In this article, we examine the first author’s experiences before, during, and after a vasectomy to uncover gaps in existing masculinities scholarship. Utilizing collaborative autoethnographic methods, we document some ways the first author’s experience reveals (1) missing pieces in existing research into masculinities and vasectomies, (2) unanswered questions about manhood and reproductive justice, and (3) limitations in contemporary conceptualizations of hegemonic and compensatory manhood acts. In conclusion, we suggest some ways to extend masculinities scholarship by critically examining situational variations in what it means to be a man as well as some ways vasectomy experiences may influence these ideals.
AdamsTony E.2010. “Paradoxes of Sexuality, Gay Identity, and the Closet.” Symbolic Interaction33:234–56.
2.
AmorC.RogstadK. E.TindallC.MooreK. T.GilesD.HarveyP.2008. “Men’s Experiences of Vasectomy: A Grounded Theory Study.” Sexual and Relationship Therapy23:235–45.
3.
BlumerHerbert. 1969. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Berkeley: University of California Press.
4.
CahillSpencer E.1989. “Fashioning Males and Females: Appearance Management and the Social Reproduction of Gender.” Symbolic Interaction12:281–98.
5.
ChangHeewonNgunjiriFaithHernandezKathy-Ann C.2013. Collaborative Autoethnography. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
6.
ConnellR. W.1987. Gender and Power. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
7.
ConnellR. W.1995. Masculinities. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
CourtenayWill. 2000. “Constructions of Masculinity and Their Influence on Men’s Well-being: A Theory of Gender and Health.” Social Science & Medicine50:1385–401.
10.
CrawleySara L.2012. “Autoethnography as Feminist Self-interview.” In The Sage Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft, 2nd ed., edited byHolsteinJames A.GurbriumJaber F.McKinneyKaryn D.MarvastiAmir B., 143–61. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
11.
DidionJoan. 2005. The Year of Magical Thinking. New York: Knopf.
12.
EzzellMatthew B.2012. ““I’m in Control”: Compensatory Manhood in a Therapeutic Community.” Gender & Society26:190–215.
13.
GeertzClifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
14.
Geist-MartinPatriciaGatesLisaWieringLiesbethKirbyErikaHoustonReneeLillyAnneMorenoJuan2010. “Exemplifying Collaborative Autoethnographic Practice via Shared Stories of Mothering.” Journal of Research Practice6: Article M8.
15.
GoffmanErving. 1963. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
16.
HochschildArlie Russell. 1989. Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home. New York: Viking Penguin.
17.
KimmelMichael. 1996. Manhood in America: A Cultural History. New York: Free Press.
18.
LietzCynthia A.LangerCarol L.FurmanRich2006. “Establishing Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research in Social Work: Implications from a Study Regarding Spirituality.” Qualitative Social Work5:441–58.
19.
LucalBetsy. 1999. “What It Means to Be Gendered Me: Life on the Boundaries of a Dichotomous Gender System.” Gender & Society13:781–97.
20.
MartinPatricia Yancey. 2001. “Mobilizing Masculinities: Women’s Experiences of Men at Work.” Organization8:587–618.
21.
McGuffeyShawn. 2008. “Saving Masculinity: Gender Reaffirmation, Sexuality, Race, and Parental Responses to Male Child Sexual Abuse.” Social Problems55:216–37.
22.
McGuffeyShawnLindsey RichB.. 1999. “Playing in the Gender Transgression Zone: Race, Class, and Hegemonic Masculinity in Middle Childhood.” Gender & Society13:608–27.
23.
PlummerKen. 2003. “Queers, Bodies, and Postmodern Sexualities: A Note on Revisiting the ‘Sexual’ in Symbolic Interactionism.” Qualitative Sociology26:515–30.
24.
RohlingerDeana A.2006. “Friend and Foe: Media, Politics, and Tactics in the Abortion War.” Social Problems53:537–61.
25.
SchrockDouglasSchwalbeMichael. 2009. “Men, Masculinity, and Manhood Acts.” Annual Review of Sociology35:277–95.
26.
SchwalbeMichaelWolkomirMichelle. 2001. “Interviewing Men.” In The Handbook of Interview Research, edited by GubriumJaber F.HolsteinJames A., 202–20. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
SmithAllenKleinmanSheryll. 1989. “Managing Emotions in Medical School: Students’ Contacts with the Living and the Dead.” Social Psychology Quarterly52:56–69.
28.
SumerauJ. Edward. 2012. “That’s What Men Are Supposed to Do: Compensatory Manhood Acts in an LGBT Christian Church.” Gender & Society26:461–87.
29.
SumerauJ. EdwardSchrockDouglas P.ReeseTeri Jo2013. “Transsexuals’ Gendered Presentations.” In Life as Performance: A Dramaturgical Handbook, edited byEdgleyCharles, 145–60. Burlington, VA: Ashgate.
30.
TerryGarethBraunVirginia. 2011a. “I’m Committed to Her and the Family: Positive Accounts of Vasectomy among New Zealand Men.” Journal of Infant and Reproductive Psychology29:276–91.
31.
TerryGarethBraunVirginia. 2011b. “It’s Kind of Me Taking Responsibility for these Things: Men, Vasectomy and Contraceptive Economies.” Feminism & Psychology21:477–95.
32.
TerryGarethBraunVirginia. 2012. “Sticking My Finger Up at Evolution: Unconventionality, Selfishness and Choice in the Talk of Men Who Have Had Preemptive Vasectomies.” Men and Masculinities15:207–29.
33.
VaccarroChristian. 2011. “Male Bodies in Manhood Acts: The Role of Body-talk and Embodied Practice in Signifying Culturally Dominant Notions of Manhood.” Sociology Compass5:65–76.
