Teddy bears: an artistic and collaborative exploration of masculinity-in-the-making in Norway

In this article, we explore teenage masculinity in a Norwegian context with a workshop-based project using arts-based methods with four teenage male participants. Surprisingly, in one of the workshops, a teddy bear emerged as a significant actor in exploring masculinity, opening conversation, elaboration and exploration around the topic. Taking departure from an agential cut (Barad, Citation2014) – the introduction of a teddy bear – we engage in collaborative knowledge production and exploration of multiplicities in entanglements of stuffed animals, gender, youth and masculinity through an analysis where nostalgic threads of childhood are central. Our study shows the potential of a material-discursive and arts-based approach by looking at how the materiality of the teddy bear opens up to many understandings of masculinity. In doing so, we engage in collaborative analytical explorations using diffraction (Barad, Citation2014), disorientation (Ahmed, Citation2006b), and ‘plugging in’ (Mazzei & Jackson, Citation2012).