Underdogs, rebels, and heroes

Abstract

This article shows how autobiographies of famous, socially well-established men (re)produce hegemonic masculinity through narratives of offending; how masculine performance is age graded; and that masculinity constructions are accomplished both via what is said and what is not said. The autobiographies of the footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović, the former high jumper Patrik Sjöberg and Sweden’s most famous criminologist, Professor Leif G.W. Persson, are analysed. Common to all three is that they openly describe a variety of crimes they have committed. These three men are highly respected in Sweden and none of them is considered as “a criminal” in general opinion. This article shows that crime can be a resource for doing masculinity even for famous, successful and highly respected men. The crime narratives in these autobiographies tell us something about the culturally accepted representations of masculinity that may not just pass as possible, but even as desirable.

Supporting Masculinities: Wounded Healing and Masculinity in Peer Support Organizations for People with Experiences of Criminality and Substance Abuse

“…The present study's focus thus puts it in conversation with a field of research within education and social work that critically examines the male role model discourse (Hicks, 2008;Johansson, 2006;Tarrant et al, 2015;Ward et al, 2017). While feminist criminologists have emphasized the intimate connections between traditional norms of masculinity and criminal behavior (Skrinjar & Pettersson, 2020), the male role model discourse on the other hand, stresses a link between a lack of masculinity norms, criminality and violence (Johansson, 2006). Although the male role model response has come to be accepted as a common-sense solution to the perceived problem with boys and the so-called "crisis in masculinity" (see for example, Ward et al, 2017), it has limited empirical and theoretical support and tends to overstate the significance of gender at the expense of other intersecting inequalities (Robb et al, 2015;Tarrant et al, 2015).…”