![]() A gaze not simply shared as an insight – a sight from inside – but set within the wider frame of an art history that carries to the present day the mores and idealisations of other times and other places. It is a shimmering image of father and sons, refracted in the maternal gaze. Her photographs capture within the everyday intimacy of family life a delicate interplay of action and emotion, of dynamism and languor, as boys become men and men become middle-aged. It is the nuance of this fluid understanding of what it means to be male that flows through the work of the artist Allison Plass. Meanwhile, newer generations embrace a more mutable approach to gender, discovering that the characteristics traditionally associated with male or female are, in fact, simply human behaviours open to anyone, neither a straitjacket nor a package deal. ![]() Sexuality is becoming understood as complex, distinct from physiological gender or social demeanour, and potentially unconstrained in focus. The more aggressive behaviours associated with maleness are increasingly recognised for their intrinsic toxicity. Today, notions of masculinity are caught in the crosscurrents of change. In the Anglophone west where, outside of competitive sport, public physical contact is more often linked to romantic affection, it is rare to see men hold hands and, when they do, it is usually interpreted as having a sexual signification. In a culture where men and women may not touch in public, men hold hands as a gesture of friendship. That said, the orthodoxies that shape and assess the behaviour of others evolve across time and shift with geography. To slough it off is to discover the freedom of a more authentic self, but it may also be to pass beyond the pale of perceived propriety. They are determined less by nature than by culture, a panoply of behaviours that encase the individual within a sheath of convention. The contours of masculinity are moulded by social context. It's wonderful that you can earn lots of money, but for obvious economic reasons, very few people can.I started to appreciate how deeply masculinity was intertwined with my sons’ identities as young men, and, at the same time, how much their generation allowed for more fluidity in gender roles. ![]() Isn't there a Scottish proverb something like "The rank is but the guinea stamp, the man's the good?" If someone doesn't earn much money, or even none at all, it doesn't make them less valuable as a person or make them less happy than someone much richer (I speak from experience, being a single parent and having only found a new, fairly low-paid job 6 months ago after the last company I worked for folded in October 2011). It must save the economy billions of pounds. I also don't think the renumeration provided for jobs necessarily reflects their actual societal value women fill the overwhelming majority of low-paid but essential positions (cleaners, carers, shop assistants and so on) and many so-called SAHMs are carers etc with no pay at all for this. I like my belongings very much and I've worked hard to earn the money to buy them but there's no effort involved in handing cash over - it's just a transaction. I have lots of things that I've bought, but I wouldn't really say I was proud of them or that they eflect on me (I'm a human being, not a human having :) ). If we had to go back to watching every penny (we aren't exactly earning huge amounts but we're fairly comfortable atm) I would find it difficult but it wouldn't be the end of the world as long as we were all healthy. I have had very lean times where I have worried about every penny I spent and yet I was still very grateful for the health of my family and the pleasure we got from the free things in life. He has no desire to be a sahp but may end up being one at least for a while if he hasn't found a different job by the time this company goes bust. I suppose that's easier because I work ft too but i do wish he earned more so I could be a sahm or even cut down to pt work. If he lost his job (as he is likely to in the next couple of months due to the imminent bankruptcy of the company he works for) I would definitely tell him it is ok and we will find a way to work it out while he looks for another job. We have separate accounts and share expenses so we each have a similar amount of 'spare' cash.
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