Exploring Family Cultures of Masculinity: A Grounded Theory

Abstract

In this dissertation, I examine how young men understand and interpret masculinity within their family contexts. Although prior research has emphasized peers, schools, and media as key sites of gender socialization, less attention has been given to the family as a central context shaping masculine identities. Addressing this gap, this study asks: How do young men understand their family cultures of masculinity? Using a grounded theory approach, this study draws on in-depth qualitative interviews with 33 men aged 21-30 about their experiences with masculine socialization in their families. Data were analyzed through iterative coding procedures to generate a conceptual model grounded in participants' narratives. From this analysis, I introduce the concept of family cultures of masculinity (FCM), defined as a family's set of dispositions related to masculinity that shape individual practices of masculinity at an often-unconscious level. FCM encompasses patterned ways families communicate, enforce, negotiate, and embody expectations about masculinity and manhood across time. The central contribution of this study is a grounded theory typology that captures four ways young men make meaning of their family's culture of masculinity. The typology is organized along two primary dimensions: a) the degree of legibility of masculine expectations within the family, and b) the degree of congruence between individuals and those expectations. A third analytic feature, "thickness of family culture of masculinity," reflects the intensity and pervasiveness of gender as an organizing force in family life. The intersection of these dimensions produces four distinct family cultures of masculinity: hostile, insidious, tacit, and safe. Participants' narratives illustrate how these family cultures shape whether masculinity is experienced as rigid and oppressive, diffuse and uncomfortable, subtle and taken-for-granted, or affirming and flexible. By conceptualizing masculinity as a relational, family-embedded system rather than solely an individual identity or external social influence, this model expands current understandings of meaning-making around masculinity within family contexts. By foregrounding young men's perspectives, it advances understanding of gender socialization processes within families and offers a novel framework for examining how masculinities are reproduced, negotiated, and transformed across generations.