Men Who Care. Men’s Changing Commitments to Care in Italy

The aim of this paper is to discuss some aspects of Italian men’s changing attitudes towards care, and especially childcare. This is explored from two viewpoints: the individual and the institutional. On the one hand, men (especially if belonging to the younger generations) are beginning to claim a greater share in bringing up their children. The desire to discover (or rediscover) the terms and values of one’s specific masculinity also seems to be growing. On the other hand, these changes are influencing the institutional level: in order to support contemporary processes of social change, some legislative and educational initiatives have been developed, aimed at a reconsideration of masculinity (as it is traditionally defined); at a deconstruction of the violent symbolism still affecting the process of male socialisation; at education to “new” forms of masculinity (Ruspini, 2009 and 2011a). In the chapter, I will discuss some initiatives aimed at supporting changes in traditional forms of masculinity towards a culture of gender equality. I will also present some collective efforts that have arisen as part of a national men’s network of critical thought on dominating models of masculinity. The methodology used is a combination of: a review of existing Italian literature on men and masculinities; secondary analysis of existing data; documentary analysis; information provided by interviews to key informants.