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From Hegemonic to Responsive Masculinity: The Transformative Power of the Provider Role

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The Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health

Abstract

This article proposes that ‘responsive’ masculinity provides a more accurate description of male behaviour than ‘hegemonic’ masculinity. This becomes apparent if we look at the provider role which can be seen as an expression of male responsiveness to female ‘need’. It is suggested that male responsiveness is an evolved trait. It is manifested in the higher levels of empathy which males have for females which are partly stimulated by greater female emotional expressivity. The provider role facilitates reproduction by encouraging males to engage in provisioning activities in response to female preferences. Once men reproduce the provisioning role acts to tie them into families, encourage attachment through the experience of having others dependent on them and kickstarts neuroendocrine responses through pairbonding and fatherhood. As an expression of male responsive behaviour and a catalyst for further nurturing behaviour, the provider role is seen as the cornerstone on which fathering is built.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This theory has been developed in detail by William Collins in his online article on emotion and the pairbond: http://empathygap.uk/?p=1396.

  2. 2.

    This idea is further developed in Dench (2011), Transforming Men, Transaction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Researcher, London, UK

    Belinda Brown

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  1. Belinda Brown
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Correspondence to Belinda Brown .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UCL, London, UK

    John A. Barry

  2. Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Wymondham, UK

    Roger Kingerlee

  3. Change, Grow, Live, Dagenham/Southend, Essex, UK

    Martin Seager

  4. Community Interest Company, Men’s Minds Matter, London, UK

    Luke Sullivan

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Brown, B. (2019). From Hegemonic to Responsive Masculinity: The Transformative Power of the Provider Role. In: Barry, J.A., Kingerlee, R., Seager, M., Sullivan, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04384-1_10

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