventions. |
Journal | Journal of Gender Studies |
ISSN | 0958-9236 |
Year | 2018 |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Accepted author manuscript | File Access Level Repository staff only |
Publisher's version | License |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2018.1429898 |
Web address (URL) | https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2018.1429898 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 12 Feb 2018 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 15 Jan 2018 |
Accepted | 15 Jan 2018 |
Accepted | 15 Jan 2018 |
Copyright information | © 2018 The authors. Published by informa UK limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09589236.2018.1429898 |
Page range | In Press |
License | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/848yx
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Masculinities and emotional expression in UK servicemen Big boys don t cry.pdf | ||
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
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