Abstract
Underwood starts with the assertion that if we want to transform gendered power relations we must first understand relations between men, because masculinity is primarily a performance for other men. Muscular masculinities are typically described as emotionally detached and competitive, and the quest for muscularity is cast as a battle against men’s vulnerabilities and insecurities. Thus, when Underwood was conducting research in an online bodybuilding community and found instances of emotional intimacy and vulnerability expressed between bodybuilders, she began to describe these instances and the factors behind this seemingly gender-subversive behaviour. In this chapter, she describes how a digital environment facilitates the de-gendering of the traditionally feminized traits of emotional vulnerability, intimacy, and support, and thus offers us a glimpse of a new and somewhat progressive style of masculinity.
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Underwood, M., & Olson, R. (2018). Manly Tears Exploded From My Eyes, Lets Feel Together Brahs: Emotion and Masculinity Within an Online Bodybuilding Community. Journal of Sociology (online ahead of print, 12 April 2018).
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Underwood, M. (2018). ‘We’re All Gonna Make It Brah’: Homosocial Relations, Vulnerability and Intimacy in an Online Bodybuilding Community. In: Dobson, A.S., Robards, B., Carah, N. (eds) Digital Intimate Publics and Social Media. Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97607-5_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97607-5_10
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