Counter and Complicit Masculine Discourse Among Men’s Shed Members
Open accessAbstract
Men’s Sheds is a growing international movement aimed at providing men with places and activities that facilitate social connectedness. Despite Men’s Sheds’ focus on males, little attention has been paid to masculinities within the specific context of these settings. The current study used a gender relations framework to explore the ways in which attendees discussed Men’s Sheds, with particular attention to discussions that were complicit and counter to traditional, hegemonic views of masculinity, and diverse positions in between these binaries. The data consisted of transcripts and field notes from four focus groups comprising mostly older, White, retired male members of a Canadian shed ( N = 22). The analysis revealed three overall themes: (1) focus on work, (2) independence, and (3) need for male-focused spaces. These themes and associated subthemes suggest that shed members ascribe to dominant masculine values and ideals, but also support more fluid and flexible views of masculinity. Implications are discussed for how working with an array of masculinities within the Men’s Sheds movement will be helpful with respect to their future growth in Canada and internationally.
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In regions such as Cornwall, male-voice choirs acted as gatekeepers for local, White, working-class cultures during a period when ethnic diversity was otherwise increasing, in the same way they may have been complicit in fostering hegemonic masculinity.
“In the same way in which male-voice choirs may have been complicit in fostering hegemonic masculinity (cf.Connell & Messerschmidt 2005;Mackenzie et al. 2017), in regions such as Cornwall they also acted as gatekeepers for local, White, working-class cultures during a period when ethnic diversity was otherwise increasing.”
From ‘I don’t care who joins my choir’: Investigating attitudes to diversity and inclusivity in lower- and upper-voice choirs in the United Kingdom (2025) · cites this paper as Mackenzie et al. 2017
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredExclusionary attitudes towards gender and sexual minorities among LV choirs may stem from entrenched social codes, which may relate to older men's reluctance to disclose their gender or sexual identity because of historic stigmatisation and the perceived benefits of male-focused spaces.
“It is possible that exclusionary attitudes towards gender and sexual minorities may stem from these entrenched codes within LV choirs, that may in turn relate to the reluctance among older men to disclose their gender or sexual identity because of historic stigmatisation (Simpson et al. 2018), and the perceived benefits of male-focussed spaces (Milligan et al. 2016;Mackenzie et al. 2017;Nurmi et a”
From ‘I don’t care who joins my choir’: Investigating attitudes to diversity and inclusivity in lower- and upper-voice choirs in the United Kingdom (2025) · cites this paper as Mackenzie et al. 2017
Men in male-focused recreational activities may experience improved wellbeing but may also remain complicit in hegemonic ideologies of masculinity because of their perceived freedom from being 'policed' by women.
“Past research into malefocussed recreational activity has suggested that although men may experience improved wellbeing as a result of engagement in gendered interventions (Milligan et al. 2016), they may also remain complicit in hegemonic ideologies of masculinity because of their perceived freedom from being 'policed' by women (Mackenzie et al. 2017).”
From ‘I don’t care who joins my choir’: Investigating attitudes to diversity and inclusivity in lower- and upper-voice choirs in the United Kingdom (2025) · cites this paper as Mackenzie et al. 2017
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Cites
Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/0891243205278639 · Cited by 9,367 · see citing works
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MacGregor, E. H., & Pitts, S. E. (2025) · International Journal of Community Music · doi:10.1386/ijcm_00119_1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Mackenzie, C. S., Roger, K., Robertson, S., Oliffe, J. L., Nurmi, M. A., & Urquhart, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Manitoba (CA)
- Leeds Beckett University (GB)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Mackenzie, Corey S.
- Venue
- American Journal of Men's Health
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-01-09
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1224-1236
- ISSN
- 1557-9883 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-9891
- PMC
- PMC5675326
- OpenAlex
- W2571232272
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 9.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Men s Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Leeds Beckett Repository (Leeds Beckett University) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Movember Canada (MH003)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Male Reproductive Health Studies
- Keywords
- men's sheds, masculinity, hegemonic masculinity, older men, work, independence, gender relations
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Canada, Demography, Humans, Male, Social Support, Focus Groups, White People, Men's Health, Masculinity
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