Do men care? From uncaring masculinities to men’s caring practices in social work

It has been widely noted that the concept of care is located within gendered discourses of femininity, whereby women are defined as carers in both their everyday lives as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters and in caring professions and paid care work. Men are largely absent from caring responsibilities in family life and are a minority in paid caring roles. Part of the explanation for men’s reluctance to undertaking caring responsibilities is seen to be their commitment to dominant forms of masculinity and being a man which are at odds with the intimacy, emotions and relatedness embedded in the doing of care. This gendered division of care in both family life and the public world is recognised as a major source of gender inequality and gender domination. In recent years, however, men have begun to undertake increased responsibilities in caring for children, spouses and aged parents and have become more involved in caring professions and paid care work. This chapter explores the implications of men’s increased caring roles in private and public life for changes in men’s lives and changes in unequal gender regimes such as social work. How does the doing of care shape men’s subjectivities and what are the implications for profeminist practice with men and challenges to the gendered divisions of care within social work?