Paper short abstract:

Masculine subjectivities are embodied and embodiment permeates social presentation and categorization. Through the analysis of the Pride Parades held in the USA in the 70s and now in Spain we will see how masculine embodiment relates to politics, gender meanings and consumption practices.

Paper long abstract:

This proposal analyzes how masculine subjectivities are embodied in complex assemblages that can be better understood through the lens of the posthumanist paradigms. Masculinities can be considered as fictional constructions where bodies play a central (but not exclusive) role. Gendered practices in/through the body are so significant that, as Henwood affirms

"there have been suggestions that males may increasingly be defining themselves through their bodies, in the wake of social and economic changes which have eroded or displaced work as a source of identity, particularly for working-class men" (in Gill 2005: 39).

This work aims at exploring how the posthuman notions of assemblage, embodiment and embeddedness can help us understand the complex relationship between bodies, genders and politics. It also tries to trace continuities and discontinuities in this relationship through the analysis of Pride Parades.

Embodied and embedded masculinities (genders) are related to and constructed by (and for) social visibility, social presentation and social categorization. Through the analysis of the masculine 'styles' of embodiment used in the historial pride parades held in the USA in the 70s and those held now in Spain, we will see if and how embodiment and public visibility can become (expressive) political strategies. Based on visual analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, we will analyse how bodies, genders and sexualities are closely connected to politics, protest and neoliberalism and how this is expressed through the masculine dwellings in public protest.