EVOLUTION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS OF MASCULINITY IN THE MEDIA DISCOURSE OF THE LATE 20TH – EARLY 21ST CENTURIES: EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE AND UKRAINIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to investigate the dynamics of psychological models of masculinity on the example of the main characters' images in the long-running TV series Midsomer Murders and to outline the features of their perception (reception) in the Ukrainian socio-cultural context. The research methodology is based on a combination of historical-psychological (the principle of development, the connection of the history of psychology with culture and media, and systematicity) and gender (the concept of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities; the gender role strain theory; the concept of «natural masculinity», etc.) approaches, using the methods of systemic-structural, comparative analysis, and content analysis of media discourse. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that, through the content analysis of the empirical parameters of the series and the examination of works by domestic and foreign scholars, a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of masculinity from traditional (patriarchal) to new (psychologised) models is carried out, and the specificity of its influence on the transformation of gender representations and family patterns of Ukrainian viewers in the conditions of post-Soviet development and the modern state of war is revealed. Conclusions. Long-term European media content acted as an agent of «soft psychotherapy» and resocialisation for Ukrainian society, which was in a state of chronic crisis of male self-identification («man in crisis»). Through the mechanisms of projection and identification, Ukrainian viewers internalised egalitarian models of behavior, involved fatherhood, and emotional openness, which dissolved destructive post-Soviet stereotypes. At the same time, the analysis of modern socio-cultural discourse under the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war detects the processes of re-patriarchalisation and social stigmatisation of men, which confirms the non-linear nature of the evolution of the gender order in Ukraine