As a major exhibition on the subject of masculinity prepares to open this month in London, Cathy Buckmaster questions the role of men in fourth-wave feminism

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, fourth-wave feminism has harnessed digital tools to bring a message of empowerment to the masses. Women’s stories, skills and talents are being celebrated in all mediums — from massive investment in women’s soccer and the world’s first all-female spacewalk to an Oscar award for Netflix’s Period. End of Sentence.

This wave of protest hasn’t developed in a vacuum, however, and no discussion around the feminine can exist without one around the masculine. Many fourth-wave feminists believe that men (and boys) need greater freedom to express their own emotions and feelings freely, to present themselves as they wish and to be inspirational parents to their children. The question of what it means to be a man today is a multi-layered concept, rife with contradiction.  

From 20 February to 17 May, the Barbican Art Gallery will hold an exhibition seeking to explore those very contradictions, entitled Masculinities: Liberation through Photography. Seeking to disrupt and destabilise myths surrounding modern masculinity, this major group exhibition will examine ways in which masculinity is experienced, performed and socially constructed, as documented through photos and film from the 1960s to the present day. 

As well as examining the unequal power relations between gender, class and race, the show aims to present masculinity as an unfixed performative identity, shaped by cultural and social forces. On show will be over 300 works by upwards of 50 international artists, photographers and filmmakers, including big names like Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe and Catherine Opie.

The exhibition is much needed in an age that interrogates the prejudices of older generations – around showing vulnerability and sensitivity, for instance – while at the same time witnessing displays of effusive machismo (U.S President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin being two high-profile culprits here.) Questions have been asked about the concept of patriarchy, with phrases like ‘toxic’ and ‘fragile’ masculinity entering the lexicon. 

Jane Alison, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican, said: “In the wake of the #MeToo movement and the resurgence of feminist and men’s rights activism, traditional notions of masculinity has become a subject of fierce debate. This exhibition could not be more relevant and will certainly spark conversations surrounding our understanding of masculinity.”

Highlights of Masculinities: Liberation through Photography include Thomas Dworzak’s acclaimed Taliban, a series of portraits depicting Taliban fighters posing hand in hand in front of painted backdrops, with guns and flowers as props and kohl around their eyes. 

Kenneth Anger’s technicolour experimental film Kustom Kar Kommandos explores the fetishist role of hot rod cars among young American men. New York-based artist Hank Willis Thomas examines the complexities of the black male experience, while transmasculine artist Cassils’ Time Lapse series documents the radical transformation of their body through the use of steroids and a rigorous training programme. 

During the second-wave feminist movement of the 1970s, female artists often objectified men in order to subvert the male gaze — one of these was Annette Messager, whose series The Approaches shows photographs of men’s trousered crotches shot with a long-lens camera. Laurie Anderson’s Fully Automated Nikon (Object/Objection/Objectivity) meanwhile documents the men who catcalled her as she walked through New York.

Catch Masculinities: Liberation through Photography from 20 February – 17 May at the Barbican Art Gallery.

barbican.org.uk

read more from the magazine →