Journal

Writing social situations is hard. And, like most things, I don't know if I did it right. I think I have a complex. This journal isn't going to be very long, because I am in the throes of being stressed out about my project proposal.

Peace.

20 Social Situations

Place: game

Actors: spectators, players, coach, referees

Activities: cheering, playing

P: field

A: team, coaches

A: half-time coaching

P: practice

A: coaches, players, trainers

A: warming up, team practice, forwards/backs practice, coaching

P: office

A: coach, me

A: interviewing

P: room in Smith Field House

A: team, coaches

A: devotional

P: room in Smith Field House

A: team, coaches

A: jersey ceremony

P: training room

A: team, trainers

A: taping, massage, listening to music

P: field

A: team, coaches

A: personal warm up, team warm up

P: classroom

A: myself, friend on team

A: chatting, learning

P: ?

A: team, opposing team, coaches for both teams

A: after game pizza party

P: ?

A: team, coaches

A: service project

P: recess

A: boys (and possibly girls) from school (including team)

A: playing games like rugby or soccer

P: game in EL

A: team, coaches, family, friends, spectators

A: playing a rugby gamex

P: gala?

A: team, coaches, parents, administrators

A: I have no idea

P: field

A: myself, coaches, players

A: focus group, pile sorting

P: field

A: myself, coaches

A: interviewing, focus group

P: office

A: myself, coaches

A: interviewing

P: classroom

A: teacher, boys (and maybe girls) in school (including team members)

A: learning

P: field

A: team, coaches

A: half-time coaching

P: field

A: myself, parents, spectators

A: chatting, informal interviewing

Theory

Entry 4

2/4/2011

I was reading Masculinities, today, and I came across a few key ideas when thinking about masculinity. One of Connell’s critiques of gender theories is sex role theory. Connell thinks that sex role theory makes certain aspects of learned masculinity seem positive and good for society. Connell offers a few different ideas about how to see masculinity being created. In one case, we can look at masculinity being created by everyday interactions of all sorts. Masculinity is not static, but is in a constant state of change, and the change is negotiated in all areas of life. How would using this lens affect my project? I think it would force me to pay strict attention to all of the activities surrounding the rugby team I choose to work with. Because of my projects focus on values, I think most of my attention would be on how values affect masculinity construction. I would need to pay attention to all interactions, see the values behind the interactions, and then reflect on how those values represent masculinity.

Connell briefly mentions another way to look at masculinity construction. Rather than seeing masculinity formation as direct and causal, perhaps masculinity formation is dialectical instead. How would using this lens affect my study? Instead of paying attention to interactions for causal relationships, I would instead look at different masculinity ideologies, and watch for the interplay between them. I would try to find a dominant masculinity ideology, and then identify the masculinities that oppose it, and look for how new masculinities are synthesized through the process. In this instance, I would indentify the dominant system of masculinity, what values contribute to it, and then look for opposing values and how they recreate masculinity.

I have of course thought about which theory I would like to use. The former theory seems much more accessible, and much more like what I initially imagine for my project. However, I think that the latter option seems more theoretically interesting. Perhaps it is because it is not a direct line/causal relationship, which I, and my mentor, think would be very hard to prove. I think that a dialectical approach would allow more strength, as I could use the pitch as the site of the negotiation, rather than trying to prove time order and non-spuriousness, as I won’t be in a position to control for all of the factors that contribute to masculinity. Par contre, I only have three months, and it seems that identifying a dominant masculinity, and then seeing how it changes in a dialectical relationship would take a lot of time. Things to think about…