Masculine madness: Gender Campus

Masculine madness

Since the 1990s, many works have been devoted to masculinity and virility within the history of gender. This research has made it possible to break down a divide that made women's history the only possible object of gender studies and to enrich its interpretations. They also put into perspective the need to consider the agency of women and to problematize an approach that presents them as passive figures in an essentially masculine history. The history of gender has also made it possible to emphasize that men are also objects of a dichotomous thinking of masculine versus feminine that constantly assigns them to a standardized definition of masculinity and virility.

In contrast to the important literature on women's madness, men's madness remain an area of research that is still little explored by historiography. We hope that this issue will question the intersection of social relations in order to reveal the interweaving of power, knowledge and health practices. From the masculinities, we want to problematize the role of medicine in the construction of knowledge and practices on male alienation.