“What Is a Man?“ An Mini-Exhibition on the Transformation of Masculinities from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Date: 13 April to 28 May 2026
Hours: During University Library opening hours
Venue: Exhibition Area, G/F, University Library, CUHK
Admission: Free, no registration required (Open to CUHK students, staff, faculty, and the general public)
Language: Bilingual (Chinese and English)

Description:

What is a man? Are there as many kinds of men as there are cultures — a thousand cultures, a thousand kinds of men? Or have the expectations and norms placed on men across time and place been surprisingly similar?

This mini-exhibition brings together perspectives from anthropology, psychology, biology, history, archaeology, and sociology to trace the origins and evolution of male social roles and masculine identity. From how the agricultural revolution gave rise to patriarchy, to how modern psychology has reassessed the true nature of gender differences; from coming-of-age rituals for men across cultures, to the costs and struggles revealed by the concept of “precarious manhood” — the exhibition maps the growing diversity of men’s experience while illuminating the enduring influence of traditional cultural expectations on men, and the unique challenges these pose for men’s mental health.

The story of men is far more complicated than we might think.

For more details about the thematic exhibition, workshops, and talks, please visit the link here.

Organisers: Faculty of Social Science, University Library, Gender Studies Programme, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Committee Against Discrimination and Sexual Harassment, The Chinese University of Hong Kong