Research Project: Contraception of Virility. The Development of New Male Hormonal and Thermal Contraceptives since the 20th Century (Link)
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Norbert Paul (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz), Prof. Dr. Thomas Lemke (Goethe University Frankfurt)
BACKGROUND: I studied political sciences and gender studies in Göttingen and Berlin, where I developed my primary research interests in critical theory, feminist theory and poststructuralism. Due to my productive irritations with new materialism and posthumanism, I was interested in developing a materialist and critical account on the interconnectedness of society and nature. As a member of the graduate program at the university of Basel I was engaging in psychoanalytical theory and masculinity studies.
THE GRK... is a space for interdisciplinary work and collaborative thinking on complex phenomena, a great opportunity to work with researchers from life sciences as well as cultural studies, and a chance to understand contemporary society and its mutual mediation of the natural und social more fully.
MY GOAL IS... to learn about medical languages and narratives, to understand the construction of masculinity within life science, medicine, as well as in contraceptive technologies. I wish to engage more deeply with the field of psychology and medical ethics, and to collaborate with people from different backgrounds.
MY PROJECT... is to study the current transformations of masculinity and the politics of contraception, the gendered and gendering practices of future contraceptive technologies (such as the male pill and other hormonal methods, the reversible vasectomy and thermal approaches), as well as a qualitative study on the heterosexual male identity, its relation to his body, sexuality and phantasies on reproduction.
Conference Papers:
Thermic Male Contraception – History, Recent Challenges, and Ethical Implications, Reproductive Ethics Conference (Sixth Annual Conference), Galveston, Texas, United States, 13-14.01.2022 (winner of the Postdoctoral Fellow Junior Scholar Award).
Von „Rocks heißen Höschen“ und „Toulouser Eierhebern“ – Verhütungsunterhosen als Dinge und Verdinglichungen prekärer Männlichkeitsexperimente, Sexualitäten Sammeln, DHMD, Dresden, 24.02.2021.
The Male Pill, RISUG, Genderussa, Bimek SLV and Co. - Changing masculinity and the discourse on new male contraceptives“, Gender studies and research in 2019: centenary achievements and perspectives“, Vilnius 21.-23.11.2019.
„Nerdy tinkerers, do-it-yourself groups and international networks - Are men calling for new male contraceptives and what does that mean for our understanding of masculinity?”, European Conference on Politics & Gender, Amsterdam 04.-06.07.2019.
"Male contraception: the theoretical framework of Gender and Masculinity Studies”, IV INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF YOUNG RESEARCHERS WITH A GENDER PERSPECTIVE, Madrid 24.-26.06.2019.
„Ready to Get Something Injected into Your Testicles? – ,Optimistische vs. pessimistische Positionen auf neue männliche Verhütungsmittel und die Wandelbarkeit von Männlichkeit“, Feminist STS Symposium, Berlin 13.-14.06.2019.
„Männersorge Verhütung? Die Genese der Geschlechterdifferenz in der Kontrazeption und der Wandel von Männlichkeit“ - Tagung „Männlichkeiten und Care“ des AIM Gender, Stuttgart 14.12.2018.
„›How could we be anything other than materialists?‹ – Warum man sich in Kulturwissenschaften und Gender Studies neuerdings zum Materialismus gezwungen sieht“, Konferenz „Kritische Theorie. Eine Erinnerung an die Zukunft“, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 2013.
Awards:
Postdoctoral Fellow Junior Scholar Award, Reproductive Ethics Conference (Sixth Annual Conference), Galveston, Texas, United States, 13-14.01.2022.
Contact: fabian.hennig@uni-mainz.de