From lumberjack to business manager: masculinity in the Norwegian forestry press

This article explores masculinity in an all-male discourse where gender is ‘taken-for-grantedʹ. Through an examination of three volumes of a Norwegian forestry magazine, the article examines the ways in which masculinity is constructed at two of the main sites of forestry. These are the sites of practical forestry work and organisational management, which correspond to the ‘tough’ and the ‘powerful’ positions of masculinity in the industry. There are differences between the two positions of masculinity concerning structure, activity and display. Although quite coherently described in the magazine, there are noticeable signs of destabilisation. From being strongest in focus in the early volume, the old, sturdy working logger is replaced by the energetic, young man with efficient and powerful machinery. Most notable is the fact that the forestry worker seems to be giving way to the organisational man. After a macho-man flare up in the 1980s, the next decade marks a transition to greater hegemony of organisational masculinity.