Constructions of masculinity in young men's talk on domesticity

The purpose of this study was to elucidate participant’s understandings of the notion of masculinity and the implications thereof for their gendered identities. The study was approached from a, broadly speaking, social constructionsist paradigm following an inductive theme of nquiry. This study looked at masculinities (plural) rather than masculinity (singular) and the way in which these masculinities are constructed in participants talk about chores within the homespace. Consistent with this approach, data was collected by means of personal semi-structured, face-toface interviews with nine young adult male participants. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and data was therefore in the form of text. The interview texts were analyzed using Parker's criteria for a discourse analysis. Discourse analysis was the chosen method of analysis as it is an appropriate method for identifying and analysing constructs of masculinity in young men's talk on domesticity. There were three main themes identified in this study namely that of the traditional notions of masculinity, new age constructions and the gendered constructions of chores. This study implicitly shows that though masculinity was overwhelmingly constructed within the traditional notions of masculinity, with respect to the performance of chores within the home-space however, the men in this study report negotiations of their gendered identities within their heterosexual relationships. Furthermore, these negotiations do not seem to trouble the notion of masculinity as it is normalised by the participants in recognition of their performances of traditional female chores within the home-space