State of the Field: The History of Masculinities

Abstract This State of the Field article discusses how, when and why the history of masculinities has emerged since the 1980s, and why it continues to be an important research field today. The article begins with the field's multiple origin stories and then discusses its expansion in chronology, geography and theme, as well as newer directions for masculinities in disability history, trans history and Indigenous history. Many scholars involved in this history over the years have openly wondered whether it remains useful, or whether analysing categories of privilege like masculinities only turns the lens back on men as default historical actors, to the detriment of marginalized peoples and themes. However, this article argues that the history of masculinities has done and continues to do important work in demonstrating to other academic disciplines that masculinities are never static or fixed but dynamic and shifting according to historical time and place. The article concludes that with the rights of women and transgender people increasingly under threat in the United Kingdom and North America as well as globally, it is essential for scholars to continue to historicize masculinities, patriarchal constructs and men's relationships to power. Historians are poised to help bridge the gap between the ivory tower and various publics, moreover, who continue to create and consume their own historical narratives about masculinized behaviours and expectations in the past and today.