Well it may be that time of the year when not much of anything is going on, and certainly not much in the way of blogging in this neck of the woods. I had to work yesterday, though I am so thankful it was online work as I try to adjust my lifestyle so that I am free of office politics.I was reflecting on this as I visited my parents' neighbours, native Liverpudlians by birth, for a quiet Christmas drink and something to eat, when "Ray" dropped a bombshell, that amazingingly helped put things into proper perspective. He told the story of how he decided to walk up the street a while back, only to be accosted by two successive carloads of males. The first group asked him if he knew where Woolworths was, when, after directing them, they asked him if he would put on a pink tutu and pose for photographs. He refused. Ten minutes later, another car pulls up: "where is the hospital, mate? By the way, can you put this policeman's helmet on so we can take your photo?" Reluctantly, Ray agreed to this request, conditional on him turning his head away from the camera, so that his face couldn't be seen in the photo. That car then drove off. About 2 minutes later, the first car reappears, "mate, we need you to put that pink tutu on for us". Peering closely into the back seat, Ray could clearly see that the guy waving the tutu at him was none other than the disgraced "Rugby League Legend" Andrew Johns. Because the guys were getting more rowdy, having already buzzed him a few times up and down the street, Ray again compromised by holding the tutu up near his crotch, refusing to actually put it on. After much raucous laughter from Johns and co., and photo snapping, they drove off.
Ray is a guy in his fifties, who was wary of provoking a group of younger guys, not least because he feared it might escalate to the level of, "let's get the Pom", or something similar. He was also obviously pissed off about the bully boy tactics of targeting an older guy for homophobic humour, with the additional prospect that the image could then be used on the tv show, "The Footy Show", without seeking permission/disclosing the intended motive; "Smile, you're on Candid Camera" (it can hardly be coincidental that Andrew's brother Matthew is a "comedy" star of "The Footy Show").
In this instance we perhaps see evidence of the kind of aestheticisation of everyday life, which has featured here in previous blog posts. The stranger becomes even more anonymous, as no forethought is given to extending hospitality by attempting to engage in reciprocal communicative action. But because this incident most likely took place strictly for "kicks", rather than as an upcoming incident on a tv show, where it would have constituted a from of "work" (albeit masquerading as a polar opposite of "fun", leisure), I think it useful to contextualise it as part of the broader critical approach theorists have brought to categorising the different forms of hegemonic masculinity. The excellent piece I've pasted below speaks to the issues I've raised here, insofar as it distinguishes between two variants of working class "protest masculinity", namely an integrative and anomic form. The latter attracts more attention, in the context of tabloids in the United Kingdom for example, in reportage of incidents of "happy slapping" and the like. Inevitably, given the attendant sensationalism, this leads to neglect of the integrative potential of hazing rituals and so forth as perverse forms of workplace solidarity. No doubt the feedback mechanisms between the two can be powerful, in the sense that the projection of shame in the workplace can seek substitutes elsewhere (not least in the domestic sphere, where much violence has to do with compensation for a perceived lack of control).
It seems to me that Klaus Theweleit offers some resources in his account of "Male Fantasies" for understanding the ideal fantasy state where integrative and anomic masculinities fuse. It would be appropriate here to speak of "quest masculinity", as the accomplishment of rational objectives takes place through a confrontation with liminal affective states, more often fear or primordial loyalties rather than intimate relations per se, as the ultimate proving ground. Small wonder then that such fantasies are so easily commodified and pre-packaged. I've had enough experience in the service industry to observe the bedrooms of teenage boys decorated with "Lord of the Rings" and "Eragorn" posters, alongside the obligatory posters featuring Andrew Johns in action on the football field, to recognise the archetype when I see it. To walk into a bedroom decorated in this fashion, and see a bookshelf overflowing with Tom Clancy titles, is to experience a confirmatory authority firsthand. Leisure time in such instances is nothing less than an insidious part of the afterhours production line, a colonisation by rational techniques far more munane than Theweleit's extreme examples, or the activities of elites, say the notorious Skull N' Bones Club, would indicate ("here, tell us your sexual history while we circle jerk into the coffin you are lying in...."). I later learned that the young man in the Clancy case, who ironically used to live in Ray's house, was also a card carrying member of the Australian Young Liberals Party. And yes, I'm thoroughly sick of the obligatory appearance of "Top Gun" and "The Matrix" in the dvd collections too (for quest masculinity, going to work becomes imbued with a pompous Neo-style religious ambience, as [white boy] phantasised compensation for the disenchantment inflicted by increasing rationalisation).
I couldn't help then choosing a contrasting image with Johns, that of Raewyn Connell, formerly Robert Connell, international doyen of Masculinity Studies. She has come some way since early student days, when Robert was affectionately known around campus as "Prince Valiant", on account of his theatrical flair for purple knee high boots and the like.
In any case, this post is really just a long-winded excuse for saying, "Andrew Johns, you Sir, are a dickhead"....
Walker, G. W. (2004, Aug)
Disciplining Protest Masculinity Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Hilton San Francisco & Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, CA, Online <.PDF> Retrieved 2006-10-05 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p108485_index.html
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract:
Protest masculinity is a gendered identity oriented toward a protest of the relations of production and the ideal type of hegemonic masculinity. To this point protest masculinity has been conceived as a destructive, chaotic and alienating sort of masculinity. This interpretation is incomplete, for it does not include efforts on the part of men to use protest masculinity for its integrative potential. This study is the product of ethnographic inquiry and documents skilled working class men using methods of social control to discipline protest masculinity and orient it into a less destructive and more harmonious state. At the end of the analysis, I propose a grounded nomenclature to manage the theoretical concepts. "Anomic protest masculinity" is the unguided and destructive sort. "Disciplined protest masculinity" is the product of intensive social control and functions to increase solidarity among working class men.
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