And now, the rest of the story…: A critical reflection on Paechter (2018) and Hamilton et al. (2019)

Abstract

Recent feminist scholarship on femininities favorably incorporates into research notions of what Raewyn Connell (1987) labeled “emphasized femininity,” yet some scholars have concentrated on “hegemonic femininities,” either conceptualizing hegemonic femininities in relation to hegemonic masculinities, or casting hegemonic femininity as a free-standing, non-relational concept that can only properly be understood through an intersectional analysis. In this article, I critically reflect on two representative articles on hegemonic femininities, authored by Carrie Paechter (2018) and Laura T. Hamilton et al. (2019). I first argue that both papers misrepresent the work of Connell. Following that, I augment the two articles through a delineation of recent research on various types of femininities, especially scholarship on emphasized femininities and “dominant femininities.” I conclude the paper by examining how further scholarly work has enlarged upon and contributed new insight to the relationship among femininities, hegemonic masculinities, and intersectionality.