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Abstract: Men Talking (or, Ethnographic Methods for Studying Masculinities in the UK Library Profession)
My doctoral thesis investigated the roles women played in the development of American public libraries in the early 20th century. This project became my context for engaging with feminist theories and critically evaluating the political and economic systems that either dismissed or greatly diminished the work of women. I was, you might say, well on the track to becoming a militant feminist.
However, since finishing my PhD in 2016, I have not continued my research on the history of American libraries or continued to investigate the lives of women working in libraries. Unexpectedly, I have been listening to British men working in libraries tell stories about their personal lives and professional politics. My shift away from studying women and the histories of American libraries began when a colleague asked, ‘what about the men?’ I must admit that this question piqued my interest – it’s easy enough to find literature about women in the history of librarianship, but outside a handful of problematic historical figures there aren’t many stories about men. Equally curious is the lack of historical research on libraries and librarianship in the UK. Trying to answer the question ‘what about the men?’ evolved into a process of using storytelling to triangulate my feminist agenda, the experiences of men working in British libraries, and the histories of gender politics in the UK.
Initially it felt like a herculean task to engage with the politics of masculinities in the library profession without in some way abandoning or betraying valuable narratives about the systemic exclusion and oppression of women. Decades of statistical reports from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professions (CILIP) only confirmed what I already knew – men working in the UK library sector have more diverse, robust, and fruitful careers than women. However, after reading these reports I was left wondering how British men felt about these statistics, and whether they empathised with feminist critiques of gender-based privileges. So, I went through the process of completing my university’s study and ethics approval process. In my first interview, a self-proclaimed feminist anarchist enthusiastically stated: ‘The patriarchy is bollocks.’ This was the first of many surprising statements shared by participants. Over a three-year period, 32 men shared stories about their childhoods spent in libraries, their delight in learning librarianship was a ‘real job’ and the milestones in their professional careers. As I listened to these men, I learned about masculinities and began to develop good will ethics and ethnographic methods to integrate my feminist standpoint into my research on men and masculinities. Since completing data collection, I have used my participants’ stories to theorise inclusive and empathetic methods for engaging with the politics of masculinities in information professions. In this paper, I will situate my use of storytelling to identify practices, values and attitudes men working in UK academic libraries adopt to engage with gender politics and I will discuss how these practices can inform inclusive analyses of gender and masculinities in information professions.
However, since finishing my PhD in 2016, I have not continued my research on the history of American libraries or continued to investigate the lives of women working in libraries. Unexpectedly, I have been listening to British men working in libraries tell stories about their personal lives and professional politics. My shift away from studying women and the histories of American libraries began when a colleague asked, ‘what about the men?’ I must admit that this question piqued my interest – it’s easy enough to find literature about women in the history of librarianship, but outside a handful of problematic historical figures there aren’t many stories about men. Equally curious is the lack of historical research on libraries and librarianship in the UK. Trying to answer the question ‘what about the men?’ evolved into a process of using storytelling to triangulate my feminist agenda, the experiences of men working in British libraries, and the histories of gender politics in the UK.
Initially it felt like a herculean task to engage with the politics of masculinities in the library profession without in some way abandoning or betraying valuable narratives about the systemic exclusion and oppression of women. Decades of statistical reports from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professions (CILIP) only confirmed what I already knew – men working in the UK library sector have more diverse, robust, and fruitful careers than women. However, after reading these reports I was left wondering how British men felt about these statistics, and whether they empathised with feminist critiques of gender-based privileges. So, I went through the process of completing my university’s study and ethics approval process. In my first interview, a self-proclaimed feminist anarchist enthusiastically stated: ‘The patriarchy is bollocks.’ This was the first of many surprising statements shared by participants. Over a three-year period, 32 men shared stories about their childhoods spent in libraries, their delight in learning librarianship was a ‘real job’ and the milestones in their professional careers. As I listened to these men, I learned about masculinities and began to develop good will ethics and ethnographic methods to integrate my feminist standpoint into my research on men and masculinities. Since completing data collection, I have used my participants’ stories to theorise inclusive and empathetic methods for engaging with the politics of masculinities in information professions. In this paper, I will situate my use of storytelling to identify practices, values and attitudes men working in UK academic libraries adopt to engage with gender politics and I will discuss how these practices can inform inclusive analyses of gender and masculinities in information professions.