Testosterone: An Ethography

This project will explore notions of masculinity, including fatherhood, through an exploration of the role testosterone plays across a range of discourses and practices. I intend to conduct a multi-sited ethnography within a number of contrasting contexts that will chart some of the different ways in which the testosterone is drawn on in ideas of virility, potency and fertility. It will focus on ideologies that conceive of testosterone as an isolated essence, property or thing, and as a consequence will examine the role current ideas about hormones in general have in the construction of essentialist ideas of gender and gendered roles. The overall approach will consequently be adopted in order to uncover the range of social and cultural values entrenched in people's understandings of biology, and more specifically, how different groups of people make sense of the contemporary 'biology of gender'. I will go on to explore the far reaching implications of gendered values that are embedded in contemporary ideas of biology, and hence the extent to which these both shape, and are fashioned by, wider social processes.

I intend to conduct observation, interviews and document analysis in order to capture the multifaceted way in which testosterone is constructed through both material practices and cultural representations. Research will question the language and terminology used to describe testosterone, investigating how understandings differ. I will explore viewpoints that position testosterone as 'the male hormone' considering the effect of this understanding - whether such classification can create a social pathology. Further, I am interested in how the measurement of testosterone may create categories of 'normal' and 'abnormal' biology.

These themes resonate with the ESRC' strategic vision for innovative social research that prioritises health and well-being. In particular the interest in social pathology may provide insight into how categorising within biology may be detrimental to individual's mental health - an identified key priority from the ESRC. The skills I will be developing as a researcher via the core skills sessions will allow me to maximise the potential of research. In particular, the knowledge of how to conduct research in a multi-sited manner will allow me to represent numerous perspectives, comparing and contrasting viewpoints. The scope of research is far reaching and offers the potential for multiple publications that can resonate with numerous academic communities.

The studentship offers continual opportunities for professional development and throughout the research process I will aim to increase my existing skill set in order to meet ESRC expectation. In particular I am committed to maximising the conceptual impact of the project and contributing to the understanding of issues and the reframing of debates. In the same way the Institute of Medicine concluded "every cell has a sex" we need to recognise the complex entanglement of hormones, within debates of sex and gender in health research (Springer et al. 2012), demonstrating that the study of hormones is rarely value free.