Negotiating Chicano masculinities at institutions of higher education: Voices of South Texas Chicano men
Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: As Latino demographic data (Murdock et al., 2003) continues to inform us about \nthe upward swing of Latinos in this country, researchers will be faced with a growing \nnumber of research questions. Even though a host of varied research questions are \nrelevant, my focus was on Chicano men from South Texas. \nThe intersectionalities of gender, race, and cultural factors are all played out in the \neveryday discourses of college life and negotiated. Therefore, the researcher’s purpose \nwas to listen and understand the voices of Chicano male students as they have negotiated \ntheir masculinities in South Texas schools. So the research question presents itself: How \ndo South Texas Chicano men understand their masculinities as they have negotiated \ninstitutions of higher learning? Latino men have had to endure various forces that create \ntheir masculinity, without, at times, understanding its creation. The formulation of a \nChicano’s masculinity must be explored in order to curtail its destructive components \n(Connell, 1995; hooks, 2004). \nThe optimum methodology for capturing Chicano voices was to employ a \nnarrative approach. This approach allowed for valuable histories (Denzin & Lincoln, \n1998; Patton, 2002) relevant to specific worldviews of the Chicanos who were \ninterviewed. Further, these stories provided valuable insight as to how Chicano men \nnegotiated their masculinity in various school environments. The ten men who \nvolunteered for this research were willing participants, providing a vast amount of \nnarration that informed this study. Each of the men in this study was highly aware of his \nmasculinity(ies) and where it stood in relation to various contexts. \nThe importance of this research has educational implications for Chicanos \nthroughout the U.S. As Latinos continue to become part of Americana, society will have \nto become much more informed about this group because they bring with them cultural \ncomponents that are not understood by the dominant culture. This study will provide \ninsight as to why Chicano males may manifest certain characteristics that do not conform \nto the Anglo-American way of life. The importance in this research is not to add to \nstereotypes, but to create discursive consciousness (Giddens, 1986).
Author: Fernando Vasquez
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2124372270