Exploring Masculinity Trends in a Changing Workforce
Looking back at old TV shows and comedies, it is noticeable just how male dominated and macho the workplace was. The bosses were generally men and the women were divided into old, matronly battle-axes and young, air-headed blonds. The emancipation and sexual politics of the sixties and seventies, when combined with the aspirational, acquisitive 80s produced not only the material girl, Madonna but the Iron Lady Thatcher and the American football shouldered Alexis from Dynasty. It seemed for a while at least, that for women to compete in a man’s world, they had to be even more masculine than the men. Regardless of gender, the 80s and 90s workplace was a competitive environment in which traditional masculine qualities were required and rewarded. Books such as Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus only served to reinforce gender stereotypes.
At the same time, the profile of men has changed to the point where being gay is no longer a taboo or acceptable target for office humour and working for a female boss is no longer a demeaning humiliation. Whilst the glass ceiling has not been totally removed, it is becoming increasingly tarnished and more women are to be found in the Board Room. However, the question is not so much about gender quotas per se as masculinity as a set of behaviours. Men are being encouraged to get in touch with their feminine side, not by choosing a handbag instead of a toolkit, but by recognising and sometimes showing, sensitivity at work. What is perceived as a more cooperative and collaborative, female approach and conflict management, is becoming a more accepted and expected model of problem solving. The work of Daniel Goleman on Emotional Intelligence and Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligence have both helped to remove a bi-polar, workplace perspective of traditional masculine and feminine characteristics. This doesn’t mean that it’s no longer acceptable for men to fix cars or women to love shoes but that it’s no longer the starting point for assumptions about and expectations of workplace colleagues of the same or opposite gender.
In some countries, the traditional values of chivalry, such as holding doors open, still prevail, yet this is born more out of custom and habit than sexual politics. The current trend in masculinity in a changing workforce is that it no longer exists as the predominant force, whether adopted by men or women, but that it sits on part of a continuum where the prevailing social norm seeks to draw upon the best natural traits in men and women - that’s progress.
