Hegemonic Masculinity

Gender derives its formative meaning from culture and societal values, it is not a universal entity as there are various cultures, societal values, beliefs, and preferred ways of organizing collective life across the globe and even within a single culture the meaning of gender varies over time. Chapters three and four of Gendered Lives by Julia T. Wood helps to insightfully look at those views, and rhetorical movements (women and men’s movements) that have overtime influenced, defined and given various meanings to gender (masculinity and femininity).

The purposes of this essay it to not only focus on the concept of hegemonic masculinity, but make use of the concept to provide an explanation for gender violence in society. Violence against women in particular, has become a global problem due to the various forms that it takes place in such as verbal, sexual, emotional, physical and economic abuse (Boonzaier, 2006). Due to the severity of gender violence in society it is vital to determine the underlying cause.

For a long time, men and women have been dealing with the controversy of gender roles. In modern day, the battle for gender equality has been more known. In the story “Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender Roles Too”, the author Julie Zeilinger explains how males are held to a more macho standard, but do have prevalent emotions. If we were to let go of these rigid rules about what is manly, there would be no standard for any gender. If that was reality, men shouldn’t have to feel humiliated about staying home, and if their companion makes more money than they do. Zeilinger talks about how males detach themselves from some emotions, and live a “life nub to a true range of human emotion” so they can meet this masculinity standard. However if males

Masculinity is all about strength and toughness. But behind every man is a soft, tender side. For many years, and even still today there is a social standard for men to be manly. Rugged outdoor work and sports are commonly associated with masculinity, but behind the scenes nurturing and delicacy are just as much part of men as women. To some, the fact that I am writing this paper and I am a male would discredit my masculinity. However, that is not the case. Surveys are beginning to show that males are gaining more respect for females, which is allowing them to open up and reveal their own softer side. Just because a man doesn’t play a sport doesn’t mean he isn’t masculine. Genetics determine male or female. Manliness is

Behavior and identity are intertwined ideas that shape who a person is and how they act. The way a person behaves can impact their identity, similarly their identity can impact their behavior. There are also outside influences affecting behavior and identity, these influences are ingrained in the fabric of society and can often, only be seen by those standing on the fringes. A male’s identity and behavior are shaped by heteronormativity and the idea of courtly love, they both contribute largely to societies ideas of masculinity and what it means to be male.

If a person where to go out on the street and ask people that they see to describe the traits that they associate with masculinity, they would likely hear terms such as strength, bravery, or any number of other power-related words; moreover, it is for this reason that sayings such as “be a man” are synonymous with taking control of a situation of facing what a person is afraid of. These concept are not, at first glance, directly dangerous to society, but, when studied more closely, these mainstream ideas of masculinity present themselves to be quite problematic due to the fact that they rely on negative aggressive actions in addition to subverting other groups of people in order to be a true masculine man. To clarify, hegemonic masculinity

The notion of hegemonic masculinity has altered the field of gender studies and many academic arenas. An idea popularized by R.W. Connell, hegemonic masculinity has played an integral role in the emotional development of American men, articulating the impact that this societal construction has had on the concept of American masculinity. It is a contested topic, yet the impacts that it has in terms of sexuality, struggles for power and political leadership, and gender identities are valid (Connell 830). Although difficult to fully achieve, it acts as a guiding force for the stereotypically masculine. Hegemonic masculinity assumes the subordination of all other forms of masculinity, placing it at the top of the social hierarchy. At the same time, the idea of hegemonic masculinity has served as a bridge between the growing field of men’s’ studies and female studies (Connell 829). Several authors share the premise that men in American society conform to the standards of the social construct of hegemonic masculinity.

Hegemonic masculinity is a social construction which suggests to society that men must be stronger than the feminine of the species in every way. By definition, hegemonic masculinity is the dominance of men over women, where men must sustain this dominance in any way. Defining what the hegemonic masculine ideal is in Canada is difficult as we are a very young, multicultural country, so the notion of the ideal man is a warped characterization of the ideal American male. This paper seeks to prove that hegemonic masculinity is a social construction which is detrimental to society. The negative effects of hegemonic masculinity on men include; male violence, misogyny, and homophobia which are inextricably linked to how we define manhood as a culture.

Authors Ravelli and Webber (2016) define gender as societal differences and features between men and women. Sexuality comes in two dominant forms which are socially constructed, respectively known as hemogenic masculinity and emphasized masculinity. As mentioned earlier hemogenic masculinity is defined as ideal masculinity that men are supposed to follow. For example, in a “North American Culture”, the personality characteristics belonging to a hemogenic individual are aggression, dominance, motivation, and treating women poorly (Ravelli & Webber, 2016). While emphasized femininity is defined as the ideal norm that a woman must conform to a man's commands to meet his needs (Ravelli & Webber, 2016). An example would be a man controlling his wife and the woman simply obeying every command dread upon her, such as controlling where she goes and who she talks to. The two forms of dominant sexualities connect to one another as emphasized femininity is formed when hegemonic masculinity is

This essay focuses on ‘I Love You, Man’, and discusses about homosocial relationship between two men and explores ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and ‘the field of masculinity’ depicted in this film. ‘Hegemonic masculinity’, which is proposed by Connell (1987), is assumed to ‘the pattern of practice (i.e., things done, not just a set of role expectations or an identity) that allowed men’s dominance over women to continue.’ (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005, p.832) However, hegemonic masculinity has strong influence not only over women, but also over other men as Demetriou (2001, p.341) states. Hegemonic masculinity dominates subordinated masculinity as well as women. ‘The field of masculinity’, the theoretical model suggested by Coles

I believe that this practice still continues today because it is a tradition. It has been that way for hundreds, and thousands of years. I also believe that people have become accustomed to the wife to take the husbands last name. I think that hegemonic masculinity used to be the top priority. Over the years this used to be true. Often times the man would go to work and the woman would stay home. While the man was at work the woman was to take care of the kids, clean the house, cook, and do any other house chores that needed to be done. Over the past hundred years or so woman have begun to change that norm we used to know. They began to want equal rights and stated that they were not equal to man. Personally growing up in a small farm

The series also engages with the stereotype of hegemonic masculinity. This is exemplified with male characters often saving their female counterparts, such as Ron sticking up for Hermione, after Malfoy calls her a ‘filthy Mudblood’ (Rowling, 1998, 86). This incident shows the stereotype of men being brave and women being vulnerable and dependable. Ron’s defence of Hermione could be due to the fact that Ron has a romantic interest in Hermione, as opposing to needing to stick up for a vulnerable female. This is also evident when Hermione displays traits of being an emotional female, crying over Buckbeak’s destiny, Ron ‘fiercely’ agrees to help her (Rowling, 1999, 215).

Masculinity is described as possession of attributes considered typical of a man. Hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculine character with cultural idealism and emphasis that connects masculinity to competitiveness, toughness, and women subordination. Masculinity hegemonic is the enforcement of male dominion over a society. Masculine ideology dates back to the time of agrarian and the industrial revolution in Europe when survival compelled men to leave their homesteads to work in industries to earn a living for their families while women remained at home to take care of family affairs (Good and Sherrod 210). Women did not work in industries then because industrial labor was considered too physical beyond their capacity. This led to

There are many existing literatures on women and weightlifting. This research will be focusing on how hegemonic masculinity has set ideas of gender roles and how these women challenge the social discourse that they face being a muscular or look ‘manly’.

In society, the biological difference between men and women is used as a justification for aligning them with different social roles which restrict and mold their attitudes and behavior. Merriam-Webster defines gender as the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Narrow minded society of today is not satisfied with the natural difference of sex, but each insist on adding a cultural difference of gender to it. The unsophisticated, ideal physical facts always become associated with the complex psychological qualities (Holter). It is not enough for a male to be a man; he must also be masculine. A woman, in addition to being a female, must be feminine (Magner). In a more evolved and accepting society,