Hegemonic masculinity

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Hegemonic masculinity is a term from sociological gender research that describes a social practice that aims to guarantee the dominant social position of men and a subordinate position of women. The concept is intended to explain how and why men achieve and maintain their social dominance over women and other gender identities (e.g. transgender people), but also over men who are perceived as "weaker" (e.g. homosexuals).

The term can be traced back to the Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci and his concept of cultural hegemony , which is used to analyze the power relations between social classes within a society. The term “hegemonic masculinity” was introduced by the Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell in feminist discourses and in gender and male research . Since the publication of her book Masculinities in 1995, the term has been received, discussed and criticized, especially in gender studies .

origin

In the 1970s and 1980s, social scientists began to question the position of men and boys in society in the light of feminist research on gender relations. In the essay "Toward a New Sociology of Masculinity" this change was described and criticized the abstract nature of gender role theory , which had dominated sociological research on men since the 1950s, but had contributed nothing to the understanding of problems such as power, violence or material inequality . The thesis is that domination over women is not a universal characteristic of men. Rather, male rule is a dynamic system that is constantly reproduced and newly constituted through gender relations under changing conditions, including resistance from subordinate groups. Thus "violence in the gender relationship is not so much a characteristic of masculinity (...) as a measure of the violence of this struggle".

Hegemonic masculinity according to Raewyn Connell

Connell sees gender as a way in which social practice is ordered. Since social practice always depends on socio-cultural circumstances, different configurations of masculinity and femininity arise at different times and in different milieus. The driving force behind this change is the power struggle within gender relations and, above all, Connell's immanent urge to maintain patriarchy . In their book "The Made Man", Connell et al. a. with the relations between different masculinity and presents four concepts of such relations.

Hegemonic masculinity

Hegemonic is that masculinity that is characterized by privileged access to the power of patriarchy. For a certain social situation it is the most assertive, if not the only answer to the legitimacy problem of patriarchy. The power and success of hegemonic masculinity primarily relate to a collective , i.e. H. a single most pronounced representative of this configuration does not necessarily have the greatest authority in society, and not every powerful man realizes hegemonic masculinity. There are clear relationships between hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and social and economic power.

Complicity

There are only a few men who combine all elements of hegemonic masculinity and thus correspond to the current norm. Yet the majority of men benefit from the supremacy of the patriarchy. Connell calls this phenomenon the "patriarchal dividend". However, dominance in the gender relationship is only partially transferred through complicity. In the field of tension in everyday life, this means that compromises with women are often inevitable and thus contradicting configurations arise.

marginalization

Some men who are successful in certain areas of society benefit only to a limited extent from the power and prestige of patriarchy. One reason for this can be belonging to a socially disadvantaged group. Connell cites as an example that despite their numerous triumphs in the United States, black athletes are subject to ethnic discrimination . The same applies to class-related differences; proletarian masculinity is also marginalized. Thus marginalized masculinity represents the opposite relationship to complicity.

Subordination

If the struggle to maintain patriarchal power is a constant within gender relations, then the patriarchal shareholders have an interest in suppressing any masculinity that could undermine hegemonic masculinity. In the logic of hegemony, these masculinity move dangerously close to femininity, which is also expressed by symbolic feminization in the title with abusive words ( dysphemism , pejorative ), e.g. ( the queen , the fagot ). Connell cites gay masculinity as the most striking example of contemporary repressed masculinity. Even less than in the case of hegemonic masculinity, subordinate masculinity corresponds to a defined group. The ban field of elements that weaken patriarchy also affects individual practices, so that men who do not tend to belong to a discriminated group can also be accused of being feminine.

See also

literature

  • Audrey-Catherine Podann: In the service of the work ethic - hegemonic masculinity in trade unions . Budrich UniPress, Opladen 2012, ISBN 978-3-86388-011-8 .
  • Bihter Somersan: Feminism in Turkey: the history and analysis of a resistance to hegemonic masculinity . Westphalian steam boat, Münster (Westf.) 2011, ISBN 978-3-89691-877-2 .
  • Nina Baur; Jens Lüdtke: The social construction of masculinity: hegemonic and marginalized masculinity in Germany . Budrich, Opladen 2008, ISBN 978-3-86649-110-6 .
  • Martin Dinges: Men - Power - Bodies: hegemonic masculinity from the Middle Ages to the present day Frankfurt . Campus-Verl., Frankfurt / Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-593-37859-6 .
  • Stefanie Neidhart: Construction of masculinity according to Bourdieu and Connell: masculine domination and hegemonic masculinity. A comparison . Grin Verlag, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-656-08959-9 .
  • Anna Buchmeier: Between role model and suspicion: How men construct masculinity in the teaching profession . Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00989-2 .
  • Raewyn Connell : Masculinities . University of California Press, Berkeley (CA) 2005, ISBN 0-520-24698-5 .
  • Richard Howson: Challenging Hegemonic Masculinity . Routledge Chapman & Hall, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-35231-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nikki Wedgwood, Raewyn Connell "Masculinity Research: Men and Masculinity in an International Research Context"
  2. ↑ Carrigan / Connell / Lee 1985
  3. ↑ Carrigan / Connell / Lee 1985: 598
  4. ↑ Cf. Robert W. Connell, Christian Stahl (trans.): The made man. Construction and crisis of masculinity, Wiesbaden 2006, pp. 92-102
  5. ↑ Ibid., P. 100.