Interrelationship of Alcohol Use and Masculinity Development for Nontraditionally Masculine College Students

Interrelationship of Alcohol Use and Masculinity Development for Nontraditionally Masculine College Students

Presenter(s)

Justin Lyons

Comments

This presentation was given live via Zoom at 5:10 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.

Description

This study sought nuanced, developed voices to demonstrate how individual experience of developing masculinity through a nondominant identity was interrelated with their alcohol use. Participants represent marginalized voices in the conversation of masculinity, specifically gay and bisexual, transman, trans femme, and non-binary participants. Participants grappled with masculinity from a nondominant lens, representing unique experiences not wholly captured by existing literature. Participants’ growth and change in gender identity largely correlated with changes in alcohol use. I found that alcohol served multiple purposes in guiding participants toward an individual sense of masculinity. Participants used alcohol as a means of suppressing emotions, conforming with masculine norms, and lowering inhibitions to break from masculine norms. Participants also made connections between traditionally masculine drinking spaces as contrasted with drinking spaces that decenter that experience, such as queer and women’s drinking spaces. While participants largely do not conform to traditional norms of masculinity, as college students, their experiences, at least externally, fit into the dominant experience. As practitioners, we must create space for students to move between identity groups and approach men from both a collective and individualistic perspective.

Publication Date

4-22-2020

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Graham F.Hunter

Primary Advisor's Department

Counselor Education

Keywords

Stander Symposium project, student affairs, School of Education and Health Sciences

Interrelationship of Alcohol Use and Masculinity Development for Nontraditionally Masculine College Students

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