Masculinities & Social Change

Perception of Sex Buyers by Young Spaniards

Antonio Rua-Vieites — 2024-10-21

The aim of this research is to broaden the knowledge on the social perception of people who pay for commercial sex. An online questionnaire was distributed to 3126 young people in Spain. Respondents did not have a common perception about people who pay for sex, although several considered that a rich-buyer is associated with “partner”, “money”, “education” and “Spanish”; a risky-buyer meets the variables of “satisfying their domination needs”, “reaffirm masculinity”, “is violent” and “do not want to use preservative”; a low-status buyer has “limited money”, “is an immigrant” and “has a low level of education”; an insecure-buyer presents variables indicating that he is “insecure with the opposite sex” and “dissatisfied with their partner”; and a single-buyer “has no couple” and “is single”. These perceptions help to improve awareness campaigns against human trafficking and sexual exploitation and increase the visibility of the responsible parties who pay and encourage these crimes.

Femmephobia and Penetration in the Development of Masculinity and the (Anti)Nationalist Identity of Reinaldo Arenas in Antes que Anochezca

Javier Ramirez-Franco — 2024-10-21

This article addresses the relationship between masculinity and nationalism, especially in literature of exile. It investigates the militarism of the Cuban national identity that promotes homophobia through a disdain for the feminine in the development of national masculinity. Antes que anochezca therefore exemplifies anti-nationalist exile literature as it rejects Castroist censorship and the criminalization of homosexuality. However, while the novel is anti-nationalist, it continues to perpetuate a repudiation of femininity as he valorizes masculinity, showcased in his sexual relationships between men. This is done in the novel through a dichotomy of active and passive roles in men who have sex with men that is established through the roles of penetrator/penetrated. Therefore, femmephobic ideology based on the national development of Cuban masculinity has permeated queer literature in exile, even in an anti-nationalist novel.

The “Forocochera Manosphere” in Reaction: A Paradigmatic Case Study in the Spanish Context

Águeda Gómez-Suárez — 2024-10-21

This paper presents a paradigmatic case of how a rapid misogynist digital backlash against a public initiative of the "institutional feminism" is organized from the Spanish manosphere. Specifically, the case of a coordinated action from the website Forocoches in June 2021 against a resource created by the Deputation of Pontevedra and the University of Vigo: the Stop Machitroles Observatory of the Chair of Feminisms 4.0; a resource that was enabled to fight against digital sexism. This paper is innovative in examining and interpreting the coordination of a "digital mob" attack from the largest Spanish-speaking forum in the world. This coordinated action managed, on the same day, to block the complaint collection form with mass messages from Forocoches and render the Observatory unusable. The methodology relies mainly on the detailed analysis of the tempos and intensity of the attack, as well as the analysis of the speech of the forococheros who participated.

Mpox 1b: Upstanders for Science in Western and Chinese Social Media

Garazi Álvarez-Guerrero — 2024-10-21

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific literature published research about the presence of hoaxes and evidence in diverse social media, with a huge scientific and social impact. The main results showed that while in Western social media like X there was more false information and less scientific evidence than in the Chinese platform Weibo, but scientific evidence was more retweeted than hoaxes. This research allowed the identification of social activists for science in the social media, who multiplied their impact when scientists provided them with evidence. Mpox clade 1b outbreak, which has now been declared a global public health emergency by WHO, requires a fast reaction from science, already taking place. This article analyzes information disseminated in X and Weibo about mpox. 3089 messages published between 12 and 16 of August 2024 have been analyzed. The results show that while hoaxes around mpox are prevalent in social media, posts containing scientific evidence do receive more interaction. Such findings contribute to the understanding of the health crisis and underscore the need for health authorities to join efforts with citizens to co-create evidence-based communication strategies.