Technology as a Means to Recover Lost Masculinity after the Great Recession

• In Event: 239 - Section on Communication and Information Technologies Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Gender Subjectivities

Abstract

In this essay, we analyze the impact of The Great Recession on the masculine identity and compare the gendered ways in which men and women utilize technology in heterosexual families. Specifically, we examine how, since The Great Recession, men have been leveraging technology’s potential to recoup lost income and re-establish a secure paycheck and breadwinner status. In other
words, they use it to recapture lost masculinity. Women, on the other hand, use technology to maintain relationships and support their husbands’ financial efforts. They use it to generate supplemental income, share information, and provide mutual support. We argue that the gendered ways in which men and women employ Internet technology reproduces gender stratification.

Authors

• Melissa Z. Savlov, University of California-Riverside

• Elizabeth Anne Gervais Schwarz, University of California-Riverside