Tra uomini: indagare l’omosocialità per orientarsi nelle trasformazioni del maschile

This contribution has a double aim: to state the relevance of male homosociality as a research object, and to illustrate the heuristic fruitfulness of looking at the situational specificities of homosocial interactions, as suggested by our research experiences. A review of research on male homosociality shows a move from viewing it as a context of reproduction of hegemonic masculinity to more contextualised understandings of its workings, also making room for the production of hybrid or inclusive masculinities. Based on our use of focus groups in two research projects on sexuality and fatherhood, we show the potential of this technique for detecting the doings of homosociality. We illustrate different uses of irony and coalition building among men, both reproducing and challenging the naturalization of gender hierarchies, and argue for the need of an intersectional approach to fully understand the situational conditions fostering persistence and change in masculinity.