Reading between the lines : subjectivity and men’s violence

David Gadd

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    This article discusses the relative merits of psychoanalytic and psychodiscursive approaches to the study of masculinities and men’s violence. The case histories of four men are presented and analyzed. Two of these men were antisexist men seeking to help other men to change, and the other two were men who were getting help to stop being violent. Using these case histories, this article seeks to demonstrate that psychic experience is not a simple product of social discourses, and therefore masculinity cannot be straightforwardly read off from what men say. The article concludes by arguing that the psychoanalytic notion of a defended subject draws our attention to the unities among men more effectively than psychodiscursive approaches precisely because it is able to acknowledge biographically mediated differences between men.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)333-354
    Number of pages22
    JournalMen and Masculinities
    Volume5
    Issue number4 (Apr. 2003)
    Publication statusPublished - 2003

    Keywords

    • gender
    • masculinity
    • psychoanalysis
    • subjectivity
    • violence

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