Exploring Ecological Masculinities and Degrowth (Pt 2): Detailed Outlines
- 3 days ago
- 11 min read
Body Mapping Hegemonic Masculinity
The objective of this workshop is to discover the physical, emotional and aesthetic characteristics of hegemonic masculinity and emphasised femininity, and to reflect with the participants on their relationship towards this figure (similarities, distance, empathy, conflict etc…) and the relationship this figure has towards other humans and non-humans.
Movement/Icebreaker
The participants are asked to remember what games they used to play in primary school and the first years of high school. Some names of games are thrown around and some of them are asked to be explained. We decide upon one to play right now in the space the workshop takes place in. After a few minutes of playing we ask the following questions:
Were there games for boys and girls at school? Why this distinction?
What are the characteristics of games for girls or women at school? and what are the characteristics of games for boys or men at school?
Do games teach us to be men and women? Explain why
Table of Sex/Gender/Sexual Orientation
A table is presented to the participants, with three columns (sex, gender, sexual orientation), who are then given post-its with different words on them (woman, bisexual, queer, male, transgender etc…) and asked to go up to the board and place the words into the categories they think they belong in.
The intention is to give everyone a quick overview of the terminology used when speaking of masculinities, and why it’s important to distinguish between the three categories of sex, gender and sexual orientation. Key is to highlight how Male, Man and Heterosexual represent the hegemonic model of humankind, bestowing upon those who tick those boxes certain powers and privileges over others (i.e. the heteronormative patriarchy).
Body Mapping
Make groups of 4-7 people.¹ Give each group some craft paper, markers and sticky-tape, asking one person of each group to lay down on the paper and for the others to carefully draw their silhouette. We then ask the groups to think (with little discussion) about the following questions:
What are the physical characteristics culture sells us as those that men or women are 'meant' to have? Same with emotional and then aesthetic characteristics too.
We then ask them to write and draw these characteristics down on their silhouettes. After 10min we also ask them to reflect on
How do you feel faced with these figures, what sensations do they produce in you?
Are there aspects of them that you accept for yourself, and if so which ones? Are there aspects you reject? Which?
How does this man or woman relate to women, men and other genders? How do they relate to nature and non-human others?
Groups are invited to do a small round of sharing here amongst themselves.
Each group is then invited to lay out their body-maps on the floor in front of everyone and are given a few minutes each to share what they've done.
Theory
The facilitator introduces the concept of hegemonic masculinities and its characteristics (intelligent, young or adult, heterosexual, white, strong, successful, virile, inexpressive, free etc...). Importantly, notes how this masculinity ignores or invisibilises other masculinities (children's, elderly, people of colour, homosexuals, bisexuals, trans, non-violent men, poor men, those who don't feel attracted by competitive sports etc...) and the consequences for women of all ages when living next to hegemonic men; as well as the situations that non-hegemonic men experience when living next to these men.²
The notion of hegemonic masculinity helps us understand the supremacy of man over all other living beings, not only over men and women, but over animals, trees, natural resources that have been exploited and stolen in the name of growth and progress - this one of the major contributions of ecofeminist thought and which resonates deeply with degrowth. Changing this growth model implies changing this model of masculinity - how might we go about this? Can we see traits of hegemonic masculinity operating within our own circles, in how we work, compete for promotions or publications, in how we participate in our collective meetings and decision-making processes, in how we relate to our female colleagues or, indeed, to our own families? Can we imagine what other masculinities might look and feel like?
If there is time, introduce Hultman and Pulé’s notion of ecological masculinities.
Open for discussion and reflection amongst the whole group.
Visualisation of Gender in Degrowth Futures
The objective of this workshop is twofold: first, to introduce participants to the key concepts of hegemonic, industrial/breadwinner, ecomodern and ecological masculinities. Linkages are made to ways in which the former uphold the economic imperative of growth and/or the fossil fuel industry, and the latter (ecological masculinities) align with degrowth principles such as autonomy, sufficiency and care. Second, to help participants imagine what masculinities and gender more broadly might look and feel like in a visionary degrowth future, and reflect on strategies for how to get there.
Movement/Icebreaker
Quick round of sharing with the person sitting next to you:
What brought you to this workshop today?
Theorisation (PowerPoint Presentation)
The facilitator introduces the concept of hegemonic masculinities and its characteristics in male subjectivities (intelligent, young or adult, heterosexual, white, strong, successful, virile, inexpressive, free etc...), as well as the ways in which it structurally dominates women, the planet and other men. Hultman and Pulé’s terminology of industrial/breadwinner and ecomodern masculinities provides a helpful framework to helps us understand the supremacy of man over all other living beings, not only over men and women, but over animals, trees, natural resources that have been exploited and stolen in the name of growth and progress.³ What degrowth identifies as the hegemony of growth, Hultman and Pulé describe as patterns of gendered behaviour that confer power onto men who are then unwilling to give it up. Dismantling the hegemony of growth would thus entail dismantling those reactionary masculine identities and practices that most defend it.
Though all men benefit from hegemonic masculinity despite not necessarily directly partaking in it, it invisibilises and degrades other existing forms of masculinities (children's, elderly, people of colour, homosexuals, bisexuals, trans, non-violent men, poor men, those who don't feel attracted by competitive sports etc...) which, collectively, could challenge the hegemonic order. Here ecological masculinities are of note as indicating potential pathways forwards, as well as the many synergies these have with degrowth itself, such as the policies degrowth already calls for, from a shorter working week to breaking up the gendered division of labour.
Visioning Activity
Ask participants to close their eyes and take some deep breaths, before guiding them into a visualisation that takes them down into an imaginary field near a town. Here, they meet themselves as a small child.
Prompt: Reconnect with inner child and end by asking him what is his deepest need or desire? (Facilitator brings them back up to the surface) Write down what his deepest need/desire is
Objective: To reconnect with inner child, the sensation of innocence and that time before gender socialisation really takes hold. What did you need or desire?
The facilitator guides them back through the visualisastion to the same field, where they meet the small child again, though he has now grown up a bit (pre-teen, around 10 years old).
Prompt: What is he afraid of before moving to school and joining the ‘big kids’? (Facilitator brings them back up to the surface) Write down what he is afraid of losing.
Objective: To reconnect with one's insecurities and fears about growing up and becoming a 'young man'. To feel what those were and how they felt.
The facilitator guides them back through the visualisastion to the same field, where they discover it has changed somewhat: walking up into the town it dawns on them that this has become a degrowth utopia - and begin visualising what that looks, smells and feels like. They then meet the boy again, who has now become a young man.
Prompt: You ask him if he's lost that something or how did the transition go? He says he didn't, that it was great, that this place is great actually. Can you start to describe what that place looks like concretely, in degrowth and in gendered terms: what does being a 'young man' mean here? How are people relating with other genders, with the more than human? (Facilitator brings them back up to the surface) Describe what you saw, what emotions you felt.
Objective: To start to imagine what a different (degrowth) world could be like that had different gendered expectations - how we would feel in that world, what would be our sense of masculinity, how would we relate to others, men and otherwise, how would men around us relate to others, to their environment etc...
Small Group Discussion
1. Without commenting on what others say, in a round, share what you wrote down for Question 1 (asking 3 year old you “what is your deepest need or desire?”)
Objective: To open a space of vulnerability, honesty and compassion amongst the men
2. In what ways do you think your fears about leaving your school for the big school might be gendered? Were there certain new things that were expected of you, in becoming a ‘real’ boy or a young man? Were there certain things that you felt you could no longer do because they didn’t fit these expectations?
Objective: To reflect on how we have been socialised into gender roles and what we might have lost because of it.
3. What was your vision of masculinities and men in this degrowth world? What did you see there, how were men behaving, what did it feel like being there?
Objective: To brainstorm what degrowth masculinities could be and why we might want them.
Big Group Discussion
Share what came up for you in the visualisation/small group discussions.
How might we get from here to there? From our existing individual actions and communities of practice to those we want to see in a degrowth inspired future?
Prototyping Affective Pedagogies for Degrowth Masculinities
The objective of this workshop is to prototype, test and experiment with a range of affective pedagogies that lay industrial/breadwinner and ecomodern masculinities open for critique, and explore processes of masculinities’ ecologisation in line with degrowth.
Norms in the Climate Crisis
Facilitator introduces participants to the notions of industrial/breadwinner, ecomodern and ecological masculinities (the script for this can be found in Appendix 1 of the worksheet). They are put into pairs and given a worksheet which includes a set of cards, each displaying different values, objects and norms. They are then asked to discuss amongst themselves and place each card into the different categories of industrial/breadwinner, ecomodern and ecological.
Objective: to familiarise oneself with the terminology of industrial/breadwinner, ecomodern and ecological masculinities and the tensions, contradictions or similarities across the three categories.
Body Mapping Hegemonic Masculinity
Invite participants to walk around the room. Ask them to do a quick body scan, see how you're feeling, how you're moving. Now invite them to go through a metamorphosis: picture an image of the hegemonic man - the traits the dominant culture expects men to have. Emotionally, physically, aesthetically. Be exaggerated. Try embodying them right now if you want, as you walk around the room. How does it feel to be this man? How does he move? How does he look at others? How does he relate to others?
Ask the participants to form groups of 4-6 people and draw a silhouette of a man, then drawing the emotional, physical and aesthetic characteristics of hegemonic masculinity onto him. With as little discussion as possible, focused on drawing.
Small Room discussion
Facilitator opens an invitation to participants to close their eyes, take a deep breath, and sit with one's feelings. The ‘small room’ is about sharing feelings and emotions, not trying to theorise, rationalise or speak from then head. Facilitator invites them to reflect on the following prompts and share in your circle [1min per person]:
How does this image/man make you feel?
Do you relate to him?
Are there aspects of him that you like/dislike?
What reactions does he generate in you?
Objective: introduces the notion of hegemonic masculinity, what that means to each of them and for their contexts, and to what extent they are affected by society's gender norms/expectations.
Theorisation/Transition
Facilitator ends the activity with some reflections on how hegemonic masculinity obscures and diminishes the multiplicity of real existing masculinities, asking “what are the characteristics of these? Thinking back to some of the cards [‘Norms in the Climate Crisis’ activity], and some of the values and norms which resonated with you - perhaps that of cooperation, equality, care, relation to the environment… Here I invite you to close your eyes again, and try and remember the last time you connected with nature. Were you alone? What feelings were running through you? How might a deeper relationship with nature inform the way you interact with your surroundings? with other humans and non-humans?”
Objective: Tying together individual experiences to structural ones, confronting hegemonic masculinity by foregrounding other masculinities, and bringing forward the relationship with nature as lived experience.
Flow Feelers
Facilitator says a few words about the following activity, giving some context: that it was developed for a ecofeminist reading group/workshop with men in a small town in Sweden on a search for a culverted brook. This particular activity involves standing in a line (here the facilitator invites the participants to stand up and line up, facing each other's back) then every second person takes a step to their left and places a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them (who do the same with the person in front of them, and so on).
Participants are invited to imagine the culverted book running beneath the ground they are standing upon, and to start swaying a little, mimicking as it were the ebb and flow of the river.
Big Room Small Room
The facilitator explains what the Big Room Small Room methodology is: The Big Room and the Small Room are not physical rooms, but describe two methods that navigate the conversation on different levels. The Big Room is used for conversations about social structures in general while the Small Room is better suited for participants' personal reflections on their everyday life in relation to these structures, and stems from the specific feminist purpose to power men down, speaking to emotions rather than theory (which we experienced during the Body Mapping exercise).
The Big Room Critical analysis of society | The Small Room Self reflection |
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Figure 1: Short summary of the Big and Small Room (taken from Holmberg and Johansson 2021)
The facilitator then invites all participants to a Big Room discussion to reflect on affective pedagogies and ecological masculinities as effective tools for social degrowth transformation.
The Norms in the Climate Crisis card game stems from a conversation guide developed by Jessica Holmberg and Cornelia Johansson for their bachelor thesis at Chalmers University of Technology with Martin Hultman as the mentor and examiner (2021). The Big Room Small Room methodology was developed by MÄN, a Swedish civil society organisation working on eradicating gender violence, as part of their toolkit ‘#Aftermetoo – reflective groups for men’.
Certain activities were shortened and format slightly altered so as to have as much fluidity as possible in the progression from activity to activity.
¹ Depending on the group and intention of the workshop, this can either be done in mixed groups, or men/non-binary male mapping masculinity and women/non-binary female mapping hegemonic femininity. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
² In the case of body mapping emphasised femininity, here we also make reference to the existence of an emphasised femininity focused on compliance to patriarchy - that is, that serves and surrenders to this type of man.
³ This is one of the major contributions of ecofeminist thought (one of the founding pillars of Hultman and Pulé’s work) and which resonates deeply with degrowth's perspective (see Smith Khanna 2021).
References
Twine, R (1997) ‘Ecofem Listserv: Where are all the ecomasculinists?’ Cited in Hultman and Pulé, pp.201-211
Twine, R. (2001). Ma(r)king Essence-Ecofeminism and Embodiment. Ethics and the Environment, 6, No. 2, 31–58. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/40339012
Gaard, G. (2014). Toward New EcoMasculinities, EcoGenders, and EcoSexualities. In C. J. Adams & L. Gruen (Eds.), Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth (pp. 225-239). Bloomsbury Publishing.
MacGregor, S., & Seymour, N. (Eds.). (2017). Men and Nature. Hegemonic Masculinities and Environmental Change. RCC Perspectives.
Hultman, M., & Pulé, P. M. (2018). Ecological Masculinities. Theoretical Foundations and Practical Guidance. Routledge.
Hedenqvist, R. (2020) Exploring Ecological Masculinities Praxes: A Qualitative Study of
Global Northern Men Who Have Participated in Pro-Feminist and Pro-Environmental
Reflective Groups. Master’s Thesis. Stockholm University. Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SYk4akHlZsLj5Qx9WepOl2G658vEvuQY/view?fbclid=IwAR32wqJnPI8YAS8_sHlLjsZD2VJVzaGhipiMmyhPPydRWNQvzN9hpq_u1-w
Hedenqvist, R., Pulé, P. M., Vetterfalk, V., & Hultman, M. (2021). When gender equality and Earth care meet: Ecological masculinities in practice. In G. L. Magnusdottir & A. Kronsell (Eds.), Gender, Intersectionality and Climate Institutions in Industrialised States (pp. 207-225). Routledge.
Connell, R. W. (1990). A whole new world: Remaking masculinity in the context of the environmental movement. Gender & Society, 4, 452–478.
Smith Khanna, P. (2021). Sustainable Masculinities and Degrowth. Pathways to Feminist Post-Growth Societies. Institute for Political Ecology.
Smith Khanna, P. (2025). Overcoming Hegemonic Masculinity for Emancipatory Degrowth Futures. In Post-Growth Future(s): New Voices, Novel Visions (pp. 17-24). Institute for Political Ecology.
Schmelzer, M. (2016). The Hegemony of Growth. Cambridge University Press.
Hedenqvist, R., Pulé, P. M., Vetterfalk, V., & Hultman, M. (2021). When gender equality and Earth care meet: Ecological masculinities in practice. In G. L. Magnusdottir & A. Kronsell (Eds.), Gender, Intersectionality and Climate Institutions in Industrialised States (pp. 207-225). Routledge.
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