| ID | 189923 |
| Title Proper | Supermen” Club |
| Other Title Information | Organizational Secrecy and Masculine Identity in an Israeli National Security Organization |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Kepten, Aluma |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | How does secrecy shape narratives of militarized hegemonic masculinity? This article assesses a gap at the intersection between theories of masculinities and organizational secrecy. Supported by 15 interviews with current and former male workers of a covert section of an Israeli national security organization, it argues that secrecy is experienced as both an external hurdle and a central component to the way that men internalize masculinity. Unable to access social capital outside the security organization, the respondents of the study construct a social field inside it through which they can assert their masculinity. They do so by conceptualizing their jobs, themselves, and the organization through a prism of sacrificial warriorhood, and actively incorporate secrecy’s constraints into a narrative of “super-men”. This study thus examines secrecy in the context of a militarized environment, showing the experience of masculinity and a perceived lack of power-access among members of a dominant group. |
| `In' analytical Note | Armed Forces and Society Vol. 49, No.2; Apr 2023: p.330-349 |
| Journal Source | Armed Forces and Society Vol: 49 No 2 |
| Key Words | Israel ; Secrecy ; Gender Identity ; Hegemonic Masculinity ; Security Organizations |