From hegemonic to post-patriarchal manhood in the Korean context: a theological and psychological analysis

Abstract

Emergent images of masculinities in contemporary men’s movements and mass media are expressive of an increased concern for reimagining men’s roles and identities in a changing society. Androcentric assumptions and connotations embedded in these representations remain overlooked by the public, however. Despite growing popular and academic interest in masculinities, studies on men and masculinities tend to have disregarded the power imbalances between men and women while focusing more on male difference than male dominance. Such a critical awareness of cultural and academic trends calls for a more sophisticated theological investigation. This project investigates psychologically and theologically how hegemonic/patriarchal masculinities are formed and can be transformed, and how pastoral theology and the social sciences might inform and guide a process of challenging and re-envisioning masculinities towards the post-patriarchal reconstruction of family and religious lives of men and women. By engaging a critical and constructive dialogue with feminist psychoanalytic and social psychological discourses, this project claims that, in terms of both content and methods of theological reflection, rethinking manhood from a feminist perspective can offer us a unique vantage point to develop an alternate, constructive account of men and masculinities towards the goal of creating an environment of mutuality, justice, care, and ecological sustainability. The integration of feminist liberating praxis for the transformation of androcentric structures and practices is thus a critical safeguard against this research becoming just another way of shoring up male power and privilege.