Numen, Old Men: Contemporary Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy

Abstract

Since the early 1990s there have been various waves of interest in what is commonly described as "masculine spirituality". While diverse, a commonality among these interests has been a concern that spirituality has become too feminine, and that men's experiences of the spiritual are being marginalized. Masculine spirituality is therefore about promoting what it perceives to be authentic masculine characteristics within a spiritual context. By examining the nature of these characteristics, the thesis argues that masculine spirituality is little more than a thinly veiled patriarchal spirituality. The mythopoetic movement is shown to perpetuate patriarchal spirituality by grounding masculinity in neo-Jungian archetypes of a combative and oppressive nature. The evangelical men's movement extends this archetypal masculinity, with special emphasis on a man's biblically ordained role as leader of the family. The Catholic men's movement also perpetuates these themes, but to a lesser extent. These three explicit forms of masculine spirituality all promote a heteropatriarchal spirituality. The thesis then examines Ken Wilber's integral spirituality which aims to honour and transcend both the masculine and feminine, but which privileges the former to the extent where it becomes another masculine spirituality, with all its inherent patriarchal problems. Gay spirituality is then offered as a form of masculine spirituality which to a large degree resists patriarchal tendencies, suggesting a queering of spirituality could be useful for all men, both gay and straight. The thesis then engages a theoretical analysis of the instability of gender and its implications for spirituality. In conclusion, the thesis asks, "can we talk positively about masculine spirituality?" The answer is "no". First, most articulations of masculine spirituality perpetuate patriarchy. Second, given the arguably unstable nature of gender, it may not be appropriate to talk about masculine spirituality at all. If we are to avoid perpetuating patriarchy, and if we are to avoid constraining assumptions about gender, we must do away with the phrase "masculine spirituality" and speak instead of "men and spirituality".