ABSTRACT
It has become a well-established notion that men are alienated from care due to both the institutionalized division of labour and the internal structure of masculine identities, which encourage men to take up an instrumental and controlling relationship to the external world. Ideals of “healthy” and “caring” masculinity have emerged through greater awareness of beliefs and behaviours harmful to men’s health, and hopes that men could acquire the skills needed in today’s post-industrial labour market, where people increasingly work with people instead of inanimate objects. The focus has often been optimistic: recent studies on men in post-industrialized labour markets show that many men now practice seemingly “softer” forms of masculinity. Drawing on studies of men working in social services and healthcare, increasingly healthist corporate masculinity, and commercial cultures of self-care, this chapter argues that even though men have had to adapt to changes in working life, care has also been redefined in masculine terms. The chapter seeks to deconstruct the dichotomy between men’s power, often associated with dominance, harm and inequality, and men’s caring capabilities by showing that caring relations are power relations that can produce dominance, harm and inequality.
