Hegemonic Ideals Research Articles

#MeReclamoMía: representaciones y narrativas en torno al cuerpo femenino de instagrammers #BodyPositive

Recently, in social networks such as Instagram, it is common to find non-normative bodies challenging the hegemonic ideals that govern over the bodies. Focusing on the activism in social networks, this investigation addresses the representations and narratives about the female body of three Body Positive Fers. At the same time, this study includes three other types of participants: specialists in gender topics, body and Body Positive; fat activists and/or Body Neutrality with a critical perspective about the Body Positive movement; and followers of Body Positive accounts. Firstly, we identify the digital trajectories, profiles and content of the Instagrammers. Secondly, we analyze the representations of the female body that they show on their profiles. Thirdly, we examine the narratives about the female body that Instagrammers promote as a response to hegemonical body ideals.

Hegemonie en mag: 'n Normatiewe besinning in die lig van 'n gevallestudie Hegemony and power: A normative reflection as elucidated by a case study

Hegemonie en mag: 'n Normatiewe besinning in die lig van 'n gevallestudie Hegemony and power: A normative reflection as elucidated by a case study

Men's Help-Seeking for Distress: Navigating Varied Pathways and Practices.

There is a widely accepted dominant narrative surrounding men’s mental health help-seeking, that men are less likely to pursue formal mental health support on account of hegemonic masculine ideals that limit emotional expression and vulnerability. Across the literature, little attention has been given to the varied ways in which men can and will seek out help when experiencing mental health troubles. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of men’s experiences of distress, specifically focused on their help-seeking and everyday coping and management of distress. Between 2016 and 2017, 38 individual interviews were carried out in South Wales, United Kingdom, with men of a range of ages (21–74 years of age) and social backgrounds. Analysis identifies nuanced help-seeking practices and pathways, emphasizing ways in which men can and will engage with mental health support. Some men struggled with articulating personal issues in mental health terms, and some portrayed ambivalence to help-seeking, yet at the same time reconstructed help-seeking to positively align with masculine values. The paper further highlights the significant influence of familial and friendship networks in the help-seeking process as well as the value of therapy for men experiencing mental health difficulties, challenging the idea that masculinity inhibits the disclosure of emotional problems. Awareness of the diversity of ways in which men can actively engage with their mental health is needed so that mental health support interventions and practitioners can best reach out to men experiencing distress and provide gender-sensitive support suitable to a range of different men.

“Doctors Don’t Kill Babies! Monsters Do!”: using performance and personal narrative to identify the U.S. Abortion Monster

ABSTRACT This essay identifies a specific monster in U.S. American culture: the Abortion Monster. I demonstrate how abortion patients and providers are constructed as monstrous by anti-abortion rhetoric. I argue that anti-abortion rhetoric is not only about the decision to end or continue a pregnancy, rather it is a response to perceived deviation from performances of White heteropatriarchy. Abortion Monsters’ rejection of hegemonic identity performances and/or their inability to embody such performances threatens and queerly reimagines heteronormative White supremacist norms. I demonstrate how performance scholarship is a space to explore the bodily imperatives and material implications of monstrosity in everyday life.

Mock meat, masculinity, and redemption narratives: vegan men’s negotiations and performances of gender and eating

ABSTRACT Veganism’s visibility has soared in recent years. Contemporary veganism has built a trident approach of outreach that emphasises health benefits, ethical concerns about animals, and environmentally sustainable consumption. With this growth, there have been opportunities for influencer-activists to profit from positioning themselves as movement leaders. This is often connected with thin, white, wealthy women and the wellness industry, but there is also a changing ‘meatless masculinity’ within vegan influencer-activist spaces. Hegemonic ideals of masculinity around physical strength and virility are being hyper-individualised to ‘sell’ veganism through embodied and cultural performances of ‘redemption narratives’ by vegan influencer-activist men. However, in interviews with vegan men in Britain, their relation to these meatless masculinities was found to be in tension with hegemonic masculinity. Interviewees instead related their veganism to an ungoverning of masculine bodily ideals. Veganism was revealed in the interviews as entangled with men representing themselves as part of a progressive masculinity that engages with feminist ideas, even if they are sometimes misunderstood. In this paper, I explore the prevalence and purpose of these masculinity narratives online through social media examples, before exploring a contradictory growth in the re-thinking and rejection of hegemonic masculinity within the vegan constituency through interviews. I conclude that while vegan masculinities offer the potential for men to be a little less governed by gendered norms there remains a need for vegans to more fully embrace a feminist and intersectional veganism that is not dominated by whiteness and masculinist ideals.

Negotiating Masculinity in a Post-Socialist Society: The Case of Chinese Male Nurses

Occupational gender inequalities are an important sociological concern. Studies on men in female-dominated occupations, such as nursing, have offered rich insights to advance our understanding of gender dynamics in contemporary society. However, current theoretical and empirical accounts have been mostly dominated by Westernized discussions. Utilizing insights from critical studies on men and masculinities, alongside Chinese masculinities studies, this article seeks to enrich the discourse by examining the working experiences of 12 Chinese male nurses in a city hospital. It identifies a culturally specific stigma faced by filial Chinese men. It unravels the masculinity strategies and gender capital, and their effects, used by Chinese male nurses to defend their ability and contributions. It reveals the difficulties and paradoxes arising when men negotiate new hegemonic masculine ideals in post-socialist China. This article provides a nuanced understanding of non-Western masculinities and insights into practices that have been used to sustain male dominance in female-dominated and emotionally demanding jobs.

Interscholastic inclusion: Local and National News Framing of High School Transgender Athletes

Debates of who is and is not permitted to participate in sport have been magnified in regard to those whose gender identity deviates from traditional heteronormative standards. Former high school transgender athletes Mack Beggs and Andraya Yearwood, in states with different stances toward trans participation, were thrust into media spotlights. A content analysis examined local and national newspaper reporting about the individuals and their states’ policies. Newspapers did not uphold perceived hegemonic ideals associated with sport by negatively depicting each marginalized athlete. Journalists applauded both for driving conversations toward equal opportunity in high school athletics.

Commodified Nature: Intertwined Threads of Identification

ABSTRACT Environmentalist concerns have been consistently dismissed and disputed by conservative right-wing actors. In this article, I argue that anti-environmentalism, with its persistent links to anti-genderist, racist and classist discourses, is best understood through an ecofeminist lens. Within hegemonic development discourse, nature is routinely apprehended as a commodity to be used. I argue that the conceptual framework which rationalises an unsustainable use of nonhuman nature is aligned to that which maintains unequal human relations, and that recognition of this alignment is vital to fighting the environmental crisis we all face today. Indeed, such recognition may foster more unified rather than fragmented efforts in this fight. In this article, I offer a thematic analysis of the discourses of the current far-right authoritarian Brazilian government and demonstrate how concepts of gender, race and class are intertwined with those of nature, development and sustainability, all contributing to the perpetuation of hegemonic identities which foster environmental exploitation. I conclude that to move forward we should turn instead to a reappraisal of what it means to be human and of what truly constitutes our self-interest as such.

“Welcome to the End of the World!”

AbstractAs the COVID‐19 pandemic is shattering the world, it can also be considered a “dress rehearsal” for the next crisis: climate change. The pandemic showed the worst faces of the global hegemonic system, but the next crisis will signify a crisis that is unthinkable. The global discourse has been demonstrated as a fiction, as global treaties, organizations, and systems were not able to respond to the global crisis, leaving local communities to survive a global problem through their own means. After the failure of the global, we must turn to the local as a way of transforming every paradigm into a culture of life. Homodiversity – against hegemonic identities – needs to emerge. The existence of many coexisting identities, epistemologies, and ways of living must be recognized in order to imagine another reality after the pandemic. It is in the local arena that real transformation can be made. Ecumenism is transcendental in this task as a model of communitarian relationships that can also transform political and economic systems. Karl Barth’s ecumenical theology is of key importance.

“Oh for the days when men were men”: constructing, defending and justifying masculinity in newspaper comment forums – a critique

ABSTRACT The neologism “toxic” masculinity has sparked debate in recent years over the negative masculine behaviours associated with hegemonic ideals. The rise of Donald Trump, the #MeToo movement and shaving company Gillette’s support of it, as well as the argued motives behind Brexit have all contributed to and intensified discussions around hegemonic masculinity, shown clearly by the wealth of user comments posted in reaction to online articles discussing the topic. Using a critical discourse analysis, this article identifies, critically examines and re-evaluates the complex and often paradoxical defence strategies used by Daily Mail comment forum users in reaction to calls for a cultural shift away from “toxic” masculinity. Three overarching, interrelated themes are presented: (1) The male victimhood/entitlement paradox—legitimising hegemonic, “toxic” masculine traits as justified reaction to “toxic” feminists, liberals and lefties,’ (2) Gender essentialism as the neutral position—nostalgic accentuation of innate differences, (3) Distancing: attributing “toxic” masculinity to a breakdown in the family unit. It is argued that deeply ingrained essentialist views of gender only perpetuate the patriarchal subordination and mistreatment of women and marginalised men. This paper, building on a growing body of research, calls for a radical shift towards a more progressive construction of masculinity.

Old Boundaries and New Frontiers - Reflections on the Identity of Archaeology

In this paper I demonstrate some major changes within the traditional disciplinary boundaries of archaeology during the last 25-30 years, and the subsequent formation of new frontiers of theory and practice. They are the result of the expansion and diversification of the discipline in modern society. In that process archaeology has lost its former hegemonic identity which is replaced by pluralism and overlapping functions and identities. This has resulted in institutional and organisational discrepances. My analysis serves as a platform for forrnulating a strategy for cooperation between these new sectors, especially the heritage sector and the universities, leading to the formation of a more coordinated archaeological research practice.

Hegemonic Masculinity and “Badness”

The relationship between masculinity, crime, and violence has a long history, whereby hegemonic masculinity is utilized as a resource to create and sustain tough reputations “on road”, where everyday lives are played out on urban streets. Within the context of road culture—of which gangs are part—this is particularly significant given the hypermasculine focus. This paper considers Raewyn Connell’s (1995; 1997; 2000) work on hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity and develops it in new directions by exploring how these hegemonic identities are inscribed on women’s bodies. In the English context, the dominant discourse around young women “on road” is of that of passivity, as they are victims first and offenders second. An underexplored area is their role as perceived “honorary men” when adopting behavior associated with hegemonic masculinity, therefore how they bargain with patriarchy within these spaces is explored.

Hegemonic Masculinity and “Badness”

The relationship between masculinity, crime, and violence has a long history, whereby hegemonic masculinity is utilized as a resource to create and sustain tough reputations “on road”, where everyday lives are played out on urban streets. Within the context of road culture—of which gangs are part—this is particularly significant given the hypermasculine focus. This paper considers Raewyn Connell’s (1995; 1997; 2000) work on hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity and develops it in new directions by exploring how these hegemonic identities are inscribed on women’s bodies. In the English context, the dominant discourse around young women “on road” is of that of passivity, as they are victims first and offenders second. An underexplored area is their role as perceived “honorary men” when adopting behavior associated with hegemonic masculinity, therefore how they bargain with patriarchy within these spaces is explored.

Negotiating Alternative Masculinities in Men’s Magazines: Transitivity in the Formation of Counter Hegemonic Identities

With social transformation and male empowerment, the archetypes of traditional masculinity are being deconstructed and rendered obsolete. The changing view of masculinity demands for an exploration of how popular media, particularly men’s magazines rewrite the discourse of masculinity. Attempting to answer the overarching question of ‘what does masculinity mean today?’, this paper explores identity as a linguistic phenomenon. Drawing on both Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Halliday’s Transitivity system of the Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) frameworks, we examine ideational meanings realised by lexicogrammatical selections and discourse-semantic-choice involving process types and participants’ role that form counter hegemonic masculinities. This study argues that as men negotiate their identities, magazines play a critical role in challenging patriarchal masculinity and normalising alternative masculine practices via ideologies embedded in a text. The investigation focuses on how transitivity is drawn on to produce counter hegemonic formations and how different enactments of masculinities are articulated in magazine texts to present alternative forms of male identities. Drawing from 584,600-word corpus of selected men’s magazines titles published from 2016 to 2020, findings revealed the use of material, mental, relational and behavioural processes that manifests counter hegemonic identities or non-traditional representation. Evidence from the corpus reflects various projections of men as emotionally vulnerable, aesthetically conscious, domestically competent and antihomophobic. The implication highlights the different ways media language creates and facilitates the changes in masculine practices and how magazine texts infuse or indoctrinate alternative identities as a stable performance of masculinity.

Resistance or reinforcement? A critical discourse analysis of racism and anti-Blackness in public administration scholarship

This article identifies the ways that White supremacy manifests throughout the field of public administration in its research and scholarship. Through a critical discourse analysis of symposia over a period of 20 years (2000–2020) in three foremost public administration journals, this paper investigates the extent to which each journal either reinforces or resists systemic racism. Peer-reviewed journals serve as gatekeepers to advancing and shaping the direction of research; as such, symposia are a mechanism through which editors signal interest, create intellectual space, open dialogue in a particular research direction, and share editorial power with guest editors who either represent marginalized or hegemonic identities and positions. Our analysis reveals there is an opportunity to enhance race-consciousness, intentional anti-racist language, power-sharing, and resistance in future symposia. The article concludes by offering a path forward toward dismantling, reconciling, and repairing the entrenched, systemic, and historic racism and anti-Blackness in the field of public administration.

The ‘addict sexual script’: Addiction discourse among Israeli sex industry consumers

This article discusses the sexual script of Israeli sex industry consumers who self-identify as addicts. It argues that the ‘addict sexual script’ provides both an explanation for out of control sexual behaviour and a channel for expressing the individual client’s ‘right’ to be acknowledged for their suffering in the process of buying sex. Thus, the addict sexual script becomes a coping strategy that, while internalising sex consumption as socially deviant behaviour, also serves as a strategic practice for negotiating and challenging masculine hegemonic ideals. It concludes that the willingness to stigmatise and victimise themselves as disempowered individuals becomes a turning point, which, paradoxically, empowers sex consumers as actors in the framework of consumer capitalism.

Revealing Brazilian fat activism through visual arts: the cases of Elisa Queiroz and Fernanda Magalhães

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the development of fat activism in Brazil considering two artists, Elisa Queiroz and Fernanda Magalhães at the end of the twentieth century. Both artists started to develop dialogs related to visual arts and their bodies, reflecting on prejudices still strongly present in Brazil and offering a rethinking and re-envisioning of the fat body. The artists use the body as provocation, as a struggle against the imposition of hegemonic discourses, making a point to stand out as “marginal,” rather than striving for normativity. Considering works that address the fat body in European and North American scenarios, I seek to understand the development of fat activism in Latin American territories, recognizing the scarcity of studies focused on the subject. Queer approaches by fat activists are relevant mainly by their antinormative and indefinable character and by the possibility of understanding artistic practices that refuse to normalize the fat body as “harmless.” White, patriarchal heteronormativity reinforces hegemonic or rigid body ideals, including mainstream media perpetuating notions of ideal femininity associated with thinness or ideal masculinity associated with muscularity. In response to heteronormativity’s regulation of fat bodies, new possibilities of fat transgression are presented in artistic activism, despite the growing medicalization, pathologization, and commodification of bodies out of bounds in medicine and the beauty industry. The results of my studying art as an activist intervention into sizeism indicate the possibility of recognizing a record of fat activism in visual arts in Brazil, allowing the subversion of corporeal standards and making room for emergent discussions about gender, culture, and identities.

Between powerlessness and protest: Indigenous men and masculinities in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul and the emergence of the American Indian Movement

ABSTRACT The Red Power era (1969-1978), the most pivotal time for Indigenous people in the twentieth century, is commonly associated with a fundamental restructuring of Indigenous-settler colonial relations and a major cultural renewal of self and society across Indian Country. This article examines the social formation of those Indigenous men and masculinities who instigated that profound change and became politically active, questioning domestic colonialism and challenging their subaltern status vis-à-vis dominant U.S. society. More specifically, this article explores the shared experiences of Indigenous male activists within the American Indian Movement (AIM) during its early beginnings between 1968 through mid-1972. AIM (1968–1978) originated in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St-Paul and rose to become the most significant player in Indigenous protest politics at its time. Indigenous men in AIM shared key experiences with settler colonial institutions and the forces of modernity (boarding schools, military service, prisons, the urban experience) that affected their male identities in multiple, complex, and contradictory ways. Western-centric concepts of race, gender, and nation have consistently worked towards the marginalization and oppression of the Indigenous ‘other' -commonly through the imposition of colonial standards as a ‘civilizing force.' This article argues that the inculcation of Indigenous men with hegemonic ideals, together with experiences of emasculation, have led to an unintended outcome, namely the emergence of a ‘protest masculinity.' This ‘protest masculinity’ arose as a result of and in reaction to assimilationist policies. Paradoxically, Indigenous male activists contested dominant concepts of masculinity, yet at the same time conformed to the very cultural ideals they struggled against. This article offers an understanding of how gender and race bias intersect to disadvantage Indigenous men and how this in turn constitutes a powerful catalyst for change.

Doing Gender, Class, and Nation in Northern India: Student Aspirations and the New Middle Class

ABSTRACT India’s new middle class is important in establishing a hegemonic culture and structure that legitimizes what it means to be a successful, modern Indian man or woman. This study examines the extent to which, and how, the aspirations of educated, non-cosmopolitan young people in the Garhwali hills of northern India reflect and embody these hegemonic ideals. These questions are important because these ideal constructs, largely based in the realities of elite, transnational middle-class lives, are held up to be the legitimate ones that reflect a vision of India as a modern nation. My findings draw from 38 in-depth interviews conducted with students at five colleges in the Garhwali area of Uttarakhand. The aspirations and expectations of college students in this area largely reflect, and thus reinforce and legitimize, dominant constructs of gender, class, and nation. This is the case even though the chances of obtaining a position in the transnational middle class are relatively low for young people in this area. Moreover, the particular constraints faced by female students make it especially unlikely that they will ever reach new-middle-class status. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Commemorative (Dis)Placement: On the Limits of Textual Adaptability and the Future of Public Memory Scholarship

AbstractAs Kirt Wilson recently noted, contemporary memory and commemorative scholarship can sometimes be too narrowly focused on the centrality of material visual display to a historical narrative’s persuasive power or institutional ideological structures, a tendency that ultimately valorizes and reinforces dominant narratives. In the face of that practice, I ask: How can we understand the extent to which institutionalized histories reinforce and stabilize hegemonic ideals of systems and structures while (dis)placing others? There are several potential answers to this question; the one I want to focus on here has to do with methodological choices. More specifically, I argue for an expansion of the focus of memory and commemorative scholarship to incorporate nondominant historical narratives. This can be achieved by using a methodological approach rooted in circulation theory as a corrective to a long-term focus on dominant (hegemonic) texts. Such an approach allows for memory and commemorative scholarship to employ multiple discourses and practices embedded in commemoration by critically engaging the ways in which hegemonic narratives and identities emerge and are enacted beyond what are traditionally understood to be the “material” structures of public memory.