The Reproduction of Masculinity: A Discourse Analysis of Men's Drinking Talk

Groups of male ex-university students' discourse about drinking was examined to identify the interpretative repertoires that they used to construct real-seeming versions of masculinity. Two repertoires were identified: An essentialist account and a normative masculinity account. These repertoires, though riven with contradictions, were deployed to construct stable and universal gender differences and to marginalize ‘deviant’ masculinities. Their functions both within the micro-context of the group discussion and within the wider ideological context of gender relations are explored.