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- 3 Types of Masculinities
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Galleries
Papers In Pictures
- 3 Types of Masculinities
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Galleries
Papers In Pictures
- 3 Types of Masculinities
Share

Galleries
Papers In Pictures
- 3 Types of Masculinities
Share

Galleries
Papers In Pictures
- 3 Types of Masculinities
Share

Galleries
Papers In Pictures
- 3 Types of Masculinities
Share

Galleries
Papers In Pictures
- 3 Types of Masculinities
Share

three Masculine Typologies in intimate partner relationships

Click the magnifiying glass to read the original paper:

Neo-Traditionalist, Egalitarian and Progressive Masculinities in Men’s Heterosexual Intimate Partner Relationships

What Are The 3 Types of Masculinities?

Examples:

Neo-Traditionalist

It's our car and it's a photo of conflict actually

“For us, generally, I think about the cost of it. She has much more idea about the decoration stuff and if we have two separate decisions, then she wins that’s all.”

Egalitarian

Split down the middle

“It is a pretty big deal because girls usually have so many more clothes…for her to let me have that very boyish right side of the dresser, that’s pretty awesome.”

Progressive

Discussion

“Sometimes we have discussions that are like 15-20 minutes long, and sometimes they drag on for hours and hours, and we just have to get to where we need to right? I think at the start of our relationship, we really had to go through [developing] a sense of empathy… it did take a bit to figure that out to make sure that no one was like attacking the other... we were just trying to be in the space together... and I think that space of empathy is really important and then we’re both in the same kind of level playing field, so it is… a strategy of, ‘I’m listening and summarizing what it is you need.’”

Where did the 92 participants land?

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Neo-Traditionalist

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Egalitarian

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Progressive

QUIZ TIME!

Try to figure out which of the 3 masculinities the following photographs are representing!

Click our >> See Photo Details button to find out more about each photograph, submitted by 15 participants!

Helping Each Other Out

“[When] I'm out of town, my partner will come by and water my plants, which is out of her way, but she's willing to make the time and come by…and there are times where I do a similar thing, not watering plants for her, but driving her home, or picking something up for her.”

A small pot of plant placed next to a larger pot of plant by the sliding door of a balcony.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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We All Deserve Pleasure

“I receive, I think, more pleasure, just from a natural sexual experience than she does and so the idea of supplementing that with some sort of toy or whatever it might be…was sort of an equity piece of making sure that both of our needs were met to the best of our abilities and sort of like taking that extra effort and that extra cost and that extra time.”

A purple sex toy on a bed with floral sheets on.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Dinner Prep

“Before there were conflicts where my girlfriend felt like she was cooking more often than I was, which was true. How we resolved that was we‘ll schedule days ahead of time. For example, if you cook three days, I cook three days. Having measurable and quantifiable tasks helps.”

Two pans on a kitchen stove, with brown cabinets around it and an oven below the stove.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Receipts

“We have a shared communication of how we spend money on things, we evenly split it, and not necessarily, like this receipt, we didn't split this receipt, but I took her to a live show and bought the drinks, that was on me, and then she's taken me to a live show and bought the drinks, and we just kind of keep that balance of, rotating it, not really talking about the cost, but we're not taking advantage of each other either...whether we're going to a nice sushi place or going to Subway, it doesn't matter what the difference is, it's just keeping a rotation, thinking it'll all wash out in the end.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Let Her Choose

“She just has more of a preference for some tasks over the other. For me, I don’t really mind any of the tasks, so I let her choose…Where I’m living right now, it’s her family’s place…there are tasks that are a little bit more reserved for her like organizing the living spaces, I want her to organize her house as she seems fit…it’s easier for me to just vacuum because it doesn’t require much input and it’s just a pretty intuitive task…It’s somewhat of an expectation, today’s society, I think men probably do it just to prevent…it’s just easier to agree than to get into another fight.”

A blue vacuum cleaner on the floor, next to a white door.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Emotional Balance

"Men are expected to take on a lot of stuff without showing emotion. There is some value to that. And my example comes from my dad. He's the kind of person when my grandparents died, and everyone is wailing, especially his sisters, and the women around him. He's a guy who is kind of a shoulder for everyone to lean on. He gets things together, gets everyone together, figures out where the funeral is going to be, what everything's going to cost, and kind of coordinates everyone…the point is you need someone to do that. And my observation is that more commonly, that's been the males in that situation, in that they get to process things, but usually they'll step up…they're more task oriented to solve the problem at hand. So, seeing my dad – that was a more masculine role to take to kind of process the death that way. And to me, that's kind of what I see more being the masculine kind of perspective."

The silhouette of a harbour and the city skyline during a sunset.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Deeper Conversations on the Balcony

“Traditionally, men have held power in all forms of society and certainly through relationships. I think I just see so many examples – even with our group of pretty progressive-minded, forward-thinking friends – these entrenched patriarchal sorts of ways of being in the relationship…I think it’s up to men to… I think women have been rightfully asking over time to change the way that we think about relationships. Across all of the feminist movements and continuing to #MeToo and everything, now it’s like ultimately men need to step up and be willing to change.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Accommodations

“If we go to this location, like she'll want to do this activity and I might not choose that, like, first thing for myself. But then I'll gladly go and do that activity and then I think similar for her. So it's not my way or the highway type thing.”

The wing of a plane flying at a low altitude over empty, green fields.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Adapting and Adopting

“I never really liked dogs, and when we moved in together, I ended up taking care of the dogs, which was pretty uncomfortable for me at first. The adapting part is that I have to change and I really came to love the dogs, because I knew that my ex really loved them. You have to change sometimes in small ways.”

A white-mixed-black dog looking at another brown dog while sitting on the couch together.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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A Constant Sore Spot

“Chores are going to be a constant…you have a specific way of doing things at your home, and then the other person has a specific way of doing things at their home, those things are going to clash…for us dishes have clashed, and so we have to really compromise and learn how each other does these things and like figure that out for ourselves.”

Two separate kitchen sinks, with one almost empty and another almost full with different pots and pans.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Two Pizzas

“It is a balance between being able to give too much and not enough. It’s more, from my experience, I tend to always cut the pizza in four and then give three pieces to her and only give one to me. But that’s not fair and at some point, you just build frustration because of that. So, here we have two complete pizzas.”

Two opened boxes of uneaten pizza on a dining table, surrounded by empty glasses.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Making Decisions

“So, if we're ever conflicted about where to eat, where to go, what to do, one of us will propose three things and the other person will get to pick one of those three things, and it's this compromise where if I list three things that I don't want to do, and she ended up picking one of them, that's my damn fault. So, it was this feeling of we both get a say in that, and we both get to chip in, and it's worked out so well for us.”

Six different pastries and a cup of coffee on a glass table.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Systemic Issues in Relationships

“Learning about your role as a guy in a hetero relationship and the systemic issues of masculinity are important because I don't buy into this idea that there's a specific way of being a guy, I think that there are infinite ways. It's important for me to think about the systemic pressures of women as well. I consider myself a feminist, and I want to be equitable in our relationship through a feminist lens, and it’s important for me to understand the systems that get played because it informs how I am with my wife, and her sense as a woman in this world.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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I Like Flowers Too

“Some of my relationships, some of my partners, after I tell them, bought these kinds of flowers…Like, I am not writing down how many times I have bought roses or flowers and how many I’ve received. Still, occasionally, I might like some of those.”

A bouquet of white flowers and green leaves on top of a light-brown stand.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Gender Roles in Relationships

“I was the one that was filling the stereotypical female role in our relationship…for us, it made more sense that I was the one that take time off my PhD and that I was the one that does the homeschooling, and that I was the one who would pick up the extra stuff…I think so long as you are working together for each other’s mutual benefit and you’re both happy with the arrangement, then I don’t think you need to be too concerned about it.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Working Together

“Due to COVID, we work from home mostly. By working together in the same environment, we can help each other. Since we work together, we feel that we are sharing the responsibility of income.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Istanbul At Night

“It’s like the place that we stay up at night and talk even though it’s a really crowded place…her being really open with me allows for me to be more open and talk about my feelings. That’s not a really easy thing for me.”

An empty gravel path lined with trees.

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Crafting Happiness

“I was never into arts and crafts growing up, I never really understood the appeal of it, but she was super into it her entire life. She saw this on Instagram and was like, ‘Okay, we don’t live too far from this place, we should go’ and because I didn’t really have anything else to do, I was like, ‘Okay, sure, let’s do it’ and part of it was just something that I thought would make her happy and was something that she enjoyed.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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Unseen Labor

“But this idea that in a different sex family, the father makes more money and goes out and does more of the physical labor, more work hours. Then, the mom is left with a lot of the home labor, the childcare labor, and the unseen labor and the unpaid labor. I think we are quite progressive in the way that we think about those things now. I think one of the things that I love about my partner is she’s really good at expressing even something like her experience of pregnancy, and how that stalled her career. It’s something that I think so many men take for granted.”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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The Engagement Ring

“I’m taking care of the bills and she’s taking care of the household, whether it be future kids or cooking or just making sure that the house is well kept…It’s comfortability like we’re both comfortable in the roles…if she wants to work, she can work. But I've told her, I'm making a pretty decent salary right now. So, like me being able to take care of the bills, ‘If you don't want to work, you don't have to work.’”

Neo-Traditionalist Egalitarian Progressive

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What about You?

Which type of masculinity do you see yourself in?

Neo-TraditionalistEgalitarianProgressive

What Is Your Gender Identity?

Cisgender ManCisgender WomanTransgender ManTransgender WomanGender Queer/Gender Non-binaryTwo-SpiritOther

Other

What Is Your Age?

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