When Love-related Issues Undermine Masculinity
The One-itis is a play on words derived from American slang that draws an analogy between the love-related feelings and sickness, the terminology of infectious patologies often ending with the suffix « itis ». The use of this expression, synonymous with « obsessive love » is part of a specific context since it has been coined by a group of young men (aged 18 to 35 years) who gather in order to learn to seduce women. This circle, the « Community of seduction », appeared in the late 1990s in California in the wake of emerging self-help and coaching techniques geared towards male seduction. Drawing on empirical observation of the practices and discourse of love of the young men encountered during this investigation, this contribution focuses on the interplay between painful emotional experiences and the standardization and hierarchy of masculinities.