An Analysis of Masculine Socialization and Male Sexual Anxiety

This study uses autobiographical reflection to investigate the negative impact of essentialist masculine gender socialization on men's lives. In particular, I use personal recollective accounts both from my early childhood socialization-in the traditional Greek-Cypriot culture of the 1970s and 80s-and from my own introspections and analytical conceptualizations concerning intimate relationships in general. I analyze these accounts by using a feminist postmodern ideology of gender deconstruction and reconstruction. Men oftentimes fall victims of patriarchal masculine scripting by suppressing their needs for intimacy, connectedness, and self-disclosure, qualities traditionally devalued as feminine traits. Suppressing such needs exacerbates inadequacies in male intimacy with possible manifestations in the form of generalized non-clinical male sexual anxiety. Implications are also discussed in terms of the by-products of male sexual anxiety, such as non-clinical sexual addiction and male victimization.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Development

Department dc:contributor.department

Human Development

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Philaretou, Andreas Georgiou

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Allen, Katherine R.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Few-Demo, April L.
• Hughes, Michael D.
• Bryant, Clifton D.
• Arditti, Joyce A.

• essentialism
• patriarchy
• anxiety
• abuse
• deconstruction
• masculinity
• intimacy
• addictions
• socialization
• narrative

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-12102001-201705

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30030