"Masculinity-under-threat": Sexual rights organizations and the masculinist state in Lebanon

This paper seeks to explore further the ‘masculinity-under-threat’argument as a currently crucial crisis of nation-states, based on literature on hegemonic masculinity, nationalism, and ‘masculinist’nation-states.* Through their analyses of relevant discourses in prevailing literature, interviews with activists of both sexes, and personal expertise, the two authors expose the hegemony of political masculinity concepts and ‘masculinity-under-threat’discourses over women struggles and sexual rights in Lebanon today. The paper also addresses how activists, of both sexes, contribute to the masculinity discourse, with a focus on the associated process of absorption and compromisemaking. This comes against the backdrop of a sustained adoption of institutionalised NGO approaches, and as mobilisation recedes in Lebanon. The paper also tackles emerging trends on “counter-masculinity”