Assimilative, individual and wounded: men’s identities and masculinities in everyday lockdown life

The social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have been widely examined; however, less attention has been paid to men's own descriptions of everyday life under these exceptional circumstances. This study explores how men construct their identities and masculinities in everyday life during lockdown. Drawing on theories of identity and masculinities, the study is based on 84 open-ended survey responses from Finnish fathers of school-aged children. The data were analysed using a discursive approach. The findings show that men constructed identities and masculinities in lockdown through three distinct identity positions: assimilative, individual, and wounded identities. Through identity work, men were able to strengthen their connections to family relationships and fatherhood, while also emphasising their autonomy and experiences of vulnerability. In relation to these identity positions, masculinity emerged as relational and shaped by tensions between autonomy, responsibility and dependence. The results highlight the multiplicity of identities and masculinities, the significance of vulnerability and social contexts in their construction, and the implications of these findings for Connell’s conceptualisations of masculinity.