“The queers hate me because I’m too butch”: Goldilocks masculinity among non-heterosexual men

Abstract

A growing body of scholarship finds that hegemonic masculinity is evolving to produce hybrid masculinities that contain elements of both dominant and marginalized masculinities. Hybrid masculinity theory argues that incorporating marginalized masculinities into the mainstream conceals inequality while continuing to reproduce it. Regarding sexuality, however, the bulk of this research has centered heterosexual men’s perspectives on non-heterosexual masculinities. Instead, I ask: How do non-heterosexual men experience masculinity? Based on interviews with 29 non-heterosexual men, I find pressures to fit within a “goldilocks zone” of masculinity, emphasizing a floor and a ceiling to idealized masculinity. The goldilocks masculinity produced by these bi-directional pressures mirrors and elaborates upon hegemonic masculinity and hybrid masculinity, including emphases on the dominant themes of race, class, and body. I situate goldilocks masculinity as a subtype of hybrid masculinity, while also focusing on how men from the margins simultaneously incorporate and distance themselves from hegemonic masculinity.