ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the nature of the topic at hand and establishes the central topics of enquiry in this research. That is, why is an exploration of both representations, and men’s experiences, of Australian masculinity worthy of more detailed attention and analysis? Why is an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to understanding men, Australian identity, and their masculinity projects necessary? I argue here that while it is commonly understood that Australian identity is intertwined within a notion of Australian masculinity, what this actually looks like, how men take up or reject such ideas, and its location within broader sociocultural and political frameworks, is unknown. Australia provides an intriguing space to examine how men relate to contemporary representations of masculinity. Its imagery of colonial frontiersmen, lifesaver-surfers and ANZACS, to contemporary sporting larrikins and everyday blokes speaks to a perception and representation of a single, national masculine character, recognisable on both local, and global scales. While attention has been paid to Australian identity and masculinity, this has been largely done in a fractured manner. Focus on Australian masculine identity has been closely tied to specific identities and categories, specific time periods in Australian culture, specific experiences of certain social institutions (i.e., family, sports, sexuality), or attempts to problematize the experience of men in negotiating ideals of masculinity. As such, there is a dearth of research that ties together how such icons of Australian identity and masculinity are linked to contemporary experiences of Australian men, in particular, in the urban context. Are urban men removed from such mythology? Can Australian masculinity only be understood within the rural context? How might young, urban Australian men negotiate the contradicting imagery of old ideas of Australian masculinity, and new, emerging ideas of transnational, or global masculinities?
