The tyranny of the male preserve

Matthews, CR ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8561-2863, 2016. The tyranny of the male preserve. Gender & Society, 30 (2), pp. 312-333. ISSN 0891-2432

Preview

Text PubSub9197_MatthewsCR.pdf - Post-print Download (252kB) | Preview

Abstract

Within this paper I draw on short vignettes and quotes taken from a two-year ethnographic study of boxing to think through the continuing academic merit of the notion of the male preserve. This is an important task due to evidence of shifts in social patterns of gender that have developed since the idea was first proposed in the 1970s. In aligning theoretical contributions from Lefebvre and Butler to discussions of the male preserve, we are able to add nuance to our understanding of how such social spaces are engrained with and produced by the lingering grasp of patriarchal narratives. In particular, by situating the male preserve within shifting social processes, whereby certain men’s power is increasingly undermined, I highlight the production of space within which narratives connecting men to violence, aggression and physical power can be consumed, performed and reified in a relatively unrestricted form. This specific case study contributes to gender theory as an illustration of a way in which we might explore and understand social enclaves where certain people are able to lay claim to space and power. As such, I argue that the notion of the male preserve is still a useful conceptual, theoretical and political device especially when considered as produced by the tyranny of gender power through the dramatic representation and reification of behaviours symbolically linked to patriarchal narrations of manhood.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Gender & Society
Creators:	Matthews, C.R.
Publisher:	SAGE Publishing on behalf of Sociologists for Women in Society
Date:	1 April 2016
Volume:	30
Number:	2
ISSN:	0891-2432
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1177/0891243215620557 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jill Tomkinson
Date Added:	28 Sep 2017 15:27
Last Modified:	28 Sep 2017 15:27
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/31744

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads