Abstract
PurposeThe aim of this study is to explore the constructions of startup masculinity as a cultural ideal in the specific context of Hungary, a semi-peripheral country in Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity, the paper examines how the construction of startup masculinity, considered hegemonic in a given space and time, subordinates “others”.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a critical discourse analysis of 143 media articles published in the Hungarian print and online Forbes magazine. It builds upon the concepts and theoretical models of hegemonic masculinity, entrepreneurial masculine identities, discursive identity construction and semi-peripherality.FindingsThe study highlights two key findings. Firstly, it reveals that the normative figure of the successful startup founder is not gender-neutral but discursively constructed as masculine, thereby excluding women. Secondly, it emphasises the hierarchical relationship between hegemonic startup masculinity and other masculinities rooted in the semi-peripheral, specifically Hungarian context, which are subordinated in the discourse. Thus, it discursively reproduces not only the hierarchical gendered relations in society, but the symbolical hierarchical relations between the core and the semi-periphery as well.Originality/valueBy examining hegemonic startup masculinity as a subordinating concept within a particular entrepreneurial and geographical context and by illuminating the significance of semi-peripheral locationality in hegemony construction, this paper contributes to both the understanding of masculinity in entrepreneurship literature and the decolonisation of masculinity studies.
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