Pihla Pekonen

Background

About Pihla Pekonen

Doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. Focused on Early Modern History, Nobility and Gender History. Determined worker with a strong work ethic and an open mind. In my PhD thesis, I examine the different ways in which Swedish noblemen of the 17th century constructed their masculinity and the basis of their identity. By questioning the idea of inherent masculinity, my thesis offers a fresh and relevant perspective on the nobleman of the seventeenth century. By critically examining the artificiality of masculinity and the gender that has been invisible in historical research, we gain a more accurate understanding of how early modern masculinity was produced. Today, questions about masculinity and manhood are increasingly being raised. The different ways in which gender is expressed in the past also expands our understanding of the ways in which it is expressed in the present as well as in the future.