Climbing the Hierarchy of Masculinity: Asian American Men’s Cross-Racial Competition for Intimacy with White Women

Abstract

Studies of masculinity have focused on the inequalities among different groups of men, yet they have failed to consider women’s roles in men’s engagement in various positions within hegemonic masculinity. Using life-history interviews with five interracial couples made up of Asian American men and white women, as well as five individuals who either were or had been involved in an Asian American man/white woman interracial couple, this article examines the cross-racial competition in which Asian American men employ multiple strategies to ascend the masculinity hierarchy by seeking white women’s validation of their manhood. Asian American men’s cross-racial competition utilizes four distinct processes: detesting white masculinities; approximating to white masculinities; eschewing white masculinities; and failing in the attempt to maneuver white masculinities. By analyzing these four processes, the author further addresses how the emerging Asian American masculinities that are constructed by Asian American men and white women in the context of intimate relationships challenge or reinforce the current orders of race, class, and gender.