Abstract
Over the past three decades feminist writers and theoreticians have been elaborating ideas which make connections between gender and sexual violence. This approach has been applied to the analysis of child sexual abuse and it has been argued that since the vast majority of known abusers are male,1 the social construction of masculinity within a patriarchal culture may be an important contributory factor.2 It is important to note what this does not mean; a physiological state of maleness does not itself produce sexual violence. Rather, there exists a social construction of masculinity, which is dominant in Western culture, and which contains elements enabling sexual and other violence against women, children and men.
This paper is based on research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Fuller Bequest, Department of Sociology Research Fund, University of Essex.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Brittan, A. (1989), Masculinity and Power (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).
Chodorow, N. (1978), The Reproduction of Mothering (London: University of California Press).
Connell, R. W. (1987), Gender and Power (Oxford: Polity Press).
Ehrenreich, B. (1983), The Hearts of Men (London: Pluto Press).
Eichenbaum, L. and Orbach, S. (1983), Understanding Women (Harmondsworth, Middx: Penguin).
Finkelhor, D. (1984), Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory and Research (New York: Free Press).
Finkelhor, D. et al. (1986), A Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1986).
Glaser, D. and Frosh, S. (1988), Child Sexual Abuse (Basingstoke and London: Macmillan).
Hearn, J. (1990), “’Child Abuse” and Men’s Violence’, The Violence Against Children Study Group, Taking Child Abuse Seriously: Contemporary Issues in Child Protection Theory and Practice (London: Unw in Hyman).
Hearn, J. and Morgan, D. (1990), Men, Masculinities and Social Theory (London: Unwyn Hyman).
Herman, J. and Hirschman, L. (1981) Father—Daughter Incest (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press).
Hochschild, A. R. (1979), ‘Emotion Work, Feeling Rules and Social Structure’, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 85, no. 3: pp. 551–75.
Hochschild, A. R. (1983), The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feelings (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).
Howells, K. (1981), ‘Adult Sexual Interest in Children: Considerations Relevant to Theories of Aetiology’, in Cook, M. and Howells, K. (eds), Adult Sexual Interest in Children (New York: Academic Press).
Jackson, D. (1990), Unmasking Masculinity: A Critical Autobiography (London: Unw in Hyman).
Kelly, L. (1988), Surviving Sexual Violence (Cambridge: Polity Press).
Lisak, D. (1991), ‘Sexual Aggression, Masculinity and Fathers’, Signs, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 238–62.
Lyman. S. M. and Scott, M. B. (1989), The Sociology of the Absurd (New York: General Hall.
MacLeod, M. and Saraga, E. (1988), ‘Challenging the Orthodoxy’, Feminist Review, vol. 28, pp. 16–55.
Metcalf, A. and Humphries, M. (eds) (1985), The Sexuality of Men (London: Pluto Press).
Plummer, K. (1982), ‘Symbolic Interationism and Sexual Conduct: An Emergent Perspective’, in Brake, M. (ed.), Human Sexual Relations: A Reader (Harmondsworth: Penguin).
Rush, F. (1980), The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children (Englewood Ciffs, NJ: Prentice hall).
Russell, D. (1984), Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Sexual Abuse and Workplace Harassment (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage).
Scully, D. (1990), Understanding Sexual Violence: A Study of Convicted Rapists (Boston, Mass.: Unw in Hyman).
Segal, L. (1990), Slow Motion: Changing Masculinities, Changing Men (London: Virago Press).
Seidler, V. J. (1989), Rediscovering Masculinity: Reason, Language, and Sexuality (London: Routledge).
Simon, W. and Gagnon, J. H. (1987), ‘The Sexual Scripts Approach’, in Greer, J. and O’Donoghue, W. (eds), Theories of Human Sexuality(New York: Plenum Press).
Tolson, A. (1977), The Limits of Masculinity (London: Tavistock).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1996 British Sociological Association
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fuller, P. (1996). Masculinity, Emotion and Sexual Violence. In: Morris, L., Lyon, E.S. (eds) Gender Relations in Public and Private. Explorations in Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24543-7_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24543-7_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-63088-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-24543-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)