Men Like Us: Alan Bisset

Author and playwright Alan Bissett is a contributor on the BBC Radio Scotland programme The Story of Scottish Men. Read his perspective on masculinity within Scottish culture.

Part of my issues with what we might identify as traditionally 'male' culture is that it is relentlessly competitive and obsessed with power, which finds its ultimate expression in violence. From childhood, male role models are usually fighters - soldiers, superheroes, cowboys, warriors - which leads to a binary view of the world in terms of strength and weakness, victory and defeat. More often than not, the adult male (especially in Scotland) finds a home in football, with its seductive narrative of defeating an abstract enemy, quasi-violent emotional expression, and the surrendering of individuality to a hyper-masculine pack.

These are the same psychological conditions necessary for war. When men bond in these ways, the glue that holds them together is fear of the other, which means that misogyny and homophobia underlie much of the male 'team' mentality. The accusation that another man could be 'woman-like' is a sanction used to bring him into line and keep him acting as part of the herd. In this respect, men have learned almost nothing from feminsim, which they still see as a threat. This is not good for either sex, as the unrealistic drive to be a strong, powerful victor leads men towards insecurity and depression when it cannot be achieved or maintained. Instead of examining these feelings (because that would be weak or womanly) men seek refuge among familiar, compounding fraternities. In such ways are they trapped by the very institutions which they think are empowering them.

Listen to The Story of Scottish Men, part of the Men Like us Season on BBC Radio Scotland.