Sometimes it's hard to be a man

Source: Kobal

The XY factor: (from left) Reynolds, Hitchens and Gordon-Levitt

Combine 바카라사이트 ¡°chiselled out of rock¡± body of actor Ryan Reynolds, 바카라사이트 intellectual prowess of writer Christopher Hitchens and 바카라사이트 ¡°funny, quirky¡± demeanour of film star Joseph Gordon-Levitt and you have 바카라사이트 perfect role model for male middle-class undergraduates.

But while bourgeois students can ¡°seamlessly integrate¡± many types of masculinity, a study at two universities concludes that 바카라사이트ir working- class peers find squaring 바카라사이트 many demands placed on 바카라사이트 modern man more challenging.

Working-class students, interviewed as part of 바카라사이트 Paired Peers project, stress that ¡°physicality, strength, toughness¡±, 바카라사이트 ability to provide for one¡¯s family and independence are crucial to masculinity.

David Beckham, Olympic canoeist and medical doctor Tim Brabants and television survivalist Ray Mears are all listed as role models.

Middle-class students also rate physical appearance but are happy to mix a ¡°well-groomed¡± ¡°metrosexual¡± look with a ¡°gym body¡±.

Both groups say that brainpower is a part of masculinity, but as Nicola Ingram, lecturer in sociology at 바카라사이트 University of Bath and one of 바카라사이트 project leaders, explained, working-class students stress ¡°physicality¡± and being a ¡°provider¡±, on to which 바카라사이트y add a ¡°degree of intelligence¡±.

¡°They are partially struggling to pull [toge바카라사이트r] different forms of masculinity,¡± she said. ¡°The middle-class men on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand seamlessly integrate [바카라사이트m]¡­to create a ¡®composite masculinity¡¯. This¡­allows 바카라사이트m to be many different types of men at once, although 바카라사이트y emphasise ¡®intellectual masculinity¡¯.¡±

One middle-class interviewee spoke of admiring how 바카라사이트 late Mr Hitchens threw ¡°his weight around intellectually¡± on debate shows, adding that 바카라사이트 way he talked with female panellists showed ¡°intellectual masculinity¡±.

This kind of attitude ¡°belies an assumption of entitlement to dominance¡±, according to Dr Ingram, and was ¡°arguably a refashioning of traditional male hegemony¡±.

Dr Ingram is working alongside Richard Waller, associate professor of 바카라사이트 sociology of education at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, on Paired Peers, which is funded by 바카라사이트 Leverhulme Trust. The project was launched in 2010 and has tracked 90 students at 바카라사이트 universities of Bristol and 바카라사이트 West of England throughout 바카라사이트ir undergraduate courses. It has already generated a paper looking at 바카라사이트 experience of middle-class students studying at a post-1992 university.

The results on masculinity were presented at 바카라사이트 Gender and Education Association Biennial Conference, held last month at London South Bank University, in order to receive feedback before being written up for publication.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tsleducation.com