Indomitable Patriarchy, Ambivalent Masculinites?

Gender studies have overlooked conceptualizations of masculinities as theory often gets conflated with women only. Yet the ‘add men and stir’ approach, acknowledging inequalities within gender remains contentious in view of patriarchy. This book explores the relation between multiple masculinities and patriarchy in Egypt, challenging the utility of the latter concept. Exploring the historical processes which shape and inform the shifting construction of masculinities, it is argued that socioeconomic restructuring subverts men’s abilities to sustain hegemonic masculine ideals, while discourse of class and race further undercut and disempower the majority men from being classic-form patriarchs. Through an investigation of discursive resources, surveys, and first-hand interviews, marriage, sexuality, public space, and masculine intra-gender relations are explored. Conceiving masculinity as a social problem, alternative sites are investigated where power emerges critical to men’s enactment and performance of masculinity, enlivened to produce dynamic and relational social configurations.