MASCULINITY IN MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE 1984-2019 in Fall 2019 (CM1091FB1)

Masculinity has come under increased critical scrutiny recently, with particular attention being paid to the relationship between social, sexual and political norms of masculinity and changes in media and popular culture. This course aims to interrogate this relationship in several ways. First, we will analyze how various masculinities are represented and constructed in media and popular culture and establish theoretical foundations for our study. Second, we will explore the gendering of media forms and formats and consider media technologies and institutions as technologies and institutions of gender. Third, we will reflect on our own historical positioning as gendered subjects in order to give more complex accounts of masculinity’s current formations. Media and popular culture of the year 1984 will provide a lens for the first two parts of the course, before we turn our critical gaze back to the present to challenge claims of the inevitability of masculinity and media technology in 2019.