Masculinity and Manufacturing Discipline among Argentina Oil Industry Workers

Abstract

In the Comodoro Rivadavia city, Argentina, is an open secret that in the workplace of oil workers there are certain standard practices relative to masculinity, such as demonstrations of manhood, exhibitions of strength, “initiation rites†or “baptismal actsâ€. It should be noted that these “jokes†often contains clear sexual connotations. This article analyzes the practices and representations of the oil workers involved in the manufacture of masculinity. We are interested in uncovering the relationship between masculinity, management policies and factory discipline that shapes a subject-oil-male factory according to the interests of production.