Restructuring of gender roles and creating new masculinities

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: identify the cisgender man’s view before the new gender roles in contemporary Brazilian society and the construction of new masculinities. METHOD: This study is a descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional analysis, composed of a sample of 38 male students aged 18 years or older from different courses at a public state university at Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The research was based on a semi-structured questionnaire containing twenty-three objective questions. RESULTS: It was possible identifying a greater return on the part of black individuals. Most of them (62.5%) affirm they usually don’t talk about feelings. The biggest discrepancy was observed among students from different areas of study. Students from Social Sciences, Math and Technology and Health Sciences claim to have difficulties in being and doing what they want to because of people’s reactions. On the other hand, students from Human Sciences said they have never had that difficulty, besides those students affirm they hardly ever seek information about the new social constructions of gender roles. CONCLUSION: results obtained show area of study as more influential than race – not ignoring their influence - and may indicate an alternative to expand debates about gender roles among groups of cisgender men, mixing debates of each group in order to find a balance between information and its place in society.