Traditional Masculinity as a Social Institution of the Modern World: Methodological Foundations (Article 1)

The article examines the methodological foundations of the phenomenon of traditional masculinity, analyzed primarily from the perspective of a social institution. Currently, there is an obvious devaluation of masculine norms, which is particularly noticeable in the context of global civilization processes. Traditional masculinity is defined as a set of fundamental imperative requirements that form a standard or a model of male behavior. At the same time, as a social institution, it plays a key role in reproducing the historically established gender, acting as one of the most important sources of primary socialization. In doing so, traditional masculinity supports not so much the hierarchy of relations between men and women as their asymmetry and complementarity. Traditional masculinity presupposes psychophysiological and sociocultural sources, however, in the course of socio-historical dynamics, the scale of artificial influences (constructivism) on the formation of masculinity increases. Traditional masculinity can take various forms depending on a particular social and political environment, and within a group, it depends on its cultural status and functional purpose. The norms of masculinity are often subject to conceptual refinement and nay evolve into masculine ideologies within specific social and historical contexts.