"Here, Man Is Nothing!": Gender and Policy in an Asylum Context. (October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Griffiths, Melanie
• Other Names: Charsley Katharine guest-editor.; Wray Helena guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Men and masculinities. Volume 18:Number 4(2015:Oct.)
• Page Start: 468
• Page End: 488
• Publication Date: 2015-10
• Subjects: asylum seeker -- immigration detention -- criminal; Men's studies -- Periodicals; Étude de genre; Étude sur les hommes; Homme; Identité masculine; Masculinité; Perception sociale; Recherche; Rôle selon le sexe; Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); 305.3105
• DOI: 10.1177/1097184X15575111
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1097-184X

Abstract

In policy terms, "genuine" refugees are conceptualized as vulnerable, coerced victims, an image that does not reflect the realities of most male refugees and asylum seekers. Not only does the image conflict with dominant forms of masculinity, but as refused asylum seekers have their purported vulnerability rejected and honesty challenged as part of having their claim refused, there is an implicit conclusion that they are deceptive, opportunistic, or even criminal. The emblematic "bogus asylum seeker" figure is generally imagined to be male and is associated with gendered suspicions and expectations regarding agency. Concurrently, however, the asylum system operates various emasculating tendencies. Using testimonies from male refused asylum seekers, this article explores the interplay of gender and asylum law and policy, examining how individuals understand and negotiate their reconstruction from vulnerable would-be refugee to undeserving "bogus" asylum seeker. Gender is presented as an unspoken but critical dimension of this immigration category.