Leisuring Masculinities in British Indian Childhoods
Explorations at the Intersection of Gender Order and Generational Order
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Abstract
In this article, I draw upon a qualitative study with 11- to 12-year-old middle-class British Indian boys and their parents to unpack the ways notions of young masculinities are negotiated within the context of children's leisure. Taking a relational approach, I argue that leisure-based masculinities of children are simultaneously generationed and gendered. By interrogating the intersection of what Raewyn Connell theorizes as “gender order” and what childhood sociologists call the “generational order,” I demonstrate that leisure-based young masculinities are forged within children's inter- (parent-child) and intra- (child-child) generational relationships around leisure. I conclude with a call for greater engagement with intersectional frameworks in the study of boys’ masculinity that simultaneously recognizes the gender and the generational structures of children's everyday lives.
Contributor Notes
Utsa Mukherjee is an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southampton. He received his PhD in Sociology from Royal Holloway, University of London. Located at the intersection of childhood studies and leisure studies, his research draws focus on social identities, children's agency, and inequalities. Email: u.mukherjee@soton.ac.uk