FASS SEMINAR SERIES 1/2024 : FRAMING RESEARCH ON MUSLIM MASCULINITIES

The purpose of this talk is to discuss the presenter’s frameworks for research on Muslim masculinities in rural Indonesia and Malaysia. It also reports observations and thoughts on preliminary fieldwork in Central Java. The research is motivated by several considerations. First, over thirty years of research in Malaysia and Indonesia, the presenter has observed a substantial disconnect between global – generally negative and oppressively patriarchal – portrayals of Muslim masculinity with everyday experiences of gender relationships in Southeast Asia. Similarly, contemporary gender studies is dominated by discourses that overwhelmingly portray heteronormative men and masculinity in negative frameworks – as toxic and hegemonic. Yet Southeast Asia has been a region noted for cultures of relative gender egalitarianism. In this context, the presenter is interested in considering whether, how, and under what conditions masculinity can be positive and pro-social rather than toxic. In specifically researching Muslim communities, the presenter is seeking to frame the investigation around non-reciprocal Quranic gender obligations (between men and women generally and husbands and wives specifically) and everyday religious practices. The objective is to better understand how such principles and practices shape men’s social engagements and gender relations.