Thematic Analysis of Australian Masculinity

This report explores the themes shaping Australian masculinity through interviews with men of different ages. It discusses the societal pressure on men to conform to traditional definitions of manhood and the impact on their lives and opinions.

Running head: THEMATIC ANALYSIS 1
Thematic analysis of on the interviews conducted on Australian Masculinity

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Australian Masculinity.....................................................................................................................3
Thematic analysis as a technique for understanding qualitative data..............................................4
Interviews........................................................................................................................................4
Description of the participants.....................................................................................................5
Highlight on the themes shaping their lives................................................................................5
Rationale for choosing the transcripts.........................................................................................6
Definition of the themes..................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
As opined by Clatterbaugh (2018), masculinity has been a topic of debate in our society
from a very long time. The debate has mostly focused on what is it to be masculine and identify
relevant definition to masculinity. Masculinity is pursued by men who possess certain
characteristics as assigned to the term by culture and society. According to Bozkurt, Tartanoglu
& Dawes (2015), men are believed to possess such characteristics which defines their manliness
and masculinity. These characteristics can be ranging from not crying on getting hurt, be strong
on the emotional side and have strong physic to play aggressively. From the very early stages of
infancy till the adulthood, society characterizes the masculinity of a man through all these
characteristics. The following report relates to the masculinity among Australian men and the
way they perceive the characteristics of masculinity. This can be analyzed from the interviews
conducted on two different men of different ages understand how masculinity has shaped their
lives and opinions.
Australian Masculinity
As suggested by Sloan, Conner & Gough (2015) the study of masculinity has been
conducted by many countries to analyze if there can be an exact definition to masculinity and the
characterization of men in the society. According to author Flood (2018), a survey conducted in
Australia has identified the ideologies of masculinity among young men. In the present world
more number of young men are under the societal pressure of following traditional definitions of
manhood which can have major implications on their lives and opinions. According to Flood
(2018), men in Australia often follow the traditional definitions of manhood and tend to get
influenced to portray a strong image in the society. Majority of them are likely to respond to
situations like a fight and situations that demand authority and become the primary breadwinners
of a family. However, the younger generation of the society use violence as a means to gain
respect, disobey gay people, should not cook and do household activities. This shows that there
has always been a persisting gap between the societal pressure and the personal ideologies of the
male gender of the society. According to Ervø & Johansson (2016), young men may express
their masculine identities depending on their surroundings. The diversity among men can be
identified from their attitudes, ideological masculinity and peer pressure.

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Thematic analysis as a technique for understanding qualitative data
The analysis of qualitative data from research can be challenging but considered to be an
important task. The innovation process includes the learning phase which acquires the data to
reveal insights and challenges for the development of the research question. As suggested by
Vaismoradi, Jones, Turunen & Snelgrove (2016), thematic analysis is useful for making sense to
any unrelated information available and especially a qualitative data. This analysis helps to
understand about a person, a group of people, a situation, an interview or an organization.
Thematic analysis has been prevalent from a brief period of time with not many scholarly
documentation. Thematic analysis is generally used at the time of framing of a research problem
which helps resources to narrow down their research to frame a specific research question. By
using thematic analysis researchers are able to identify better insights about a person, situation,
or group of persons. As identified by Percy, Kostere & Kostere (2015), the themes are identified
by gathering relevant data which is not pre-determined by the researcher. In order to validate the
themes, researchers focus on their findings and apply a statistical analysis. The process of
collecting qualitative data starts with identifying the sources of information such as observational
data, pictures or videos, audio transcripts, interviews, historical data and field observations. The
next step is to coding the data by hand or using any software. The researcher will be able to
modify the analysis if there are changes in data and the ideas gathered from people. This is often
improved to experience which requires the researcher to be clear about every aspect of coding. A
code should be able to clearly state about the themes that a researcher is going to use.
As identified by Castleberry & Nolen (2018), Code validation is the next step to ensure
validity and reliability all the codes used. It has been identified that the researchers might
misinterpret the codes identified which can create biasness in the data identified. Therefore for
ensuring the consistency and validation of the codes identified, researchers have to keep
checking the data. This will help to identify the main themes of the research. Themes can emerge
from either from a transcript or any conversation topics. The clarity of the theme will also be
able to define each themes identified. A proper nomenclature is provided to the themes identified
with a detailed description that will help to communicate the meaning to the readers.
Interviews

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Description of the participants
In order to understand about masculinity, few interviews have been conducted and
collected information from them to analyze their understanding on manhood and characteristics
men should possess. The first participant was a 32 year old person from Manchester. The person
describes about his early childhood in South Africa and the impact of returning back to UK. The
person remembers himself being short tempered as he was picked on a lot. He describes himself
as a typical brother. He also remembers the time when he was unable to express is idea about
opting for Arts rather than any other typical course a young person in their mid-twenties would
select. According to the person, the mid-twenties were meant for enjoying at pubs, and playing
football which he categorizes under bloke stuff. It was clearly understood that was not open
about his interests and aspirations for the future. Bullying was a subject of concern in the early
ages of school as highlighted by the interviewer. As a man grows older, their viewpoint change
on certain things and there can be matters of concern. As per Whiteman (2019), young adults
find it difficult to handle insults, bullying and oppressive thoughts. A typical young adult
although is open about the masculinity of men but some may not readily accept people who are
gay. The participant describes his family life and the role he plays as a parent and as a husband.
The second interview was conducted on a 40 year old Australian citizen who was born in
Fiji. According to him, living in Fiji gave him good memories without worrying about anything
in the world. The person became really sad and difficult to stay after shifting to Australia. He
was facing a cultural shock and bullying made him more depressed. Since he was not well built,
he was not selected for any sports activities and this was making him victimized at each and
every step. This not only impacted his childhood but meet him severely question about his
impression on others. Till the time of adulthood, the person was unable to express his feelings to
anyone and this led to depressive thoughts. As shared by him, the society men from being
emotionally expressive since for a man it is not appropriate to cry. His son is also very sensitive
which he feels is a normal thing for any man. The image of a man should not necessarily require
to show masculinity they are also human beings with emotions but the societal pressure and
traditional viewpoints have made man to be strong.
Highlight on the themes shaping their lives

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The most important theme identified from interviewing the first participant peer pressure
and bullying in school. As per the interview, Jason suffered 4 years of bullying due to friendship
with his guy mates. This shows that Jason got overtly concerned for his condition as he wasn't
able to express his feelings to anyone. Instances like bullying others due to peer pressure was
unacceptable by him but this made him remain friends with the bloke kids. As a typical male
teenager, Jason created a mentality that it is not right for men to discuss their feelings and
emotions but this might be difficult when they cannot forget the incidents happened during
childhood. This impacted his childhood as well as his manhood for a brief period of time.
Although he joined a good company and got a good mentor to teach him everything, he still was
ashamed to discuss about his childhood and early adulthood experiences. His life completely
changed after reaching in his early adulthood and he was boosted with confidence to live a better
life.
The interview on the second participant shows that Lindsay was victimized in his early
school life which had an impact on his life for a very long time. The main theme identified is
bullying and physical features of a man. Lindsay was a small man with an average physique and
since the time he moved to Australia, things worsened for him due to cultural shock and picking
up by other students. His accent was also reason why other students mocked him. He was fairly
sensitive and could not neglect what he was facing. This impacted his life but his wife helped
him majorly to come out of severe depression. Now that he was out of depression, he still felt he
deserved whatever happened to him because he showed signs of weakness which is not
acceptable for a man's characteristics.
Rationale for choosing the transcripts
The rationale for choosing the above transcripts was to understand the perception of the
society on masculinity. Masculinity comprises of the characteristics of a man and the way they
should live their lives. The intention of the research was to identify the feelings, emotions,
opinions, and physical attributes a man should possess. It was also necessary to understand the
growing concerns of conformity to traditional masculinity which can be a threat to the female
gender of the society. But the females associated in the lives of the interview participants were
considerate and supportive to what they have faced in their early childhood.
Definition of the themes

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The three main themes identified from the interviews are bullying, depression, and
physicality. The most important thing to know about bullying is it not only disrupts the
psychology of a child but also incapable of sharing the thoughts which is more common in men.
As identified by Wolke & Lereya (2015), Bullying can always happen either physically, verbally
or emotionally. The motive of bullying is suppressing the weak victims and treating them
differently if have different feature or personality such as being short heighted, gay or from
different race Men are more likely to be the victims of bullying targeting their self-esteem and
confidence.
AS opined by Kok & Reynolds (2017), depression can usually be caused by any
underlying issue that is impacting a person and not allowing them to lead a normal life. Bullying
and oppressive thoughts open lead to depression if not treated properly. Depression is very
common among children and young adults due to several other reasons. As the interviewees have
expressed opinions on their early childhood, it is clear that both participants have faced
substantial bullying impacting their adult life. Both being men could not approach anyone to
solve their issues in their earlier stage but with considerable efforts they were able to deal with
the situations in the later stages of their life.
The physicality of a man can majorly impact his mind set, self-esteem and confidence.
When a man faces abuse due to their physical features such as their height, complexion and
facial features, it me have a negative impact on them. It is evident that an ideal man should be
masculine, handsome and presentable.
Conclusion
The research can be concluded by stating that masculinity has been a major topic for
debate in Australia as well as in many countries. The fact that men are being forced to follow the
traditional notions of how a man should be. This has set a wrong example among men in the
society making them susceptible to more situations that demand sensitivity and expressive. It is
not necessary that men are required to follow everything that has been predefined for their
characteristics but this can be changed if the society stops believing the world to be patriarchal.

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References
Bozkurt, V., Tartanoglu, S., & Dawes, G. (2015). Masculinity and violence: Sex roles and
violence endorsement among university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 205, 254-260.
Castleberry, A., & Nolen, A. (2018). Thematic analysis of qualitative research data: Is it as easy
as it sounds?. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 10(6), 807-815.
Clatterbaugh, K. (2018). Contemporary perspectives on masculinity: Men, women, and politics
in modern society. 4th ed. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Ervø, S., & Johansson, T. (2016). Among men: Moulding masculinities (Vol. 1). 3rd ed.
Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Flood. (2018). Australian study reveals the dangers of ‘toxic masculinity’ to men and those
around them. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/australian-study-reveals-the-
dangers-of-toxic-masculinity-to-men-and-those-around-them-104694
Kok, R. M., & Reynolds, C. F. (2017). Management of depression in older adults: a
review. Jama, 317(20), 2114-2122.
Percy, W. H., Kostere, K., & Kostere, S. (2015). Generic qualitative research in psychology. The
Qualitative Report, 20(2), 76-85.
Sloan, C., Conner, M., & Gough, B. (2015). How does masculinity impact on health? A
quantitative study of masculinity and health behavior in a sample of UK men and
women. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16(2), 206.
Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., & Snelgrove, S. (2016). Theme development in
qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Journal of Nursing Education and
Practice. 6(5).
Whiteman, H. (2019). Patient Tracking Portal. Depression.
Wolke, D., & Lereya, S. T. (2015). Long-term effects of bullying. Archives of disease in
childhood, 100(9), 879-885.

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Appendix
Themes Codes
Bullying Early high school, low self-esteem, peer
pressure, mentality, school groups, mocking,
accent, sports, insults
Depression Sidelined, emotional impact, health, hate
school, not expressive, mocking on physic,
sensitive
Physicality Oppressive thoughts, short-heighted, sports,
unattractive