Catholic Seminarians on "Real Men", Sexuality, and Essential Male Inclusivity

Bibliographic Data

ID3418256
AuthorsMedora W Barnes (0000-0002-1801-0915, John Carroll University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume13
Issue4
Pages352
Publication date2022-04-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel13040352
OpenAlexW4223921733
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited25

This paper is based on an empirical study using in-depth qualitative interviews that examines how Roman Catholic undergraduate seminarians in the United States understand gender, sexuality and masculinity. The findings describe how seminarians reject interactionist and social constructionist models of gender, and rely on a strict biological based model where sex/gender are seen as a unified concept. This leads them to adopt an "essential male inclusivity", where they argue that all people assigned male at birth have equal claim to "manhood", which eases pressures on them to act in gender normative ways. The social-psychological and identity-based motivations of these beliefs are examined in connection to their life in the seminary and other anticipated occupational characteristics. In contrast, the seminary's mandates around both celibacy and compulsory heterosexuality, make sexuality more fraught than gender for seminarians. The larger consequences of these perspectives are also explored in regard to gender inequality, homophobia, and the lack of acceptance for the LGBTIQ+ community

Celibacy · Heterosexuality · Human sexuality · Masculinity · Normative · Political science · Social constructionism · Social science · Sociology · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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