Understanding Hegemonic Masculinity

The concept of hegemonic masculinity was propounded by R.W. Connell and was first originated through research on social inequality in Australian Schools. The early phases of 1980s saw substantial research and studies relating to masculinity and gender discrimination in the societies. In studies relating to gender issues and societal role of gender, the concept of hegemonic masculinity by R.W. Connell is a ground breaking work that reflects the past and the current conceptions about gender roles and domination of the one gender over other in terms of social status, occupation and power.  The theory by Connell revolves around the gender order theory and recognizes the various masculinities that are practiced in the society around us and is expanded over time, culture and geography. The hegemonic masculinity is generally attributed by expression of power through forms of violence, discrimination or domination. It is defined as a practice legitimizing the dominant act of expression by men and justifies the subordination of women and other non general ways of masculine expression, mostly feminine expression of men. The concept of hegemonistic masculinity explains the reasons why and how men dominate social roles over women and other gender identities which are generally categorised as feminine in a prejudiced society (Demetriou, 2001).  Though the concept of the hegemonistic masculinity as proposed by R.W. Connell brings in a lot of criticism as expected but has influenced gender studies across the globe.

The traditional modern society has continuously evolved but the basic aspects and tenets that have identified the role of gender have remained same.  The social constructs have evolved from prejudiced social interpretations and the major sections of the American and the European societies have developed on the standardized roles of gender. The description of a perfect machoistic male person is identified with certain traits while the women are similarly associated with certain role that acts as a basic framework for individuals to follow. The societal pressure influences the man and the woman to align themselves with these social constructs and be an ideal representation of the standards. Thus the masculine hegemony is not just an expression of male dominance or superiority but is actually an evolution of the prejudices that have created such social constructs and forces a male gender to perform the role hat aligns with such constructs and thus give rise to hegemonic masculinity. The reflection of the male power domination and superiority is thus expressed in forms of sexual assault over the inferior women, or effeminate men and children to some extent.  

As a purview of sociology the concept of hegemonistic masculinity is originated from the tenets of cultural hegemony first brought forward by Antonio Gramsci, a Marxian theorist who has described the difference in power among the social classes in the society. The term ‘hegemony’ is derived from the social segregation of power and is derived from the distinction of power among different sections of the society. The origin of hegemonistic masculinity in the society has not developed in a day but has evolved over time by idealizing the norms of masculine traits that has been laid down through time and most importantly the way they have been represented as a standard of manhood with traits and attributes that contradict certain normal psychological expressions. Though many sociologists have criticized the way hegemonistic masculinity is defined as a fixed character type limited by its analysis of character, it fails to define or describe the complexity of the male character and the different forms of masculinity that are prevalent yet can neither be regarded within the given hegemonistic definition of masculinity and therefore is criticized on grounds of incompetent explanation. The psychosocial dynamics of the male gender and the gender hierarchy has been excluded while defining hegemonistic masculinity in various forms and across geographies and thus reformulation of the concept has been done by the proposer of the theory.  

The Link between Hegemonic Masculinity and Gender-based Violence Against Women

This essay will evaluate the role of hegemonistic masculinity in sexual assault of women and justifies such criminal behaviour as an expression of masculinity. The context of such violence will be understood through the various contexts of hegemonistic masculinity and the way it has been put forward by R.W. Connell. The following sections will look into various atrocities and sexual violence against women, and the way they have been treated with respect to the masculine society. The growing resent among the feminism and feminist theories have actually derived, from the increasing discrimination and hegemony practiced by the societies for a considerable amount of time.  The influence of hegemonistic masculinity has been observed in criminology and information from various sources reveal most of the conventional crimes have been committed by men and boys as compared to girls and women. According to Newburn and Stanko, (1995),  specific crimes against women were noted such as rapes in Switzerland and domestic violence in Europe and America specifies the gender biased crime and are attributed to hegemonistic masculinity.  A survey conducted by the International Violence Against Women Survey or the IVAWS, conducted in Australia records a total of 6.677 women belonging from the age group of 18 to 69 gives an overview of the atrocities against women by men.  The report reveals that the around 57% of the women has faced sexual harassment. or physical violence in the past one year and around twenty nine percent of the respondents had reported of experiencing physical or sexual violence below the age of 16. 23 % of the respondents revealed that they faced violence from known male partners or relatives which strongly projects the hegemonistic masculinity prevalent in the society.  The several other incidents that refer to instances of male hegemony and sexual assault relates to the expression of dominance and power over other sections of the gender. During the adolescence period, major cases of sexual harassment or offences happen with time. The gender is constructed over time and the schools and neighbourhoods are highly responsible in influencing the gender construct of males and females. The several cases that develop through time reflect the hegemonistic masculinity in these adolescent boys during their periods of growing up. Though it is not always a sharp demarcation of hegemonic masculinity, but complicit masculinity is also responsible to a great extent in aiding to violence against women (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005).  The repeated instances of violence created by adolescent males are fragmented representation of dominant masculinity.

One of the infamous incidents of male hegemony is the ‘Lisa Olson’ locker room incident, where by Lisa a sport’s journalist was sexually harassed by the Team members of New England Patriots in their Locker room which is generally known as a place of male dominion. The threat of Olson’s presence in the locker room was an intrusion into the sphere of male dominion which was treated with “care” by the players which expressed male superiority over the inferior female. Thus male hegemony continues to express its forms in our daily lives expanding from sexual harassment to mental harassment. The presence of Olson in the locker room threatens the sanctity of the locker room symbolizing male dominance and superiority which was replied with sexual advances from the team mates to prove their domination in the zone. One of the major attributes of masculine hegemony is the sexual objectification of women and therefore sexual assault of women is one of the most important attribute of hegemonic masculinity (Kane & Disch, 1993).

Statistics on Gender-based Violence Against Women

According to Murnen et al (2002), the expression of masculine gender role is attached to the perpetuation of sexual assault against women which is an expression of dominant and aggressive and is more of an dictate to teach women about their inferiority and that they are worthy of victimization. The socio-cultural construct of the male chauvinism is linked with male ideologies which reflect the hostile masculinity and hyper masculinity and promote sexual aggression. According to research by Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, & Tanaka in 1991 along with researches of Mosher & Sirkin in 1984 reveal that hyper masculinity and hostile masculinity were used as a measure of masculine hegemony and their association with sexual aggression was revealed through the researches. The research was intended to find out the amount of association of male ideologies with respect to sexual aggression. Similar researches by Mahoney, Shively and Traw in 1986 that the common adherence to typical masculine gender is reflected by sexual assault which is treated as a normative expression of the gender role and is often encouraged by peer pressure, lack of social conscience, irresponsibility and situational influences such as alcoholism and intoxication. The sexual role of male is more of power than of a biological or social. This association of the male domination through sexual assault is the typical machoistic male identity created by the society.  The traditional or typical gender roles encourage men to be violent, stoic and aggressive and are defined as masculine traits and dictates women to be sexually passive reflecting femininity. These are in fact social constructs that have been attributed within the gender roles and are developed like basic instincts within an individual.

The traditional sexual script as described by Byers in 1996 discusses about the way men are projected in their role of delivering masculine qualities by expressing aggression, without any emotional attachment during their sexual conquests and are taught to not accept a negative response with respect to their sexual advances. Any such response has to be treated with aggression and sexual assault and thus the establishing their dominance by expression of sexual coercion. The most alarming context is the legitimization of these aggressive responses and sexual assaults in the name of masculinity and the justification of these crimes as expression of masculinity.  According to Warsaw and Parrot in 1991 states that women and girls in our hegemonic society are taught to be submissive and supposedly yield to the needs of others, specifically their male counterparts. They are taught to be relied on men, and look up to men to provide security and sustenance. Warshaw has also reflected that most boys are steered on the path of aggression and are taught to segregate empathy and kindness as girlish traits and to treat any conflict with physical aggression or response. This gives the origin of the masculine hegemony resulting in the birth of sexual entitlement and social superiority over women.

The sexual assault is also related to the community one belongs to and it has been observed that the rate of sexual assault depends on the proneness of a community to be highly rape prone or less rape prone. The rape prone cultures mostly observed in the societies of the United States have been experienced with traditional gender role attitudes among men in these societies. Thus sexual assault is a part of the age old tradition from which it derives as a cultural inheritance.

Gender-based Violence and Hegemonic Masculinity in Adolescence

However, according to Fisher and Good in 1998, it has been examined that there are different forms of masculine ideology by using Thompson and Plenck’s Male Role Norms Scale and five different male ideologies were identified. These include the moderately traditional, the high status and low violence, the non-traditional high violence or moderately traditional and traditional in general. The moderately traditional and traditional groups of men saw greater tendencies of performing sexual assault compared to other groups (Thompson et al., 2015).

Finally, it can be concluded that the necessity to address violence against women in any form is of utmost importance. It has to be taken into consideration that the hegemonic masculinity is detrimental for the growth of the society and also issues regarding gender bias needs to be addressed within a guided framework to reduce sexual assault of women in face of social prejudices. Referring to the Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity further studies and restructuring should be made in order to fully understand the concept of masculinity in its various forms. The growing sexual assault on woman as a reflection of masculine power should be treated with adequate social construct of gender roles and gender equality and should be entitled within the framework of education and workplace.

References

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Connell, R. W. (2017). On hegemonic masculinity and violence: Response to Jefferson and Hall. In Crime, Criminal Justice and Masculinities (pp. 57-68). Routledge.

Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & society, 19(6), 829-859.

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Fischer, A. R., & Good, G. E. (1998). New directions for the study of gender role attitudes: A cluster analytic investigation of masculinity ideologies. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22(3), 371-384.

Goody, J. (2017). Boys don’t cry: Masculinities, fear of crime and fearlessness. In The Fear of Crime (pp. 59-76). Routledge.

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Kane, M. J., & Disch, L. J. (1993). Sexual violence and the reproduction of male power in the locker room: The “Lisa Olson incident”. Sociology of Sport Journal, 10(4), 331-352.

Mahoney, E. R., Shively, M. D., & Traw, M. (1986). Sexual coercion and assault: Male socialization and female risk. Sexual coercion and assault, 1(1), 2-7.

Malamuth, N. M., Sockloskie, R. J., Koss, M. P., & Tanaka, J. S. (1991). Characteristics of aggressors against women: Testing a model using a national sample of college students. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 59(5), 670.

Murnen, S. K. (2015). A social constructivist approach to understanding the relationship between masculinity and sexual aggression.

Murnen, S. K., Wright, C., & Kaluzny, G. (2002). If “boys will be boys,” then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression. Sex roles, 46(11-12), 359-375.

Newburn, T., & Stanko, E. A. (1995). Introduction: Men, masculinities and crime.

Thompson Jr, E. H., & Bennett, K. M. (2015). Measurement of masculinity ideologies: A (critical) review. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16(2), 115.