KATEGORIA MĘSKOŚCI W DYSKURSIE KOŚCIOŁA KATOLICKIEGO WE WSPÓŁCZESNEJ POLSCE
THE CATEGORY OF MASCULINITY IN THE DISCOURSE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CONTEMPORARY POLAND

Summary/Abstract: The objective of the article was to analyze principal discursive strategies employed in the period 1994–2015 in creating the category of masculinity by clergymen. Owing to the intertextuality of the ecclesiastical discourse the research material contained, beside statements of Polish bishops and priests, also official documents issued by Vatican as well as popes’ opinions. In addition, I included discourse on masculinity in the Catholic communities of laymen. The research material embraced nearly 100 texts. In the analysis I used proposals of discursive-historical approach in the critical discourse analysis. Most of the discursive strategies are characterized by a clear patriarchal nature. Polish hierarchs and priests opt for the equality of men and women, but simultaneously many expressions demonstrate a topos of asymmetry of gender roles, as well as the strategy of the man’s superiority over the woman. The ecclesiastical discourse clearly demonstrates homophobic opinions on homosexual relationships. The sharp attack of the Catholic Church on new progressive ideas referring to masculine roles as well as relations between women and men, which has intensified over this decade, should be perceived as an attempt to protect the shaky traditional gender order and to maintain the normative and symbolic power by the hierarchs.

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