NCJ Number
168553
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: special issue (1996) Pages: 381-395
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article examines standard gender neutral explanations of comparative criminology and reviews evidence for cultural and economic determinants in the construction of culture-specific gender relations and masculinities.
Abstract
The visibility of male-dominated criminal violence differs substantially from culture to culture, Accordingly, a perception of masculinity and male-dominated violence as monolithic categories is misleading. Australian, German and Japanese data display significant variations in the visibility of violence against women. In a conceptualization of "hegemonic masculinity" in the context of sexual assault the visibility of the rapist in Australia is interpreted as a consequence of economic and cultural crises of gender relations causing a transformation of hegemonic masculinity. Historical and political constellations in Germany and Japan result in the visibility of different features of male-dominated violence. As far as violence and masculinities are concerned, the study of variations is more promising than the continued use of a monolithic understanding of masculinity in the tradition of binary concepts of "male" and "female." Notes, references