“Discussions indicate that ideas on hegemonic masculinity connected to the Icelandic business ventures abroad took a hit after the economic crash. We examine if, and how, an attempt was made to re-create hegemonic ideas of masculinity in debates among Icelandic men in cyberspace,” says Guðbjört Guðjónsdóttir, doctoral student in Anthropology. She has, along with Júlíana Þóra Magnúsdóttir, doctoral student in Folkloristic, done a study that is interestingly called “Ingólfur Arnarson, Björgúlfur Thor and Ólafur farmer at Þorvaldseyri – Masculinity, gender system and national self-image after the economic crash.”
The results of the research show that on both blog sites and media sites after the crash there were visible signs of men trying on new masculinity ideas “to fill the void left by the business Viking’s masculinity,” explains Guðjónsdóttir. Guðjónsdóttir and Magnúsdóttir read blogs, comments on news in web media and other personal writings. “We limited our search to writings after the crash and used comprehensive search words in the beginning, such as Vikings, permanent settlers, masculinity and masculine. Then we narrowed the search down to isolated themes that appeared frequently in the writings. This is not an exhaustive analysis on the discussion, the research is rather designed to give a certain insight into it,” says Guðjónsdóttir.
She explains that in the discussions, the “farmer” is, among others, put forward as a desirable role model for Icelanders and his masculinity characteristics listed. He is described as the distinct opposite to the business Viking. “The farmer is, to give an example, described as “a calm, composed and honest entrepreneur who is a credit to his class and would never hurt his country in a disreputable or immoral manner in business or otherwise.” This idealisation of the farmer and presentation of him as a desirable role model for Iceland can be interpreted as an effort to restore in one go the hegemonic masculinity and image of Iceland in wake of the crash,” concluded Guðjónsdóttir.
