Rad Dad: A Chicano Man (Re) Constructing Masculinity and Fatherhood Through Zines

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to describe how a Chicano man, Tomas Moniz, wrote and edited zines to reconstruct stereotypical notions of masculine performance and fatherhood and formed community for grassroots action. Data were triangulated by collecting observations and photographs of the informant distributing and discussing his zine at a national zine symposium and by in situ interviews as he did so. These data were triangulated by collecting 17 issues of Tomas’ zines and by a semistructured interview conducted by telephone and by informal interviews conducted by electronic mail. Screen shots were collected of Tomas’ social media (his Facebook page, blog, and YouTube videos) that extended or supported his zines. These data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Member checks were conducted with the participant as a measure of trustworthiness. Results illustrated how a Chicano man wrote in atypical forms and substance to reconstruct masculinity and fatherhood in an inclusive model. He wrote of being marginalized as a parent by his gender; he discussed difficult issues in the performance of masculinity and parenting; and he self-published contributions by other men (and women) that highlighted alternative ways of performing and representing masculinity. He used his zines and social media to build community for support and activism. This study contributes to the extant research that refutes gender stereotypes and presents alternative models of masculinity and literacy engagement for Latino males. Although there has been a growing interest in the status of men, there is little scholarship on Latino males, their masculinities, and their literacy practices. The absence of such scholarship has reinforced educators’ stereotypical views of Latino males as hyper-masculine and nonacademic, contributing to low expectations for their academic success. This case study refutes those stereotypes and presents a model of a minority man enacting alternative representations of masculinity through literacy. Findings from this study can be used to demonstrate the functions that reading and writing can serve in an adult man’s life and provide permission for minority youth to engage in literacy practices.

Citation

Guzetti, B. and Foley, L. (2017), "Rad Dad: A Chicano Man (Re) Constructing Masculinity and Fatherhood Through Zines", Ortlieb, E. and Cheek, E.H. (Ed.) Addressing Diversity in Literacy Instruction (Literacy Research, Practice and Evaluation, Vol. 8), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 89-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2048-045820170000008017