Blurring masculinities in the Republic of Sakha, Russia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Siberia in general has traditionally been a region where men are expected to be ‘real’ men, i.e. to behave in a pronouncedly virile way. This perception is related to the history of the region – bringing ‘civilisation’ to the region was in direct relation to the intensive physical work. Urban life in Siberia was until recently dominated by such proletarian masculinity since urban centres were places where a large part of industrial workers lived. With the Western style urbanization and advent of new enterprises, this perception is changing. The new urban professional class mostly holds office jobs and is engaged in non-physical work. The article explains how socioeconomic factors have historically shaped the perceptions and performances of masculinity in Siberia. Further, I juxtapose ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ masculinity in the Republic of Sakha. In this region, softness is usually related with the office jobs. While certain masculine stereotypes continue to exist – like reliability, responsibility, loyalty – traditional understanding of toughness is often rejected. As one paradigm, I take the changes in attitudes towards alcohol consumption. The emergence of more diverse and ‘softer’ forms of masculinity do not generally question existing gender hierarchies, as I will point out toward the end of the article.