Singleness, Marriage, and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinities: Australian Men Teaching English in Japan

Appleby, RJ

Singleness, Marriage, and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinities: Australian Men Teaching English in Japan

Appleby, RJ

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Publisher:: UTSePress, Sydney
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Portal Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, 2013, 10 (1), pp. 1 - 21
Issue Date:: 2013-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Appleby, RJ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4491-347X	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Portal Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, 2013, 10 (1), pp. 1 - 21	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1449-2490	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/30709
dc.description.abstract	This article reports on a study of Australian men and their accounts of living and working in Japan as English language teachers. In this site, recent research has explored Japanese discourses of desire for the West, Western men, and English language learning. These patterns of desire have afforded white Western men a privileged personal and professional status in Japan, and enabled access to employment opportunities as teachers of English language. At the same time, white Western men working as English language teachers face the challenge of negotiating competing discourses that threaten their social status. In particular, their employment in a lowly-regarded profession and a reputation for sexual promiscuity potentially position Western male language teachers as the âwhite trashâ of Asia. My analysis of interview data focuses on the ways in which the men negotiate these discourses, and construct ârespectableâ Western heterosexual masculinities by mobilising a binary distinction between singleness and marriage. Marriage to a Japanese spouse is presented as a bulwark against alignment with problematic discourses that threaten the status of white masculinity: it is associated with fidelity and maturity, and with integration into Japanese social, linguistic and professional communities. However, the articulation of marital status also reinforces a marginalised position for teachers who do not conform to heteronormative expectations.	en_US
dc.publisher	UTSePress, Sydney	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Portal Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies	en_US
dc.title	Singleness, Marriage, and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinities: Australian Men Teaching English in Japan	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	10	en_US
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies	en_US
utslib.for	2005 Literary Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.volume	10	en_US

Abstract:

This article reports on a study of Australian men and their accounts of living and working in Japan as English language teachers. In this site, recent research has explored Japanese discourses of desire for the West, Western men, and English language learning. These patterns of desire have afforded white Western men a privileged personal and professional status in Japan, and enabled access to employment opportunities as teachers of English language. At the same time, white Western men working as English language teachers face the challenge of negotiating competing discourses that threaten their social status. In particular, their employment in a lowly-regarded profession and a reputation for sexual promiscuity potentially position Western male language teachers as the âwhite trashâ of Asia. My analysis of interview data focuses on the ways in which the men negotiate these discourses, and construct ârespectableâ Western heterosexual masculinities by mobilising a binary distinction between singleness and marriage. Marriage to a Japanese spouse is presented as a bulwark against alignment with problematic discourses that threaten the status of white masculinity: it is associated with fidelity and maturity, and with integration into Japanese social, linguistic and professional communities. However, the articulation of marital status also reinforces a marginalised position for teachers who do not conform to heteronormative expectations.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/30709