Stigmatize or Valorize?: Leisure, Gender Hysteria, and the Performance of Masculinities

This presentation explores how leisure spaces provide vital contexts for reimagining masculinity in the Anthropocene, drawing on three distinct cases from the upcoming Special Issue of Leisure Sciences on the performance of masculinity. Reactionary responses to shifts in gender norms—exemplified by all sorts of events globally (e.g. Olympics, Eurovision, etc.)—reflect an epistemic crisis in which hegemonic masculinity is being destabilized. As public discourse around gender expands, we must ask: whose knowledge counts in this context, and what does it mean to know justice in the Anthropocene?

Leisure, far from being a trivial pursuit, offers a powerful space for resisting dominant masculinist ideologies. It allows men to engage in alternative ways of knowing and being, aligned with feminist and ecological understandings of justice. The first case study examines how men’s book clubs foster communal discussions that challenge traditional gender norms. The second case focuses on artistic pursuits, such as theater, where men explore emotional expression and vulnerability, destabilizing rigid masculinity. The third case highlights environmental stewardship activities like gardening, which cultivate masculinities attuned to ecological and social sustainability.

This presentation demonstrates how leisure serves as a site of epistemic resistance, creating space for masculinities that prioritize relationality, embodiment, and interdependence. These insights contribute to broader discussions of justice in the Anthropocene, including environmental, gender, and epistemic justice. The sociology of leisure with its emphasis on social structures and relationality, plays a key role in understanding how masculinities intersect with these justice frameworks. Ultimately, this presentation argues that rethinking masculinity in leisure can help us envision more just and sustainable ways of living together in an era marked by major environmental and social challenges.