Carbon Fiber Masculinity – Journal of the Theoretical Humanities

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  • December 17, 2015 at 4:46 pm #917671
    creadinger
    Participant

    For your entertainment, I’m just going to leave this here….

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273793754_CARBON_FIBRE_MASCULINITY

    Really not sure what to make of it, but it definitely pertains to this forum, mostly argument 2. As a physical science guy, I don’t like dealing with the subjectivity of social sciences and accounting for the weird choices of humans, but even still her arguments seem a bit… ambitious to me.

    For what it’s worth, the only carbon fiber in my house is owned by my wife, and it’s just her seat post and fork. The rest is all steel or aluminum. Also, I feel like a woman with a carbon fiber bike, or carbon fiber prosthetics would get the same out of them that men do.

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Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)
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  • December 17, 2015 at 5:08 pm #1043062
    Crickey7
    Participant

    That is one very narrow field of academic inquiry. It would seem that there is an accepted defined term “hegemonic masculinity” into which this inquiry plugs pedagogically. The discussion is not uninteresting, if a little inside baseball-y. I would quibble a bit that in each generation, one material occupies a very roughly comparable role within the culture. But I would also argue that carbon fiber as used in bicycles serves a slightly different role, as the shapes the materials allows visually distinguishes the rider from others who can only afford lesser materials. In other words, it’s a status thing. Though maybe that’s still part of hegemonic masculinity.

    December 17, 2015 at 5:14 pm #1043063
    Vicegrip
    Participant

    Sometime a bike is just a Bike.

    December 17, 2015 at 5:52 pm #1043068
    lordofthemark
    Participant

    Since the title of the journal is Theoretical Humanities, can we NOT attribute it to the social sciences?

    This is more what I think of in terms of social science papers related to cycliing

    http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/research/1445/

    December 17, 2015 at 6:13 pm #1043070
    TwoWheelsDC
    Participant

    @lordofthemark 129957 wrote:

    Since the title of the journal is Theoretical Humanities, can we NOT attribute it to the social sciences?

    This is more what I think of in terms of social science papers related to cycliing

    http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/research/1445/

    Truth. I don’t know WTF I just read, but that shit wasn’t science, social or otherwise.

    December 17, 2015 at 6:22 pm #1043071
    jabberwocky
    Participant

    My first thought:

    impostor.png

    From https://xkcd.com/451/

    December 17, 2015 at 6:30 pm #1043072
    Crickey7
    Participant

    My first impression is that for a piece that looked quite complicated, the premise was actually kind of shallow. Including the helpful observation that an ad for a bike features a man sticking something hard and tubular between his legs, and we all know what THAT means.

    December 17, 2015 at 7:52 pm #1043081
    DismalScientist
    Participant

    @lordofthemark 129957 wrote:

    .

    This is more what I think of in terms of social science papers related to cycling

    http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/research/1445/

    Well, that abstract certainly suggests that e-bikes are a threat to the sanctity of Freezing Saddles (ebikes are ridden further than non-motorized bikes).

    Furthermore, the appropriate hashtag should not be #OneLessCar, but rather #OneMoreEmptyBusSeat.

    December 17, 2015 at 8:10 pm #1043083
    dkel
    Participant

    I sat through a year of doctoral colloquium in musicology, and it was full of this type of “inquiry.” The worst was the article insisting that Beethoven’s works—particularly the fifth symphony—are inherently misogynistic, and advocate violence against women. That class was exhausting.

    December 17, 2015 at 9:26 pm #1043093
    TwoWheelsDC
    Participant

    @dkel 129974 wrote:

    I sat through a year of doctoral colloquium in musicology, and it was full of this type of “inquiry.” The worst was the article insisting that Beethoven’s works—particularly the fifth symphony—are inherently misogynistic, and advocate violence against women. That class was exhausting.

    Had a WTF moment with this…but the explanation seems to be that this came from a critic who was speaking metaphorically, but the metaphor was taken literally. A poor choice of metaphor, obviously, but reading the explanation of the original quote I can see what the intent was. Although the line of critique, apart from the unfortunate metaphor, induced dangerous levels of eye rolling.

    December 17, 2015 at 10:49 pm #1043098
    Vicegrip
    Participant

    This conversation makes me glad I troubleshoot and fix machines.

    December 18, 2015 at 1:11 am #1043101
    dkel
    Participant

    @TwoWheelsDC 129985 wrote:

    Had a WTF moment with this…but the explanation seems to be that this came from a critic who was speaking metaphorically, but the metaphor was taken literally. A poor choice of metaphor, obviously, but reading the explanation of the original quote I can see what the intent was. Although the line of critique, apart from the unfortunate metaphor, induced dangerous levels of eye rolling.

    So my memory was slightly off here. The paper was not about the fifth symphony, but the ninth, and also not necessarily about Beethoven’s complete oeuvre. It did, however, assert that the piece contains “one of the most horrifying moments in music,” which “explodes in the throttling murderous rage of a rapist incapable of attaining release.” Unfortunate metaphor, indeed.

    December 18, 2015 at 2:25 am #1043106
    accordioneur
    Participant

    A greatest hits collection from this academic researcher would also include “‘Christ Kid, You’re a Weirdo’: the aural construction of subjectivity in Bad Boy Bubby”, “How to be a Real Lesbian: The Pink Sofa and Some Fictions of Identity”, and “The Sexed Subject In-Between Deleuze and Butler”, the last of which sounds like the title of a naughty Downton Abbey spin-off.

    December 18, 2015 at 2:09 pm #1043115
    Crickey7
    Participant

    I’m neutralizing my hegemonic masculinity with a judicious application of lycra.

    December 18, 2015 at 2:44 pm #1043119
    bentbike33
    Participant

    @Vicegrip 129952 wrote:

    Sometime a bike is just a Bike.

    Unless it’s a jock strap.

    December 18, 2015 at 3:18 pm #1043124
    lordofthemark
    Participant

    By riding my aluminum bike to coffee club at Best Buns, I feel I am undermining the imperialist discourse.

    https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=imperialist%20discourse

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205385817901882&set=gm.1655711504684937&type=3&theater

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