Thesis

What is left after they are gone? : A study of the "crisis of masculinity" in Bolivian men as an effect of their female partners migrating to Spain

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2010
Thesis identifier
  • T12690
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Abstract
  • Over the past twenty years the study of masculinities has been vastly explored and Latin America has produced a great quantity of research that has developed the construction of masculinities. This research explored the “crisis of masculinity” in Bolivian men as a result of their female partners migrating to Spain, in order to improve their economic situation. Furthermore, in order to grasp the contested concept (“crisis of masculinity”), Connell‟s hegemonic model of masculinity was used as theoretical background. The high flow of Bolivian women migrants has signified that a vast percentage of their male partners who have stayed behind have had to adopt new tasks and roles within the household. In this study the men interviewed have taken over domestic chores, as well as taking charge of their families‟ wellbeing and having to balance domestic life with their working and social life. This situation has brought upon changes in their family structure, which have had an impact in the way they perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others (i.e. their peer groups, their female partner abroad, their children, neighbours‟, among others). Therefore, this study strived to gain insight on how “the crisis of masculinity”, as a consequence of changes in the family structures, constructs and guides the way Bolivian men consolidate their masculinity and how this changes. In order to achieve this, the methodology undertaken was qualitative research that used semi-structured interviews. The uniqueness and usefulness of this study resides in the fact that this is perhaps the first study that explores the field of migration and family sensitivities in Bolivia and, therefore, fills in a gap in Bolivian research and hopes to provide a stepping point for furthering research in the area.
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DOI
Date Created
  • 2010
Former identifier
  • 820082

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