ABSTRACT
Research on men working in female-dominated occupations has been on the rise in the past three decades. While previous research has often identified the privileges men enjoy in such token positions, the challenges they face and their strategies of identity management in fact differ according to the type of work and organizational setting of their occupation. This chapter provides an overview of this research with a focus away from Western societies. We pinpoint that across studies, men engage in “boundary work” that reaffirms their masculinity or devise “alternative masculinities” to reconcile any dissonance between their personal and professional identities. Furthermore, studies also suggest that men are fully aware of the “patriarchal dividend” they receive. We also highlight that the intersectionality of race, class and sexualities subjects men in precarious jobs or performing bodywork (e.g. sex work, factory work) to discrimination and disadvantages. Most importantly, regardless of their privileged or marginalized position, men doing women’s work are likely to perpetuate hegemonic masculinity in its existing form. Hence, although men working in female-dominated occupations sometimes do engage in alternative masculinities, more often they are reinforcing the script of hegemonic masculinity.
