A Reversal of the Gaze: Men’s Experiences of Visibility in Non-traditional Occupations

This chapter explores how men experience visibility. In particular, it considers the challenges men face in the ‘eye of the gaze’ (Townley, 1992). The gaze captures some of the power dynamics of visibility and the disciplinary and controlling effects of surveillance as individuals are subject to normalizing scrutiny and judgements. Power is implicated in the relationship between gazers and those captured in their view in that, through systems of classification and categorization, a form of reality or knowledge is created and maintained. Drawing on a research project which focussed on the challenges men face in four non-traditional careers (nursing, primary school teaching, cabin crew and librarianship), I explore the different ways visibility ‘plays out’ for men in these roles. These occupations are defined as non-traditional on the grounds that they are numerically dominated by women and because they draw on skills and attributes, such as nurturance, service and care, which are culturally associated with femininity. Here, men ‘stand out’ as gendered subjects and are visible as ‘exceptions to the rule’. Masculinity is ‘on the line’ (Morgan, 1992) and available for scrutiny in contexts where women’s dispositions and women’s experiences represent the unmarked case. In these respects, while in general terms gender can be seen to be a problem that attaches to women, in non-traditional work contexts it becomes an issue that is visibly associated with men.