2023

Mats Christiansen

In this anthology, there are several different aspects of power described about Freemasonry. I will here discuss another aspect: homosociality. Not infrequently, Freemasonry and other religious orders are described as examples of homosocial contexts. It is a context where wealthy and successful men over the centuries meet and have met in secret, hierarchical societies, drink grog, and help each other to success and power.<br/>In the literature, the concept of homosociality describes contexts where people of the same sex, preferably men, socialize and create social relationships and contacts (Lipman-Blumen, 1976). More often, homosociality and "the boys' club" are used as explanatory models for male dominance in society, so-called hegemonic masculinity, which excludes women, and usually, this is linked to masculinity described as emotionally absent and competitive (Bird, 1996). However, the sociologists Hammarén and Johansson (2014) have described two types of homosociality: first, a more hierarchically ordered one, which is closer to Bird's description above; on the one hand, a horizontal homosociality that opens up for an emotional closeness and familiarity, without one's profit in mind. This later homosociality, with an emphasis on the social, is closer to the interpretation that I wish to start from in my discussion of Freemasonry and health.