%0 Journal Article
%T Neutral Masculinity: An Analysis of Parliamentary Debates on Austria¡¯s Neutrality Law
%A Marion L£¿ffler
%J Men and Masculinities
%@ 1552-6828
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1097184X18768667
%X After World War II, postfascist Austria went through a transitional period of nation building. While the political parties (re)installed the democratic institutions and supported the idea of an independent Austria, they still disagreed on the nature of the ¡°Austrian nation.¡± Moreover, the postwar period experienced a ¡°crisis of masculinity¡± caused by the Allied occupation which signaled that Austria had lost the war. The official rhetoric, in contrast, claimed Austria¡¯s status as a victim of Hitler¡¯s aggression and hence, as a land not defeated, but liberated by the Allied forces. Self-victimization delegitimated both German nationalism and heroic masculinity. This article analyzes two debates on the neutrality act in the Austrian parliament in 1955, with a particular focus on the discursive construction of ¡°neutral masculinity¡± as novel political identity and potential solution to the ¡°masculinity crisis.¡± It deals with the question whether neutral masculinity contributed to a postheroic society and to ¡°gender democracy.
%K neutral masculinity
%K neutrality
%K postheroic society
%K gender democracy
%K parliamentary debate analysis
%K Austrian nation
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X18768667