The Social Communication program at the University of Cauca was created through Agreement 016 of March 9, 1999, following a diagnosis that highlighted the need to professionalize the existing media in the region and to cover new fields of professional development.

The curriculum was organized into training areas: foundation from the first to the sixth semester and professionalization from the seventh to the ninth semester, culminating with the thesis. Over the program’s 26 years, 28 cohorts of students have enrolled, and as the years have passed, its content has been adjusted to a context that has changed notably. This has allowed for a better understanding of the specific needs of the program, its students, professors, and the environments they inhabit.

Therefore, the development of the curriculum has been conceived through the interaction between the social demands of the contexts, and the mission and vision of the program aligned with the institution’s, reflected in self-evaluations for renewal of the qualified registry and in the self-evaluation process for accreditation purposes. The curriculum design is articulated in the Educational Project of the Social Communication Program (PEPCS), which establishes the guidelines on epistemological and pedagogical approaches, appealing to a diversity of methodologies consistent with the specific dynamics of each course, as well as learning outcomes.

In this context, an internal development project was born, titled “Writing in the Masculine” with ID 6277, which sought to answer the question: “What references do the students of the Social Communication program have regarding the construction of the concept of masculinity?” This project was registered with the Office of the Vice-Rectory for Research and belongs to the Research Group in Communication (GIEC).

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The research process initially identified what is understood by masculinity, what kinds of visions have been shaped, and how society has established expectations and values, also adjusted to professions. Reflecting on masculinity within professions has been a necessary and important dynamic from the places of enunciation—particularly when speaking from a Social Communication program.

Subsequently, a review of similar research was conducted, including the following: Men in the Media (Mexico, 2009); Representations of Masculinity in Two Argentine Women’s Magazines (2011); Social Gender Representations of Journalists in Cuban Print Journalism: Case Study of the Cultural Supplement Vitrales (2016); Hierarchy of Masculinity and Its Audiovisual Representation in the Series Parks and Recreation (2016); Cuban Cultural Journalism: Social Gender Representations. Case Study of the Cultural Supplement Vitrales (2017); Representation of Women and Men in the Spanish Press (2017); Frames and Representations of Masculinity in the Media in Mexico: Two News Outlets and a Telenovela (2022); and finally, Hypermedia Dossier on the Social Representation of Masculinities (2023). Each of these studies clearly contributed to the way masculinity has been understood in specific media contexts, serving as a foundation for this research process.

The methodological process was designed to explore and describe the different social determinants of masculine construction among Social Communication students at the University of Cauca. The method used was qualitative and included everyday conversations, a focus group, and the design of an instrument for data collection. The instrument was developed in Google Forms with open-ended questions directed at program students, highlighting that participation was anonymous and entirely voluntary.

From the methodological process, three stages emerged:

Narratives, writings, reflections

Interviews and everyday conversations

Focus group and data collection instrument

Then, categories and subcategories were established to classify the information.

Stage 1 (Narratives): Volunteers felt free to narrate their experiences with masculinity, understanding that details of discourse matter, that lived events can be shared, and that these can be diverse: “I think it’s important to broaden the possibilities, to commit to critical masculinities that no longer reproduce gender roles and are capable of reflecting on their privileges and engaging in transformation, both internal and social.”

Stage 2 (Interviews and everyday conversations): It became evident that there is a lack of male spaces “to understand that men also have different emotions.” These spaces must recognize that the prevailing perspective assumes men are strong, do not cry, and do not express themselves, which ignores the increasing suicide rate among men and the fact that they “face loneliness to a greater degree,” since “among men there are no specific forms of support that are not invalidated as inferior, or stripped of their masculinity.”

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Stage 3 (Survey instrument): In this stage, the focus group was also used to validate the information and establish the five resulting axes:

• Definition and perception of masculinity: This category was associated specifically with how society teaches and expects men to act. It reflects a social construction that directly links biology to roles and characteristics assigned to men at birth.
• Roles and expectations: Social Communication students have faced patriarchal models that continue to impose standards: “In my family, my grandparents were raised with the idea that the man had to be the provider, responsible for bringing money home, while women took care of serving them, preparing food, washing clothes, and having everything ready for them.”
• Emotions and vulnerability: Men have been taught that some emotions are difficult to express and should be avoided. Among these are sadness, fear, anxiety, or stress. They have also been taught that showing affection may be seen as unmanly. In this sense, they often do not express frustration and instead transform it into anger or isolation.
• Relationships and communication: The process revealed that some men do not express themselves or lack the emotional tools to adequately say what they feel, without fear of being judged or stigmatized.
• Masculinity and Communication: This category was important because it provided an x-ray of Social Communication students. It highlighted that “some continue to hold a conventional view of masculinity, influenced by social structures that emphasize leadership, competitiveness, and rationality over emotionality. However, these models are questioned, and a more reflective, empathetic, and equitable masculinity is adopted.”

In the conclusions of this process, it can be noted that participants freely expressed their feelings regarding the concept of masculinity. Each contribution made it clear that the hegemonic concept of masculinity persists, and only a small percentage consider that it must be reevaluated. It was also evident that the role of social communication in shaping masculinities helps to create meaning in the face of new social challenges, rather than reinforcing the concept of male privilege that has been so present in society.

Writing in the Masculine, as a project, allows communication students, among other things, to influence what is said, or left unsaid, in society. It emphasizes the need to be aware that both men and women can help build gender awareness, understood not only from the feminine or sexual diversity standpoint but also from the understanding of masculinity.

 

Written by: Álvaro Gerardo Fernández Sánchez. Professor, Department of Social Communication