Literature Review 4

McKee, Shane Patrick. "Mantalk: Fraternity Men and Masculinity." ProQuest LLC (2013). ERIC. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

This dissertation is about a study made by the author.  In the study, he takes 15 fraternity members and uses them for a ten weeks.  These sessions are where "Mantalk" comes from.  The findings he comes across show that these "ManTalk" experiences allow the participants to became more aware of their masculinity and its intra-personal intersections (race, gender and sexual orientation, body image, feelings and emotions, and self-esteem and self-awareness) as well as its interpersonal intersections (relationships). 

The author of this dissertation is Shane Patrick McKee.  He wrote this while completing his doctoral degree at Washington State University.  There honestly is not much on the author, but considering he completed this study with the approval of the chairs, he seems to be very knowledgeable of the topic.

ManTalk- men's growth group that helps them explore their masculinity

Intra/Inter-personal relationships- communication within oneself/a strong, deep, or close association or acquaintance between two or more people that may range in duration from brief to enduring.

QUOTES

"Although men are not often viewed as an at-risk group and even naming them that way seems counter-intuitive, they have been overlooked as group in recent years even though they struggle in navigating the college experience in very similar ways as other such underrepresented cultural and ethnic minorities do" (Page 1).

"The social constructionist model relating to masculinities subscribes to the notion that man and his behaviors, values, and beliefs are a constantly changing collection of meanings that are constructed through his relationship with himself, with others, and his world" (Page 12).

"It is these early educational experiences combined with boys’ subscription to hegemonic masculine norms that can contribute to their underachievement in the classroom, lack of engagement in school, and struggles outside of the classroom involving violence, alcohol, and other risky behavior – as compared to their female counterparts" (Page 24).

This dissertation will be able to help me with my research because it talks about how fraternity men go through college without a real path for finding their masculinity.  I will be able to use much of the dissertation because the whole study fits well into my topic ideas.  I also think that it will be able to show the bigger picture when it comes to what it means to be a man.