WGST 335 - Critical Masculinity Studies

Prerequisite, WGST 101 or ANTH 102 or SOC 101. This course examines a range of themes and material related to masculinities and their various expressions throughout history across the U.S. and globally. The course will commence with a look at present-day reactionary cultural panics that feverishly portend a monolithic specter of “masculinity in crisis.” By critically engaging with pop culture, cable news, social media, film, music, as well as historical and social science research sources and material, students will explore how masculinities have really never been all that fixed or static. How have specific forms of masculinity been employed alongside capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy to inflict violence? In what ways are marginalized groups critically reshaping the embodied aesthetics and boundaries of what comes to be considered masculine? What’s/who’s a “bro”? These are just a few of the questions students will explore regarding how masculinity has been continuously remixed and reshaped within particular cultural contexts, times and places. Letter grade with Pass/No Pass option. (Offered every year.) 3 credits