Masculinities, Music, Emotion and Affect
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Masculinities, Music, Emotion and Affect Sam de Boise Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Sociology and Social Policy September, 2012 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2012, The University of Leeds, Sam de Boise. Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by several people in the submission of this thesis. Thanks first and foremost go to my supervisors Dr. Kirk Mann and Dr. Sally Hines who have been both supportive and constructively critical throughout the entire process. Despite extensive commitments inside and outside of the school, they have always provided consistently thorough and concise feedback and have always made time to discuss my work. Their ‘pastoral’ as well as academic support has also been invaluable over the course of the three years. Secondly, a big thank you to my upgrade panel whose extremely thorough comments have had a significant impact on both my research design and theoretical development. This extends more generally also to the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds and to all the staff who have helped me as an undergraduate and postgraduate. Love and thanks to all my immediate family and friends who have put up with me for the duration of the process. I am especially grateful for the support of Leon Sealey- Huggins, Anna de la Torre, Matthew Hainey, Bertie Russell, Genevieve Lennon, Tom Gillespe, Vicky Habermehl, Andre Pusey, Dora Meade, Ama Asomaning and Joanna Lane, amongst many others. Last, but not least, my gratitude extends to any of those who participated in the research in any way, helped to distribute the survey and to John, Joel, Tom, Ian, Dave and Rob for allowing me to talk to them about their musical histories. Without their generosity of time and effort, this would not have been possible. Abstract Background: Gendered inequalities have historically been legitimated through the discursive enforcement of ‘natural’ sexual difference. One particular fallacy that has denied females a political voice, is that white, Western, males are more ‘naturally’ equipped for rational thought or strive for emotional suppression. In starting from the premise that this is always the case however, critical approaches to masculinities underestimate how adherence to the discursive ideal of rationality is mediated through emotional experience. Purpose: Using concepts of ‘habitus’ and ‘affect’ this thesis challenges the assumption that the perceived rejection of emotions, is firstly how masculinities are constructed. Secondly, because ‘individual’ emotions are a prerequisite to social action, it foregrounds the importance of a nuanced understanding of male emotional narratives explicitly through music. Culturally, music consumption is overtly concerned with ‘individual’ emotional experience and group interaction. Therefore male domination of music production and consumption, stands at odds with discourses of ‘rationality’, offering a means of understanding socially patterned, male emotional experience. Methods: A two-stage, mixed methods approach was undertaken, with males ranging from ages 16-64 participating. The first stage was an online survey and the final sample included 361 males, spanning various demographics. The second stage was a series of six, life-history case studies with participants selected from those who had completed the survey, based on the richness of data they provided and stratified by age. Conclusions: Both survey and life-history accounts demonstrated a wealth of emotional experience. Whilst music was primarily used as a tool for emotional expression, it was also perceived to manage ‘undesirable’ emotions. Respondents’ emotional engagement with music differed over the course of their lives, in line with socially patterned expectations. This has implications for the notion of ‘learning to be affected’ through the construction of masculinities, indicating new ways of theorising about masculinities as social embodiment. Contents Introduction............................................................................................i Why Masculinities Matter................................................................ i Why Music?..................................................................................... iv Research Questions and Chapter Outline........................................... v Chapter 1: Males and Masculinities............................................. 1 Introduction..................................................................................... 1 Studies of Men, Studies of Masculinities........................................ 2 Sex and Gender........................................................................ 2 Universality and Intersectionality............................................ 6 Economic, Education and Social Change................................. 8 Key Themes in Sociological Theories of Masculinities.................. 12 What is ‘Masculinity’, what are Masculinities?........................ 12 Masculinities as Power............................................................. 15 Masculinities as Embodiment................................................... 17 Rationality and Embodiment.................................................... 22 Masculinities as Emotional Attachments................................. 25 Habitus and Social Embodiment..................................................... 29 Field and Habitus..................................................................... 29 Embodiment, Gender and Habitus .......................................... 33 Training Habitus...................................................................... 36 Summary......................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2: Emotions and Affects................................................... 39 Introduction..................................................................................... 39 Emotions in the Social Sciences..................................................... 40 The Psychological Problem with Emotion............................... 40 The Sociological Perspective................................................... 43 The Radical Perspective........................................................... 47 Emotions, Affects and Masculinities.............................................. 49 Unreasonable Men?.................................................................. 49 Approaches to Emotions and Masculinities.............................. 52 Critical Perspectives on Emotions and Masculinities............... 55 Cause and Affect...................................................................... 58 Masculinities and Affect.......................................................... 62 Summary.......................................................................................... 65 Chapter 3: Masculinities, Mass Markets and Music.............. 67 Introduction..................................................................................... 67 Music, Males and Markets.............................................................. 68 The Modern Market for Music................................................. 68 Gender and the Musical Economy............................................ 70 The Structure of the Music Industry................................................ 72 Music as Commodity................................................................ 72 Emotional Capitalism............................................................... 76 Emotional Discourse in Modern Music................................. 79 ‘Bottom Up’ Perspectives................................................................ 82 The Subcultural Response........................................................ 82 ‘Types’ and Habitus................................................................. 85 The Problem of Musical Types................................................ 87 Some Questions on Male Music Consumption............................... 91 Getting ‘too’ Emotional?.......................................................... 91 Why Music Matters.................................................................. 95 Summary.......................................................................................... 99 Chapter 4: Methodology.................................................................... 101 Introduction...................................................................................... 101 Issues in Research Design................................................................ 102 Existing Qualitative Research................................................... 102 Existing Quantitative Research................................................. 104 Mixed Methods......................................................................... 107 The Quantitative Stage..................................................................... 108 Online Surveys......................................................................... 108 The Survey................................................................................ 111 Survey Question Layout..........................................................