1. Learning Masculinity Through Japanese University Rowing.
- Author
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McDonald, Brent Douglas
- Subjects
- *
ROWING clubs , *COLLEGE rowing , *MASCULINITY in sports , *SOCIAL role , *CULTURAL identity - Abstract
This article is based on a larger ethnographic project that examines the construction of gendered identity within a Japanese men's rowing club. For members, notions of masculinity and Japanese identity converge to the point of naturalization. The embodied experience of being a rower is underpinned by the cultural artifacts of hierarchy, social positioning, and group membership. Membership in university rowing clubs somatizes and naturalizes the valued characteristics associated with salary-man identity (duty, loyalty, self-sacrifice, mental and physical endurance) to the point of common sense. The resultant masculine identity is congruent with forms of hegemonic masculinity that are critical for successful employment in company-centered Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
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