First Advisor

Parnell, Kenneth

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

8-2023

Abstract

Research has historically focused on feminist women, leaving a gap in the literature for exploring men’s feminist identity development. Given that feminist identity is a strong predictor for engaging in gender-justice activism, more research is needed on the experiences of feminist men and how they come to identify as feminists. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory of men’s feminist identity development process, as no widely accepted model currently exists. Additionally, the study sought to investigate feminist men’s experiences of privilege as well as guilt in shame in their feminist identity development, as these factors may be unique to feminist men and have been left out of previous research. Nine cisgender, feminist men (Mage = 45.6, SD = 24.3) were recruited and participated in the study. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory methodology, an emergent theory of men’s feminist identity development was constructed. The primary themes within the model include Diverse Feminist Foundations, Expanding Awareness, Unlearning, Self-Reflection, Taking Action, and Developing a Feminist Practice. The author concluded with implications and suggestions for how to support men who are developing a feminist identity.

Extent

201 pages

Local Identifiers

Johnson_unco_0161D_11149.pdf

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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