Anthropologies of men, masculinities, and reproduction

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors give an overview of key findings from the English language research on men, masculinities and reproduction in sociocultural anthropology and allied fields. This research spans the globe and the range of men's reproduction-related experience. Yet, it coheres around a set of three key theoretical approaches that are also fundamental to contemporary anthropological thinking more broadly. The authors review the ways that researchers have used these shared theoretical approaches to elucidate certain topics within the arena of men and reproduction: men's gendered experiences as fathers and parents (with a subsection that focuses on the burgeoning literature on gay and trans experiences); of infertility and artificial reproduction technologies (including intersections with the literature on disability); with birth control (specifically vasectomy, condoms, and abortion); and of male sexual/reproductive aging.