Notions Of Hegemonic Masculinity Research Articles

Dressing masculinities: muted colours, aesthetic citizenship and nation-building in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

ABSTRACT This article explores the sartorial practices of Uzbek men across diverse urban contexts in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, highlighting the significance of muted colours as a discursive site for asserting aesthetic citizenship. Drawing on thirteen months of fieldwork, this article depicts how the dressed bodies of working-class young men are intertwined with notions of hegemonic masculinity and Uzbekness. It also analyses how nation-building narratives give rise to gendered sartorial norms and forms of self-discipline, bolstered by everyday dress regulations. I argue that working-class young men’s preference for muted colours, rooted in the Soviet aesthetic’s prioritization of practicality and simplicity, serves as a somatic means of de-beautification, which allows them both to distance themselves from ‘foreign’ fashion and consolidate masculine subjectivities. Thus, embodied sartorial practices become a gendered stance against supposedly zararli (harmful) foreign ideologies and an assertion of aesthetic citizenship against a background of an ongoing surge of gendered nationalism in Uzbekistan.

Management accountants—A gendered image

It has been argued that masculinity in the field of accounting is in flux and that new gendered expectations may be emerging. This study takes an important step toward a discussion on management accountants’ gendered image and broadens understanding of masculinity in the field of management accounting. The question it raises is whether the notion of hegemonic masculinity is dominant in the image and whether the image might be expanding. A qualitative case study of a global technology company was conducted, drawing on 100 of its job advertisements for management accountants and 31 semi-structured interviews with its management accountants and operational managers. The findings revealed that even though some caring attributes, such as empathy, were constructed as important, causing the hegemonic masculinity to seem softer, the image of the ideal management accountant predominantly aligns with hegemonic masculinity, more specifically with transnational business masculinity and entrepreneurialism, which emphasize business performance and maximization of the self. The dominance of hegemonic masculinity leads to the colonization of “othered” bodies, namely women in management accounting. The results critique mainstream management accounting research, which considerably lacks gender analysis.

The Mockingbird and the Lion: Catalysts for Chaos in Game of Thrones

The television series Game of Thrones (2011‒2019) was a cultural phenomenon that aroused great interest among audiences worldwide. HBO’s adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series can be deemed as a milestone for the fantasy genre, which has traditionally never been regarded as mainstream. Nevertheless, this level of success was only possible thanks to the brilliance in terms of storytelling with which palace intrigues were handled, most of them being orchestrated by the polarising characters of Petyr Baelish and Tywin Lannister: all of their spine-chilling schemes plunge Westeros into utter chaos, thus enabling plot development indirectly. Therefore, the aim of this article is to carry out a thorough comparative analysis of the aforementioned characters considering the notion of hegemonic masculinity, the understanding of subalternity by Gramsci, and the medieval social implications of hostageship in order to examine how the mayhem they cause inevitably triggers plot progression, thus subverting Propp’s original conception of the helper while overlapping with the character type of the villain.

“The Dick Is Probably a Bit Overrated”

This study aims to examine how healthcare professionals (HCPs) understand the impact prostate cancer treatment can have on patients’ sense of masculinity, sexuality, and intimate life, and how they describe such issues are communicated with patients. Theoretically, HCP narratives are interpreted as part of a reflective process in which notions of hegemonic masculinity are communicated, and sometimes rethought and redefined, within the rehabilitation process. The study showed that HCPs sometimes felt unqualified to deal with issues concerning masculinity and sexuality as such topics were understood to be partially outside the medical domain of their professions. Nonetheless, HCPs engaged in such conversations with patients and described how they tried to support them in reorientating their sense of masculinity. The article concludes that, whereas HCPs tended to describe their patients’ responses to rehabilitation from an embodied and psychological perspective, their own professional and personal views on masculinity usually departed from a sociocultural level (focusing on what it means to be a man in contemporary Swedish society, suggesting that penetrative sex is overrated), where ongoing configurations of hegemonic masculinity were more evident.

“It’s easy to just be normal”: Performative masculinities in Die stropers

In post-apartheid South Africa, the representation of queer identities in Afrikaans-language films have become increasingly prominent. However, many such films focus on past contexts or serve as comedic depictions, failing to confront the complex issues faced by individuals in contemporary Afrikaner communities. Etienne Kallos’s 2018 coming-of-age film Die stropers (The Harvesters) candidly depicts the challenges faced by adoptive brothers Janno and Pieter, who must negotiate desire and gender in a conservative, Afrikaans farming community. Drawing on Judith Butler’s notion of gender performativity and recent reformulations of Raewyn Connell’s notion of hegemonic masculinity, we examine the discursive (re)production of hegemonic Afrikaner masculinity within the boys’ adoptive family and community. We investigate how the protagonists strategically deploy performative masculinities to achieve belonging and acceptance as heirs, even if the ideals they emulate oppress and restrict them. We propose that the protagonists’ strategic deployment of performative masculinities represents their claiming of agency in contexts where gender and desire are aggressively policed. Furthermore, their navigation of hegemony in this white, Afrikaner community through resistance and consent might point to a claiming of space for queer identities and the continued transmutation of hegemonic masculinity.

Why the victims of Intimate partner violence is increasing in Bangladesh: Understanding the Connection Between Hegemonic Masculinity and Intimate Partner Violence’

In Bangladeshi society, the notion of hegemonic masculinity has been existing for a long time and it has contributed to serious forms of violence against women in recent years. However, most of the empirical research that investigates the theoretical aspects of aggressive manhood, hegemonic masculinity, or gender performativity is centred on western societies. The historical and cultural contexts of intimate partner violence in South Asia have not been adequately explored in attempts to contextualize these gender norms and masculine characteristics. Although significant effort has been made in this field of interest, there is a dearth of literature concerning the conceptions of hegemonic masculinity, aggressive manhood, and gender performance to emerging and a typical patterns of violence against women. Thus, the primary objective of this research is to narrow the gap by demonstrating how the development of hegemonic masculinity and violent manhood is related to contemporary intimate partner violence in Bangladesh, specifically by examining the influence of violent manhood in intimate relationships. To conduct this research, a qualitative study has been used based on secondary data analysis that includes the theoretical analysis of Buttler, Connell, Sumerau, and other scholars. The findings of this research indicate that physical violence perpetrated by men against their spouses reinforces a gender system and culture that justifies husbands’ power over their wives. Therefore, masculinity is not a fixed entity embedded just in the body or personality traits of individuals. Rather, hegemonic masculinities are configurations of practice that are accomplished in social activities due to structural, cultural, and other forces which might differ according to the gender relations in a particular social setting.

Invisible in Plain Sight? Grandfathers Caring for Orphaned Grandchildren in Rural Malawi

ABSTRACT Millions of orphans, created by parental deaths due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, live with, and are cared for, by grandparents. Little research has considered how grandparents and, in particular, grandfathers, are caring for orphans. Here, we employ the analytical concept of generative grandfathering to analyse rural grandfathers’ roles in orphan care within communities of Zomba District, Southern Malawi. Using an ethnographic approach to investigate orphan care, we engaged children, young people and adults in multiple qualitative research activities, including interviews, focus group discussions, stakeholder and dissemination meetings. The findings suggest that although grandfathers’ contributions to orphan care are on the periphery of research and policy concerned with grandparenting in Malawi and other regions of sub-Saharan Africa, grandfathers are incontrovertibly at the epicentre of their orphaned grandchildren’s everyday lives. Grandfathers are providers for their orphaned grandchildren, they support their formal education, and are integral to the intergenerational transmission of both knowledge and values. However, despite performing myriad caring roles in plain sight of their communities, grandfathers remain largely invisible due to gendered (mis)conceptions of care. This highlights the dilemma of grandfathers as ageing men who find themselves in roles not traditionally associated with hegemonic notions of masculinity in their communities.

Vegan celebrity activism: an analysis of the critical reception of Joaquin Phoenix’s awards speech activism

ABSTRACT Acceptance speeches have long been used by celebrity activists as platforms from which to promote their personal, political or ethical agendas. The actor Joaquin Phoenix, an outspoken proponent for animal rights and veganism, dominated the Hollywood awards season in 2020 for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck in Joker and used his platform to address this cause. The reaction to Phoenix’s speech in the trade and mainstream press reveals much about the role of celebrity vegan activism in the contemporary cultural and political climate. This article analyses the critical reception of Phoenix’s Oscar speech across 37 US and UK trade press and mainstream news articles. In doing so, we highlight how gender and notions of hegemonic masculinity are managed and reproduced through the press discourse on celebrity animal rights activism. We argue that Phoenix’s star persona and celebrity advocacy complicate the gendered norms associated with vegan practice. Finally, we address the issues of authenticity by examining Phoenix’s performance of advocacy at the Oscars to argue that and the actor’s speech popularises an emergent redemptive narrative of veganism, which negotiates hegemonic masculine ideals.

Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography. Edited by Alicia Spencer-Hall and Blake Gutt

As the epilogue to this important new contribution to medieval studies rightly recognizes, the fantasy of an ethnically unified Europe, where men were men and women knew their place, is one that has frequently been bandied about by white supremacists eager to seek historical support for their Islamophobic or transphobic views. St Joan of Arc, scrubbed of queerness and essentialized as the Maid of Orléans, has been transformed into a left-wing working-class hero or a right-wing nationalist while Christ has been figured as the very archetype of masculinity, and thus a reiteration of the supposed primacy of Adam over Eve, and, by extension, of man over woman. The essays in this volume, which adopt a range of approaches to trans and genderqueer issues, reveal that nothing could be further from the truth. Medieval authors and artists, fascinated by questions of fluidity, repeatedly reveal how identified gender is not necessarily synonymous with the sex or the gender assigned at birth. The result is a fascinating and provocative insight into medieval production that raises clear implications for a range of broader interdisciplinary debates. The essays themselves, skewed heavily in favour of AFAB subjects (assigned female at birth), cover a range of topics. In addition to two treatments, by Vanessa Wright and Amy V. Ogden, of St Euphrosyne, who lived as a eunuch in a monastery, M. W. Bychowski offers a fascinating reappraisal of St Marinos/Marina, focusing on questions of exemplarity. The novelty of Bychowski’s approach lies in dismissing outdated terms such as ‘transvestism’, and instead focusing on the saint’s decision to self-identify as male. This raises implications not just for Margaret and Pelagia, to whom Marinos/Marina is etymologically and conceptually related, but for later texts such as Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda aurea, which performs a spectacular act of queer cleansing by reappraising the decision to don male attire as a mandate issued by the saint’s father, thus invalidating the display of agency and instead refocusing the narrative in part on notions of hegemonic masculinity. One slight criticism is that some essays are partially decontextualized. Caitlyn McLoughlin’s treatment of St Catherine of Alexandria, for instance, advances a number of informative observations but is weakened by the absence of references to previous critical studies of the saint or the broader theological or intellectual context of concepts such as her status as sponsa Christi [bride of Christ]. Conversely, a notable strength of the volume is Sophie Sexon’s treatment of Christ, who is approached from a non-binary perspective in which the wound in his side — appraised in conspicuously vulvic terms — is envisioned as the organ from which the Church was born. His depiction thereby succeeds in destabilizing the bounded categories of male and female. The volume is completed by essays on a range of other topics, including Kevin C. A. Elphick’s discussion of the much-neglected figure of Juana de la Cruz, as well as an extensive jargon-busting appendix which offers a number of invaluable pointers as to how language should be employed by those as yet unfamiliar with this fascinating emerging field.

Guys in a strange style: Subcultural masculinity of Soviet Stiliagi

This article examines the subcultural Soviet movement Stiliagi from its appearance in 1948 to the early 1960s. The movement created countercultural fashion styles for men for the first time since the Communist Revolution in 1917. I argue that the movement and the lifestyle that were associated with it contributed to a change in the representation of masculinity in the Soviet Union by introducing a type of urban man interested in fashion and contemporary music. Stiliagi is represented in literary works and memoirs, along with the satirical press of the time. This study uses these sources along with personal interviews conducted by the author to show the full range of the movement. Using Connell’s notion of hegemonic masculinity, I look at Stiliagi as a type of alternative masculinity and argue that the fashion style and adherence to the movement were used strategically to navigate the dangerous landscape of Soviet ideological reality.

Becoming a Man

This paper seeks to analyze the affective-sexual trajectories of young gay men in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Based on qualitative research with 15 young, urban, low-income gay men aged between 19 and 24, carried out in 2019, this article shows the learning of masculinity and its consequences on the men’s sex lives. As a result, we argue that these young men have been brought up for the exaltation of heterosexuality and being a real man since boyhood; that the pedagogies of masculinity produce hierarchies among gay masculinities; and that the connection with other social markers, such as race, social class, religion, sexual preferences related to being active or passive, and gender expressions, upholds the notion of hegemonic masculinity. Regarding those who escape this pattern, these young men reveal several vulnerabilities and multiple violent acts during their trajectories.

Transcontinental polygyny, migration and hegemonic masculinity in Guinea‐Bissau and the Gambia

AbstractIn the context of transnational migration, many non‐migrant men in Guinea‐Bissau and The Gambia postulate a ‘transcontinental’ version of polygyny, wishing to have one wife in Europe and another in Africa. Such claims are made among competing notions of love based on romantic intimacy and monogamy. This article explores the ways in which people rationalise polygyny in transnational marriage, based on the notion of hegemonic masculinity. Whereas hegemonic masculinity is an ideal asserted discursively, through persuasion, and relies on common consent, some migrant men resort to the strategy of keeping the African wife secret from the European wife—they are only able to assert a ‘one‐sided hegemonic masculinity’ in transnational marriage. Ultimately, global economic inequalities and the demand for labour migration characteristic of contemporary neoliberal globalisation counter the trend towards romantic intimacy, necessitating transnational family forms and favouring polygyny.

Masculinity and Men’s Suicide Attempts in Bangladesh

Drawing on Raewyn Connell’s theoretical notion of hegemonic masculinity, this study examines relations between masculinity and suicide attempts in Bangladesh. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 men from the Jhenaidah district, who had previously attempted suicide. Participants discussed how “real men” were expected to be primary providers, demonstrate their material power and sexual prowess. However, the men disclosed that they encountered difficulties in achieving these versions of hegemonic masculinity in their real lives. Within this context, suicide attempts operated as a redemptive means to overcome perceived masculine “crises.” These findings demonstrate that suicide is a socially and culturally constituted phenomenon, which should be understood beyond an individualized and mental health framework. Suicide intervention strategies in Bangladesh must include critical analyses of masculinities, as well as measures to change rigid processes of gendered socialization.

‘She’ll be right’: the place of gendered emotions in disasters

This paper draws on the geographies of emotion and masculinities literature to explore rural men’s experiences of the 2016 Kaikōura/Waiau earthquake in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 men affected by the earthquake. Geographies of emotion enable reflection on the social context and individual circumstances of those impacted by natural hazard events, thereby contributing to understanding the way local constructions of gender influence people’s experiences of disasters. The paper highlights how emotions are present regardless of how antipodean notions of hegemonic masculinity, reflecting stoicism and reserve, shape disaster responses. The research identified that two years on from the earthquake, men were still emotional when talking about the earthquake, yet attempted to silence their emotional distress. Through an analysis of emotion, men’s hidden vulnerabilities and capacities, which are linked to sets of understandings about masculinities in place, are captured. This research illustrates the value of undertaking analysis of men’s emotions in disaster spaces.

Being Bad to Feel Good: China’s Migrant Men, Displaced Masculinity, and the Commercial Sex Industry

ABSTRACT The plight of male migrant workers in China warrants critical attention because their diminished opportunity for life success has created a public health issue. To cope with hopelessness and despair they engage in risky behaviors involving paid sex and drugs. This article extends Connell ’s notion of hegemonic masculinity, linking urban migration with a rampant ‘masculinity crisis’ engulfing these single migrant men. Interviews with 100 male migrants who admitted to regularly buying commercial sex in low-end and mid-tier bars revealed underlying cultural tensions which drive them to use paid sex and drugs to help them cope with their emasculated reality. This article facilitates understanding of China’s masculinity crisis against the backdrop of the nation’s post-socialist transition in a wider social, cultural, and historical structure.

Can korfball facilitate mixed-PE in the UK? The perspectives of junior korfball players

ABSTRACTKorfball was invented in a mixed Primary School in Amsterdam in the early 1900s [IKF (2006). Korfball in the Mixed Zone. KNKV; Summerfield and White (1989). Korfball: A Model of Egalitarianism. Sociology of Sport Journal, 6, 144–151]. The main catalyst for the development of korfball was a need for a competitive mixed sport that relied on cooperation and meant boys and girls could participate on a level playing field [Summerfield and White (1989). Korfball: A Model of Egalitarianism. Sociology of Sport Journal, 6, 144–151]. Previous research into gender in physical education (PE) has found that young people gain gender-related understandings through PE [Azzarito (2009). The Panopticon of PE: pretty, active and ideally white. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 14(1), 19–39; Azzarito and Solomon (2009). An Investigation of Students’ Embodied Discourses in PE: A gender project. Journal of Teaching in PE, 28, 173–191; Azzarito and Solomon (2010). A Reconceptualization of PE: The intersection of gender/race/social class. Sport, Education and Society, 10(1), 25–47; Chalabaev et al. (2013). The Influence of Sex Stereotypes and Gender Roles on Participation and Performance in Sport and Exercise: Review and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14, 136–144; Wright (1995). A Feminist Poststructuralist Methodology for the Study of Gender Construction in PE: Description of a Study. Journal of Teaching in PE, 15, 1–24]. [Thorne (1993). Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School. Rutgers University Press] argues that to remove binary thinking and notions of hegemonic masculinity and femininity, PE lessons should promote equality between girls and boys, reflect cooperation and teamwork between all, and demonstrate to students that gender inclusivity is achievable.This paper will consider findings from a larger ethnographic study, in order to discuss how junior korfball players understand gender within their individual PE settings. It will also seek to discover whether players believe gender discourses can be negotiated in PE through the use of korfball. Players frequently referred to the limitations of their current PE experiences and suggested that the mixed element of korfball could provide opportunities for boys and girls to come together in PE. Players described how the structure of the korfball game reflects a need to use both sexes, which could improve mixed PE lessons. Players also discussed preconceived ideas about boys’ games and girls’ games, which led to problematic actions and interactions in current mixed PE settings. Findings suggest that embodied practices which demonstrate the abilities of girls, as well as boys, could lead to resistance of dominant discourses which reinforce gender difference and the physical inferiority of girls. They might provide a space which alters dominant discourse often reproduced in PE and sporting environments.

Is Everything Compatible? A Feminist Critique of Hearn’s Composite Approach to Men and Masculinity

ABSTRACTSince its emergence in the late 1980s, research on men and masculinity has expanded considerably into an established area at the intersection of sociology, gender studies and related disciplines. There is now a wealth of empirical research but the theoretical debates have largely centred on Connell’s notion of hegemonic masculinity. This article focuses instead on the theoretical contribution of Jeff Hearn, arguably one of the central figures within critical studies on men and masculinities over the last few decades. The article identifies the main tenets of Hearn’s theoretical writing and tracks its development over time, and offers a critical discussion of Hearn’s theoretical position. The critique focuses on ambiguous treatments of central concepts and argues that tensions between perspectives such as materialist analysis, queer theory and intersectionality are not fully acknowledged in Hearn’s work.

Bullying of emos in Mexico City: an ethnographic analysis

The article describes the beliefs that have fueled violence by various groups against male and female "emos" in Mexico City. This was an ethnographic study from 2012 to 2015 based on 24 in-depth interviews with young students enrolled in public universities in Mexico City in 2008. The study focused primarily on emos (10), but also included young people that described themselves as punks (6), darks (5), and rockers (3). The findings suggest that bullying of emos is deeply rooted in gender beliefs, particularly hegemonic notions of masculinity. The study highlights the fact that bullying is perpetrated not only by other youth, but also occurs in the family and school settings, where the violence is taken for granted as a legitimate construct associated with the idea of discipline in school. The strategies used by these young people to resist bullying suggest reflexive attitudes towards their historical, scholastic, and family contexts. They are able to reaffirm their collective demand for the right to education and diversity in university classes, but the situation calls for policies to prevent bullying, especially in the university community.

A Rhetorical Construction of Masculinities in the Letter of Jude

ABSTRACTIt seems that the author of the Letter of Jude’s honour and authority was challenged by certain men in the Christian faith community, and therefore the letter should be read as a retort to an honour challenge. In his defence, Jude claims a certain honour because of his blood ties to “James” and by being a “servant” of Jesus Christ. He also uses both the authoritative faith tradition entrusted to the apostles and the authoritative written tradition to position himself. Central to his claim of honour and authority is the exercise of power and dominance; these concepts are central to the notion of hegemonic masculinity, which guarantees the dominant position of particular men, and the subordination of women and other men. This identity of Jude derives from his participation in the faith community and from interactions with other men, based on competition. His opponents, as the other men, are forced into a position of subordination by offensive or derogatory language used to describe men whose behaviour, appearance, or speech is considered typical of that which is traditionally associated with women. Effeminate men represent the most fundamental failure of true or idealised masculinity. Yet Jude encourages the community to display behaviour of a conspicuously moral quality, which will give them a different identity. In this way, the text of Jude continuously constructs, deconstructs and reconstructs the masculine characteristics of the first-century Mediterranean world. The aim of this study is to investigate the rhetorical construction of multiple patterns of performative masculinities in the text of Jude.

Stigma associated with sexually transmissible infection testing in an online testing environment: examining the perspectives of youth in Vancouver, Canada

A convenience sample of 71 youth (aged 15-24 years) both male and female was engaged through online and offline recruitment strategies in Vancouver, Canada. Through semistructured and exploratory interviews, participants were asked about their perceptions of stigma associated with STI testing in an online testing environment. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Youth came from a diverse set of sociodemographic backgrounds and most (n=46, 65%) had previously accessed STI testing in clinic-based settings. Participants' perceptions pointed to the benefits of online testing for reducing the external stigma despite the potential persistence of internalised stigma. Notions of hegemonic masculinity and emphasised femininity were also present in the participants' descriptions of the role of gender in accessing online STI testing. Online STI testing could potentially ameliorate the experiences of participants in regards to the stigma associated with STI testing; however, participants' internalised feelings of shame and stigma around testing for STI may continue to persist. Our findings underscore the need to revisit and re-evaluate existing STI testing services to provide less anxiety-inducing testing environments for youth.