Men and Masculinities
Agenda
Objective:
To understand…
1. The emergence of
masculinity studies
2. Hegemonic masculinity
3. The problems with
hegemonic masculinity
today.
Schedule:
1. Lecture and Discussion
Homework:
1. Readings on
Masculinity and Mass
Violence Due….
Masculinity Studies
• Interdisciplinary academic field devoted to men,
masculinity, feminism, and gender
• Formed in the the 1970s in response to “men’s
rights movements” which were largely sexist
• Compliments feminism and feminist studies by
looking at the social, historical, and cultural
constructions of men and masculinity and the way
that patriarchy acts on men.
Masculinity
• Academic discussions of
masculinity pioneered by
R. W. Connell
• R.W. Connell
• Sociologist, University of Sydney
• Masculinities (1995)
• Created the concept of hegemonic
masculinity
• Dominant theoretical
perspective on how masculinity
is structured today
Hegemonic Masculinity
• Culturally idealized form of manhood
– Normative form of masculinity
– Image of masculinity that is the most
“honored/valued/ideal/revered” way of being a man
– Has become the standard for evaluations for young men to become
‘real men’
– Requires all men to construct their sense of self in relation to this
definition
• Constructed in opposition to
– Femininity
– Subordinate forms of masculinity
• Aligns with/coincides with patriarchy
• Greatest rewards in a patriarchal society are reserved for those
who perform hegemonic masculinity
Hegemonic Masculinity
Hegemonic Masculinity
Complicit
Masculinity
Marginalized Masculinity
Subordinate Masculinity
Femininity
Hegemonic
Masculinity
Defined in
Opposition
to “Inferior
Forms of
Masculinity
and
Femininity
Hegemonic Masculinity
•
Attributes of masculinity required by hegemonic masculinity
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•
Violence and aggression
Stoicism (emotional restraint)
Courage
Toughness
Risk-tasking
Adventure and thrill-seeking
Competitiveness
Achievement
Success
Heterosexuality
Sexually knowledgeable and skilled
Virility
Whiteness (Also Blackness?)
“Ideal Types”/ Cultural exemplars of this
form of masculinity
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George Clooney
Tom Brady
Dan Bilzerian
Who else??
6
Hegemonic Masculinity is
Institutionalized
• Hegemonic masculinity is institutionalized in
social institutions such as the family, schools,
and mass media where boys are encouraged
(implicitly and explicitly) to strive to the ideals of
masculinity that hegemonic masculinity lays out
• How do you think high school / WHS promotes
hegemonic
masculinity?
Hegemonic Masculinity is Institutionalized
• One of the most subtle, yet pervasive,
examples of institutionalized hegemonic
masculinity lies in the discussion of
human fertilization
• “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science
Has Constructed a Romance Based on
Stereotypical Male-Female Roles”
– By Anthropologist Emily Martin, Signs,
1991
– Argued that “scientific” representations
of sperm, egg, and human fertilization in
textbooks describe the actors in, and
process of, human conception in light of
dominant definitions of masculinity and
femininity
– Findings echoed in a recent analysis of
YouTube videos on human fertilization
by Pamela Hill Nettleton (Professor of
Communications)
Hegemonic Masculinity is Institutionalized
• Let’s take a look at two videos each describing the
process of human fertilization
– Inside Pregnancy
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAWCrn2rwxY
• How does this documentary rely on hegemonic
masculinity in describing sperm and its role in
conception?
– Nova: Life’s Greatest Miracle
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nwv-zBHcTA
– Start at 15:31
• How does this documentary intentionally try to steer
away from describing sperm in hegemonic terms?
Does it succeed?
Implications of Hegemonic
Masculinity
• (1) Hegemonic
Masculinity defines what
it means to be a man in
opposition to a set of
‘others’—women and
homosexuals
• Think about how you
insult a man for
evidence of this…
Implications of Hegemonic
Masculinity
• (2) Masculinities are stratified in relation to
homosexuality/femininity
– The more “traits”/”attributes” you share with
the list of “feminine traits” or “homosexual
traits” the less masculine you are.
• Connell has developed a typology of 4
types of masculinities…
Hegemonic Masculinity
Hegemonic Masculinity
Complicit Masculinity
•Man doesn’t fit characteristics of hegemonic masculinity but
doesn’t challenge it
•Often admires the characteristics of hegemonic masculinity
Marginalized Masculinity
•
•
Cannot fit into hegemonic masculinity because of certain
characteristics like race or disability
Still subscribes to the norms of hegemonic masculinity
Subordinate Masculinity
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•
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Exhibits qualities that are the opposite of those values in
hegemonic masculinity
May exhibit physical weakness or be very expressive with
emotions
Homosexual or effeminate men
Implications of Hegemonic
Masculinity
• (3) Non-Heterosexual men are inherently
excluded from achieving hegemonic
masculinity (being an ideal man)
• Being an “ideal man” necessitates
heterosexuality (narrowly defined)
Implication of Hegemonic Masculinity
• (4) To be an “ideal man” one can never be
unfeminine enough or heterosexual enough
• Requires frequent/consent displays of
heterosexuality and achievement of hegemonic
ideals
– Gender policing among men
• “Locker Room” Talk
• Mock wrestling/ fighting
• Use of homosexual/feminine
pejoratives as put downs
• Others?
Implication of Hegemonic Masculinity
• (4) Achieving hegemonic
masculinity becomes an
unattainable ideal
• Key ideas
• Gender norms act to constrain the
behavior of both men and women
• Men are not immune for these
social forces
• Ideals around masculinity are just
as hard to attain as are ideals
around femininity
• Failure to live up to the ideals can
be just as damaging as men as for
women
Implications of Hegemonic Masculinity
• (5) Hegemonic Masculinity hurts men
– Hurts men if they cannot live up to the ideal
• Psychologically
• Socially
• Economically
– Hurts men if they do live up to the ideal
• How so?
Masculinity is not simply a position of
power that puts men in comfortable
positions of control ... If we understand
masculinity as a constant contradictory
struggle rather than just the privileged
position within a power disequilibrium, we
come closer to a full understanding of
gender studies
(Peter N. Stearns, Be a Man! Males in Modern Society,
1990)
Hegemonic Masculinity and Patriarchy
• Hegemonic Masculinity ≠ Patriarchy
– Two separate system
• But they link/overlap…
– Patriarchy is a social system in which
resources, goods, privileges, and power are
allocated in such a way as to reward
• Men over women
• Men who conform to hegemonic masculinity over
other men.
Hegemonic Masculinity and Patriarchy
Most desirable
resources, goods,
privileges, and power
Men Who Conform to
Hegemonic Masculinity
Men Who Practice to
Complicit Masculinity
Least desirable
resources, goods,
privileges, and power
Marginalized Men,
Subordinate Men, Women
Hegemonic Masculinity and Patriarchy
• Patriarchy links rewards in a society to the
performance of hegemonic masculinity
– Greatest rewards accrue to men who perform
hegemonic masculinity
– If you do hegemonic masculinity right, there are big
rewards
• But doing it right is a major struggle—not easy
• This is why patriarchy does
not mean the automatic
success, power, and
privilege of men!
Hegemonic Masculinity and Patriarchy
• The perception that patriarchy automatically
benefits all men, makes it difficult for men to
recognize their own struggle in the patriarchal
system.
– Women were able to take action, paradoxically, by
understanding how they were acted upon. Men feel
the contours of a box, too, but they are told that the
box is of their own manufacture, designed to their
specifications.
• Susan Faludi, journalist
• Men have no clearly defined enemy
who is oppressing them.
– Who is it? Is it hegemonic masculinity?
Masculinity in Crisis
• The dominance of hegemonic masculinity,
has put us in a place of crisis.
– Men continue to have to strive to live up to an
unattainable ideal….
• This pressure has lessened in women
• Where do men fit in in a culture where we haven’t
updated our definitions of masculinity to mesh with our
contemporary culture and economic reality?
Masculinity in Crisis
• Increasingly men have been turning to
alternative/new methods to demonstrate
masculinity.
• Can you think of any?
Challenges(?) to Hegemonic Masculinity
and the “Anti-Hero” in Television
• Tony Soprano, The
Sopranos
• Don Draper, Mad Men
• Walter White, Breaking Bad
– http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/
2013/10/10/masculinity-breaking-badwalter-white-and-the-fallouts-fromcomplicit-masculinity/
Masculinity in Crisis Assignment
• Homework:
– ACP
• Read ONE of the articles on masculinity and mass violence
– Honors
• Read BOTH of the articles on masculinity and mass violence
• Discussion:
– Next class we will have a graded discussion on hegemonic
masculinity and mass violence
– ACP:
• Make 2 comments that show active engagement with the reading
– Honors:
• Make a minimum of 2 comments that show active engagement
with the reading
• Reference specific evidence from (1) class and (2) the readings