Corrupting Masculinity: Cultural Complexes of the Archetypal Masculine Shared Between Men

Abstract

Though many father-son pairs struggle with relating, on average heterosexual father-homosexual son pairs are much less affectionate and symbiotic than their heterosexual counterparts (Floyd et al. 2004). According to feminist investigators, conflictual relations between heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons are grounded in antihomosexual stigma and prejudice (Floyd et al., 2004), and gender atypical behaviors (Savin-Williams, 2001). From a depth psychological perspective, these dysfunctional relations are ascribed to shared cultural complexes (Singer & Kimbles, 2004a) of the archetypal masculine. In order to understand these processes, the current study explored the lived experience of cultural complexes of the archetypal masculine shared between heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons. The study applied a phenomenological method of analysis to data collected from interviews of an ethnically diverse convenience sample of three heterosexual fathers and three homosexual sons. The results yielded 12 major themes: performance anxiety, gendered fathers, atypicality, variant masculinity, heteronormative masculine reinforcements, homonegativity, group inclusion and exclusion, microaggressions, shame and embarrassment, suppression and restriction, withdrawal, and disconnection. These themes were further organized and discussed from both the feminist and depth psychological perspectives. The analysis revealed that when heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons cling to one end of the archetypal masculine spectrum, they fail to observe their disidentified selves projected in the other. This leads to an endless cycle of shared cultural complex interactions that corrupts heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons from relating to each other as well as to themselves.