Men, masculinity and motors

In a world dominated by males he studies men critically. Jeff Hearn is a professor at the Division of Gender Studies at Linköping University (LiU). His research projects include one titled “Doing Driving, Doing Design”, which involves two doctoral students.

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Tanja Joelsson is one of them. She is studying young people in a small Swedish town who are interested in cars, and call themselves “raggare” – greasers. They are predominantly young men who hang out in their cars in gangs at the local pizzeria, the swimming pool, and the supermarket parking lot. They challenge each other to dares, for example by driving too fast or doing skids. Joelsson explains,

“This is a social phenomenon. They see it as having fun, being social, counteracting the boredom they experience in a small town.”

“It’s also a way of manifesting masculinity, It’s considered masculine to drive daringly yet still retain control of the car. However these practices can also be interpreted as potentially offensive and violent, because they subject the driver and others to danger.”

Tanja Joelsson discusses an “offensive, violent practice” that should not just be seen as a traffic problem but also as a social problem.
Another aspect of her research regards what kind of public space this kind of offensive practice creates, which often fuels existing conceptions on gender and place. The young “raggare” monopolises the public space.

“Women see public spaces as more dangerous than men, generally speaking. Women are often afraid in public spaces, and this fear can be aggravated by the behaviour of these kinds of gangs."

At the same time young people, especially young men, are marginalised and because public spaces are defined by how adults use them. The other inhabitants often see the gangs as offensive, as vandals and they become scapegoats. Tanja Joelsson recounts an incident where the local school windows were broken and the “raggare” received the blame, even though they were innocent.

In spring 2012 Tanja Joelsson is in the analysis phase of her doctoral project, which will result in a thesis in 2013. The Doing Driving, Doing Design project is financed by VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems.

Another doctoral student, Dag Balkmar, is studying young men and their cars in the context of the growing trend of car styling. It was given fresh impetus in the early part of the last decade with the “The Fast and the Furious” film franchise. Mostly about young men who rebuilt their cars to make them look fast and dangerous.

But appearances can be deceptive. Their owners, who invest a lot of time and care in them, often handle styled cars with extreme care. Balkmar has followed 65 car enthusiasts during a season to see what motivates them. He explains,

dag-balkmar

“Men in traffic are recognised as a risk factor. They often drive more ostentatiously and take more risks than women. Young men’s risk-taking in traffic is especially problematic.”

There is a lot of truth in this. One trend among car enthusiasts is for souped-up, powerful cars that are portrayed as “beasts, wild animals, extremely potent”, to quote Balkmar. Their owners may indulge in street racing and spontaneous racing, and challenge each other at traffic lights in what is known as crazy driving. But this isn’t what all car enthusiasts like to do. They want to see themselves as respectable car builders, they follow the traffic laws and they take care of their cars.

“They manifest their masculinity in a different way. They are heroic figures because of all the time, effort and money they have invested in remodelling their cars. Cars that make average people stare in amazement when they see them."

These styled cars are given nicknames like “plastic rocket”, “faggot car” and “sewing machine” by those who value engine power most. The styled cars are feminised. One example of this is “Trailer Queens”, cars that are only exhibited at car shows and have to be transported on trailers because they are so fragile. They look good but are not considered powerful. Balkmar elaborates,

“The car styling trend questions what a car is. For many car enthusiasts their car is a symbol of a lifestyle and a way of socialising. Sometimes it can look more like a living room on wheels than a means of transportation. The idea is to attract attention.”

On a more general level, Jeff Hearn’s research is about problems that men create and experience. He gives two current examples: the Internet and the war industry. He talks about “cyber masculinity” on the Internet. With two other doctoral students, Alp Biricik and Helga Sadowski, he has just written a contribution to the book Rethinking Transnational Men, which will be published by Routledge. The chapter is called “Hegemony, Transpatriarchies, ICTs and Virtualization”.

jeff-hearn

“The internet opens up completely new possibilities for sex and for men to increase their power further. We have seen a boom in the online sex trade,” he says.

On war and the war industry he has the following to say:

“You can never discuss war without discussing men and masculinity. It’s so obvious that we don’t even see it. But every analysis of equipment costs and arms manufacturing also requires an analysis of masculinity.”

A particular approach that is fruitful, he says, is to put men and masculinity research in a context and not study it in isolation, the same method advocated by intersectionality.

“We tend to see men’s violence towards women as one specific issue and fatherhood as a completely different issue. But violent men can become fathers too and a not inconsiderable number of fathers are violent men."

That is why men’s violence towards women needs to be examined in a vast number of sectors: healthcare, schools, transportation, and cultural institutions.

"All of these and many more must have anti-violence practice built in. This cannot be isolated in its own sector.”