Hegemonic Masculinity Research Articles

Media representations of the ‘little fresh meat’ phenomenon in China: a feminist critical discourse analysis of the masculine nonconformity discourse

ABSTRACT ‘Little fresh meat’ (LFM or xiǎo xiān ròu), which describes a masculine aesthetic rooted in ‘soft masculinity’, is a phenomenon across Asia that challenges prevailing concepts of masculinity and patriarchal discourse. This study furthers previous research by using feminist critical discourse analysis to evaluate the construction of LFM masculine nonconformity, via data collected from 42 news articles from China’s English-language news media, including: China Daily, Global Times, People’s Daily Online, Shanghai Daily, and Xinhua News Agency. The analysis generated three key themes: (1) market driving a female consumer fan base, (2) challenging hegemonic masculinities when men wear makeup to imitate their ‘idols’, and (3) criticisms of gender stereotypes. These themes show how a masculine nonconformity discourse is developed by using a variety of discursive strategies in China. This study highlights the need for increased awareness and education regarding gender diversity and the harmful impacts of gender stereotypes on Chinese society.

Deconstructing hegemonic masculinities and promoting prevention altruism and antiretroviral therapy adherence among couples

Through the use of a netnography research design, this research sets out to explore plausible strategies that can be adopted for adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The research posits that the successful management of HIV and AIDS is hindered by hegemonic masculinities, which accord power to men and subordinate women. Additionally, a number of societal beliefs linked with sociocultural masculine attitudes become repressive to men in terms of their health-seeking behaviour. This results in their disinclination towards disclosure of their HIV status and access to medicinal usage, which consequently affects the health and well-being of their female counterparts. This research acknowledges the importance of ART in managing HIV and AIDS. For HIV-positive persons, ART reduces the viral load and prolongs the timeframe between a diagnosis of the HIV and the AIDS. It prolongs the survival chances of the infected person. In order to promote adherence to ART and to minimise the risk of HIV infection for women, the research advocates for the promotion of prevention altruism as a mechanism for deconstructing hegemonic masculinities to enable the effective management of HIV and AIDS.Contribution: This research recognises the negative interface between hegemonic masculinities and adherence to ART. Hence, the research suggests the practice of prevention altruism for promoting adherence to ART as well as the effective management of HIV and AIDS in a bid to prolong longevity and to promote Sustainable Development Goal 3.

Czech Hercules: Gustav Frištenský, ‘Musculinity’, the Others and Visual Pleasure around 1900

Before 1900, in the Czech lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, the lean body of an athlete became a representation of strength, health, and beauty. Through Sokol gymnastics, the body of every Czech man was to be shaped into the form of the somatic mythotype Apollo. After 1900, in circuses, variety shows, and strength sports clubs, a new ideal man embodying somatic mythotype Hercules appeared: the strongman, who transformed a lightly muscled Apollonian shape into a modern Herculean form bulking massive shredded musculature. Strongman Gustav Frištenský in particular, whose body was eroticized, photogenized, nationalized, and racialized, embodied a mobilizing sports star who strengthened the Czech national community. Frištenský’s body was shaped by Hellenistic idealism, which gave rise to his adherence to the somatic mythotype of Hercules. This subsequently gave birth to ‘musculinity’, a new kind of hegemonic masculinity. The perception of Frištenský’s body was influenced by a physical resemblance to the Estonian wrestler Georg Lurich, by practices of othering, and the myth of white male supremacy. The steel and statuesque aesthetic of Frištenský’s body and the voyeurism of the masses then undermined traditional middle-class prudery and patriarchal control over the distribution of visual pleasure.

Fishing businesses, women's entrepreneurship, and the performance of femininity

Although recent work has examined how masculinities are performed through fishing work at sea, less research has focused on how femininities are performed in the gendered fisheries context. By focusing on a particular group of women in fisheries – the women entrepreneur – this study examines the performances of femininities in their entrepreneurialism. It explores whether women entrepreneurs can perform gender differently and, by effect, subvert the gender order in the fisheries context. I draw on Schippers' (2002, 2007) concepts of ‘gender hegemony’, ‘gender maneuvering’ and three forms of femininities: ‘hegemonic femininity’, ‘pariah femininity’ and ‘alternative femininity’. My research found that women's performances of femininities are multiple and versatile as women adapted their gender performances to varying situated, relational and spatial contexts. All women entrepreneurs performed a type of hegemonic femininity that supported, confirmed and upheld hegemonic masculinity. Yet, through their entrepreneurial work in male-dominated fishing spaces, women also performed a form of pariah femininity which incorporated many features of hegemonic masculinity – such as getting dirty and displaying strength. In food spaces, on the other hand, women performed a type of ‘alternative femininity’, predicated on being sociable, skilled in cooking and being service minded, which was not predicated on their subordination to that of masculinity. The wider significance of these findings is that women fisheries entrepreneurs maneuver their gender by adopting versatility in their gender performances. This versatility allows them to simultaneously be ‘good’ female partners of fisher-men and tough fish workers, whilst also carving out a space for themselves in food entrepreneurship which was more liberating, enjoyable and self-fulfilling.

Perilaku Toxic Masculinity di Kalangan Pelajar SMK

Toxic masculinity behavior has become one of the examples of emerging reality in society. It talks about how a teenager male is bound to a long-formed social construction against the determination of attitudes and behaviors that men should be carrying out. Like a man should be strong, not crying, and so on. This study aims to identify toxic masculinity behavior that occurs among SMK students. The method used is qualitative research with a case study approach that is reviewed from Berger and Luckmann's theory of social reality construction and supported by Raewyn Connell's hegemonic masculinity theory. Subjects in this study were students of SMK Bina Karya 1 Karawang who consisted of five informants (three perpetrators and two victims) and selected on the basis of certain criteria. The data collection techniques used are observations, interviews and documentation.The results show that toxic masculinity in reality is based on three stages: externalization, objectification and internalization. At the externalization stage, the role of the family as well as the infancy of the informant becomes an important stage in the formation of their character as a man. Then at the objectivization stage, individuals begin to interact and see the reality that exists in their social environment through the meaning created for men. Lastly, the stage of internalization in which individuals embody existing subjectivity and become part of the members of society as a male.

Shaken and Stirred: The Crisis of Masculinity in<em> Casino Royale</em>

This article evaluates the literary figure of James Bond as a manifestation and projection of the Masculinity Crisis of the 1950’s white western male. In his first outing in Ian Fleming’s 1953 Casino Royale, Bond functions as a figure of subjectivity-splitting anxiety through whom the Masculinity Crisis is channelled with catastrophic effects for the character’s own sense of self, mirroring wider social fears about changing roles in an increasingly altering post-war society. While a number of scholars increasingly note the utility of masculinity theory in James Bond studies, the origin of the character’s troubled relationship to his own masculine self is yet to be explored in Fleming’s first novel as cinematic critiques take centre stage in analytical discussions. This article argues that the demands of a hegemonic hyper masculinity, combined with the dualistic lifestyle of a spy, see Bond oscillate between "ideal" and "transgressive" versions of masculine embodiment. This is shown to ultimately work to dissociate the character from his own sense of self, propelling him into crisis. It examines three areas of binary conflict: wealth and ruin, virility and castration, and masculinity and femininity, arguing the extreme pressures of each create an unstable, uneasy, and unhealthy masculine entity in need of critical re-examination.

From the Cradle to the Grave: A Feminist Stylistic Reading of Select Poems from Juka Jabang’s The Phoenix

This study examines the use of poetic artistry as a contribution to social reformation in Juka Jabang’s The Phoenix to highlight the cultural and social tendencies that contribute to the oppression of women in the Gambian context. It draws attention to the oppression of Gambian women not just as a general societal predisposition, but as a phenomenon deeply rooted in the most fundamental unit of the family. Using Sarah Mills’ model of feminist stylistics, the article aims to explore the use of point of view, agency, metaphor, and transitivity to expose the socio-cultural beliefs and practices that perpetuate the oppression of women in Gambian society. The study adopts a qualitative, linguistic-cum-literary analysis based on four poems purposively selected from the collection on the basis of their thematic preoccupation with the plight of women in a male-dominated society. The analysis also pays attention to the literary devices appropriated by the poet in a bid to poeticize the experience of Gambian women at the hands of an unrelenting male hegemony. The analysis reveals that cultural beliefs in the so-called superiority of the male child, the ostensible impurity of uncircumcised women, the submissiveness of women particularly in marriage, and the professed right to multiple wives as major factors that legitimize the oppression of women in Gambian society.

Masculine, independent, and “not acting”: Hegemonic masculinity and femmephobia within an online community of queer men

AbstractThis article focuses on queer men's relationship with hegemonic masculinity and femmephobia. The study was conducted with the aim of investigating how different understandings of masculinity and femininity can fuel femmephobia. Ten posts within the Reddit forum “r/gaybros” were analyzed, along with their 1356 collective comments. Within the analysis, the users of r/gaybros were found to define their expression of masculinity as independent and free from any societal constraints or expectations. To be masculine meant resisting the stereotype that associates queerness with femininity. Femininity was then understood as failing to reach this construction of masculinity and as vacuously conforming to the stereotype that queer men are feminine. Consequently, the users constructed masculinity and femininity in a complementary and hierarchical way. Not only do they devalue and regulate femininity, but the femmephobia that they reproduce is a necessary part of their understanding of masculinity. This article consequently argues that the users of r/gaybros constructed a local form of hegemonic masculinity which contrasts with previous research that understands gay men as capable of imitating hegemonic masculinity but ultimately excluded from its construction.

Digital alcohol marketing and gender: A narrative synthesis.

Alcohol marketing on social media platforms is pervasive and effective, reaching wide audiences and allowing interaction with users. We know little about the gendered nature of digital alcohol marketing, including how women and men are portrayed, how different genders respond and implications for gender relations. This review aimed to identify how males, females and other genders are targeted and represented in digital alcohol marketing, and how they are encouraged to engage with digital alcohol marketing content. A narrative synthesis approach was employed. Academic literature and research reports were searched for studies on digital alcohol marketing published within the previous 10 years with a range of methods and designs. We reviewed the studies, extracted data relevant to gender and synthesised findings thematically. The review included 17 articles and 7 reports with a range of designs and methods, including content analyses of digital material, interviews, focus groups and surveys. Our analysis identified three conceptual themes that captured many of the gendered results, namely: (i) leveraging a diversity of idealised femininities; (ii) amplifying hegemonic masculinity; and (iii) infiltrating everyday gendered life. Alcohol marketing on social media is highly gendered and is designed to embed itself into everyday life in agile ways that reinforce traditional and evolving gendered stereotypes, activities, lifestyles and roles. Gendered engagement strategies are widely used to link alcohol to everyday gendered activities and identities to encourage alcohol purchase and consumption. This marketing normalises alcohol consumption and reproduces harmful gender norms and stereotypes.

Gaming Equity: Women, Videogame Companies, and Public Discourse

It is by now well documented and widely acknowledged that the videogame industry has since its inception been a bastion of hegemonic masculinity. Only more recently, however, with events like Gamergate, #metoo, and the public accusations of workplace toxicity and sexism brought against prominent AAA giants like Riot and Activision Blizzard King, have game companies initiated policies and processes for change—or at least what looks like change, based on company websites and interviews with female employees. Does this mean women are being heard, at last? These are turbulent times for the industry, with legal actions, policy shifts, personal callings-out and billion-dollar corporate mergers and restructurings. What has changed and what is changing for women in games? How, and by whom, is that change being made? This paper begins with a closer look at what women have said since these events, about their experiences, expectations and frustrations working in the industry. Has the public scrutiny turned upon the games industry, post-gamergate and beyond influenced what women have to say about their conditions and experiences working in games? Are they better supported in taking the risks and shouldering the costs of speaking up? What workplace changes in policy or practice may have resulted from women giving public voice to their experiences? Building upon an earlier study of public speech by women about their experiences in the videogames industry (de Castell & Skardzius, 2019), this study both updates and extends its database, and deepens its analysis, by looking explicitly at a speech event’s context of elicitation: who elicits the “event” of public speech, on what topics, with what purpose? Through that dialogical lens we can make more visible and explicit how minority self-representation and marginalized identities and voices are deployed to bolster business as usual, even as they are still expected to lead the charges and fight the battles for a just and inclusive working life in games.

Gender Through Media: Images of Contemporary Masculinity in Two Pakistani Movies

Gender and its media representations inform us about a specific culture. This research paper is an in-depth qualitative study of the representations of contemporary masculinity and queerness in the Pakistani media and popular culture. The paper analyzes two Pakistani movies: Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha (Circus of Life) (2019) and Saim Sadiq’s Joyland (2022). The aim of the study is to explore the concept of masculinity in the Pakistani society and its media representations in popular culture and cinema. Masculinity is interlinked with physical appearance, social norms and religious values in the Pakistani society, whereas queer behaviour is generally condemned because of cultural stereotypes and religious injunctions. The study analyzes the impact of social customs and stereotypes on the perception of masculinity in the male characters with special focus on the queer inclinations manifested in their behaviour. The analysis of the two movies is conducted through contemporary masculinity theories to identify current manifestations of masculinity in the Pakistani society through the media representations. The findings of the research indicate that contemporary masculinities in the Pakistani society and media depict a wide range of variation from hegemonic masculinity to hybrid masculinity, inclusive masculinity and queer masculinity.

‘At the Right Hand of God was Their Soul’: An t-Óglách, the National Army, and Hegemonic Masculinity During the Irish Civil War, 1922–1923

Understandings of masculinities are neither developed in isolation nor are entirely culturally unique but are multifaceted, hierarchal, and adapted throughout history to fit the specific milieu in which they operated. In the context of the Irish Civil War, 1922–1923, the Irish National Army's journal, An t-Óglách, constructed its model of hegemonic masculinity into a complex dual dialectic of anti-colonialist rhetoric and British appropriation. Looking at militarism, linguistics, and athletics, this article argues that An t-Óglách underlined the National Army's engagement in physical force and cultural nationalism as a performance of hegemonic masculinity, with the intent to confer legitimacy onto the National Army as a military and cultural institution in the early years of the Irish Free State.

Political masculinities as an analytical category? Rethinking the concept

This article critically reviews the concept of political masculinities that has been developed and applied across disciplines over the last ten years. I reflect on its future use across disciplines and, in particular, political science. In arguing for its continued utility, I suggest that, rather than existing as a category or configuration of gender practice, it acts as a useful lens through which to view the variably implicit and explicit practice of gendered power relations. This allows us to navigate what has been recognised as the ‘multifariousness and decentredness’ of different categories or configurations of gender practice and makes the varying politicalness of these practices visible as a basis for equitable gender change. In developing the concept further, I define what is ‘political’ in political masculinities and examine its relation to other categories or configurations of masculinity practices, such as hegemonic, dominant, marginalised and subordinate masculinities.

Black Queer Men Transgressing Masculine Normativity

ABSTRACT This qualitative study examined how Black queer men (BQM) in college conceptualized gender and sexuality as they navigated hegemonic and toxic forms of masculinity. Mobilizing queer of color critique, we delve into data from a multi-year critical ethnographic study to unearth the worldmaking practices that BQM engage to dislodge and disrupt the omnipresent gender norms they faced within postsecondary contexts. Our analysis yielded three themes related to BQM experiences with masculinities: (a) perspectives on hegemonic masculinities, (b) queering the politics of intimate and platonic relationships, and (c) institutionalized heteronormativity. We argue that BQM experience insidious forms of heteromasculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, and heterogenderism in college. We conclude by offering implications for higher education research, practice, and policy.

Explorations of attitudes towards accessibility and accessing domestic violence and abuse (DVA) perpetrator support programmes by victim-survivors and perpetrators across five European countries

This paper reports on findings from international empirical research that explored victim-survivors and perpetrators’ attitudes towards perpetrator support programmes. Ninety-three questionnaires with female victim-survivors of domestic partner violence and abuse, and 18 interviews with male perpetrators were conducted in five European countries. Results showed that of the 93 victim-survivors of domestic violence and abuse, half stated they would have stayed in their relationship with perpetrators if the abuse had stopped, and a similar number reported that they believed their relationships would have been different had there been help for the perpetrator. Analysis of perpetrator interviews showed that they faced barriers to obtaining support, such as being labelled a ‘perpetrator’ which, had they been addressed, may have enhanced their engagement with services. Whilst acknowledging the need for safeguarding and justice, this paper demonstrates the importance of reflecting both victim-survivor and perpetrator needs in order for perpetrators to fully engage with support services. Moreover, it highlighted the need to address the underlying societal issues related to hegemonic masculinity, which can lead to the abuse of women being normalised and the vulnerability of men being stigmatised, through education for young people around healthy relationships.

Dynamics of male makeup artists in Indonesia: navigating entrepreneurship in the middle hegemonic masculinity

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how Indonesian males who are entrepreneurs in make-up artists navigate their businesses in a society that relies on hegemonic masculinity. This goal is reached by concentrating on male make-up artist entrepreneurs in five Indonesian provinces and investigating how they actively rewrite their gender and inherent vocations by societal norms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a qualitative phenomenological approach with methods. In-depth interviews and observations were conducted with 28 informants in five provinces of Indonesia.FindingsThese findings show that, aside from self-concept, family support is the most crucial determining factor that pushes men make-up artists to become businesses in the face of so many rejections. Persistence in battling for their fate is also critical in efforts to erase themselves, who are constantly subjected to hegemonic masculinity. Aside from that, it appears that the government's role in attempts to promote gender equality in all fields of business in Indonesia remains limited.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the gender and entrepreneurship literature by providing a broader exploration of male entrepreneurs working in the field of female make-up artists in a society that still adheres to hegemonic masculinity.

Jihad and Heroic Hypermasculinity – Recruitment Strategies, Battlefield Experiences, and Returning Home

There is a gap in knowledge when it comes to jihadism and how it is associated with notions of masculinity. Especially empirical studies on masculinity that are based on interviews with active or former jihadists are lacking. This study seeks to analyze the role that notions of masculinity have played in different phases of jihadiship among Swedish jihadist foreign fighters, from recruitment to traveling to the conflict zone, and then eventually returning to Sweden. With a focus on heroic jihadist hypermasculinity, which is a form of hegemonic masculinity that exaggerates male stereotypical behavior such as violence and aggression, the study identifies five themes: Recruitment strategies and masculinity; from masculine failure to protecting sisters in faith; jihad and street culture; the warrior ideal; jihad, patriarchy, and brotherhood; and returning home and preventing re-emasculation. The empirical material is based on interviews with six Swedish jihadists and a former jihadist recruiter.

Women’s economic underdevelopment in Pakistan: The intersection of gender and female labour force participation

BACKGROUND: Women’s low economic participation in Pakistan and even lower in the formal sector is a perpetual phenomenon leading to their underdevelopment, which has microeconomic and macroeconomic implications. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of women’s work and the intersection of their non-market and market activities at micro, meso, and macro levels which influences women’s chances and choices of decent economic participation. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the interdependence of women’s market and non-market work to explore how gender intersects with their economic autonomy. METHODS: Using qualitative approach, in-depth interviews of 30 purposely selected respondents from the informal sector were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Results indicated that the interdependence of women’s non-market and market work is the outcome of the gendered dichotomy that creates work-life conflict to create women’s economic dependence and male hegemony. Moreover, although a common phenomenon, women from underprivileged backgrounds are more likely to bear the brunt of systemic deprivation leading to economic underdevelopment. CONCLUSIONS: Pakistan’s inherently masculinised society and economy mutually benefit from women’s unpaid and informal work. Facilitated through gender norms, the patriarchal social ideology and the capitalist economic system collaborate to exploit women and their work in both domains.

"He is just Ken:" deconstructing hegemonic masculinity in Barbie (2023 Movie).

Scholars have consistently explored Barbie in various contexts, often subjecting it to critical analysis. However, the release of the Barbie 2023 Movie has shifted our focus from Barbie to Ken, marking the first occasion when Barbie has provided a platform for exploring representations of masculinity both in the patriarchal society and in popular culture. This article aims to investigate how the 2023 Barbie movie deconstructs symbols of hegemonic and toxic masculinity and its performative aspects within the framework of (post)feminist discourse. It examines how the movie satirically employs symbols of traditional, hegemonic masculinity to challenge normative masculine ideals prevalent in our patriarchal society. The movie -through its popularity- significantly contributes to mainstream postfeminist media culture, creating a platform where discussions on masculinity, its associated crises, and the broader gender wars, along with their existential ramifications, become unavoidable. Exploring the ways masculinities are problematized and contested within postfeminist media culture, I argue that Ken, within this narrative, is positioned as the latest icon of postfeminist masculinity, symbolizing a critical juncture in the ongoing discourse on gender roles and identities.

From Hegemonic to Hybrid and Back? The Context-Adaptive Masculinity of Polish Male Migrants

The article aims to address the complexity of the models of masculinity (re)produced in the transnational context and explain the role of religion in this process. It draws on qualitative research conducted among religiously committed Catholic male migrants from Poland who have settled in multicultural and secular societies: England, Belgium, and Sweden. The transnational context often makes it difficult for migrant men to practice hegemonic masculinity. Our analysis shows how the isomorphic mechanisms allow for (re)constructing new forms of masculinity that combine diverse and often contradictory meanings available in the transnational contexts (i.e., associated with subordinated masculinities or with femininity). Such hybridized version of masculinity not only helps to adapt to the new transnational context but also allows for rebuilding the privileges traditionally offered by hegemonic masculinity. We also discuss the role religion plays in this process by giving credibility to this hybrid masculinity by rooting it in the sacral order and thus legitimizing it.