13: Masculinities and Femininities
- Page ID
- 217330
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Raewyn Connell (1995, 2005) suggests that there is more than one kind of masculinity and what is considered “masculine” differs by race, class, sexuality, and gender, which Connell refers to as multiple masculinities. For example, being knowledgeable about computers might be understood as masculine because it can help a person accumulate income and wealth, and we consider wealth to be masculine. However, computer knowledge only translates into “masculinity” for certain men. While an Asian-American, middle-class man might get a boost in “masculinity points” (as it were) for his high-paying job with computers, the same might not be true for a working-class white man whose white-collar desk job may be seen as a weakness to his masculinity by other working-class men. Expectations for masculinity also differ by age, for instance: What it means to be a man at 19 years old is very different than what it means to be a man at 70. Therefore, masculinity intersects with other identities and expectations change accordingly.
Hegemonic masculinity refers to the most valued and praised form of masculinity in US culture (Connell 1995), which emphasizes dominance, strength, aggression, sexual prowess, and patriarchal gender dynamics. Central to this concept is that masculinity is constructed not only in relation to women, but also to other men deemed less masculine or inferior. Connell (1987) argues that there is no ‘hegemonic’ femininity comparable to hegemonic masculinity, as all femininities involve the subordination of women to men. Rather, Connell proposes the concept of emphasized femininity to describe the form of femininity that complies with male dominance and accommodates the interests of men. Other scholars have critiqued this conceptualization, offering the term hegemonic femininity to refer to the femininity of white women, who are dominant among women (Pyke and Johnson 2003), or “the characteristics defined as womanly that establish and legitimate a hierarchical and complementary relationship to hegemonic masculinity and that, by doing so, guarantee the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (Schippers 2007: 94).
Connell (1995) identifies two nonhegemonic masculinities: Marginalized masculinity, which refers to that of men deemed masculine but inferior or ‘othered’ by way of their marginalized identities such as working-class or Black men, and subordinated masculinities, which refers to that of men deemed insufficiently masculine and inferior such as gay men. Likewise, femininities vary by identity, and can challenge hegemonic masculinity. For instance, Pyke and Johnson (2003) illustrate subordinated femininities in their discussion of how Asian femininity is subordinate to white femininity via controlling images, and Schippers (2007) offers pariah femininities to describe femininity that is not necessarily deemed inferior but instead challenges hegemonic masculinity such as that of the ‘badass,’ ‘bitch,’ or lesbian. Thus, masculinities and femininities are hierarchical and vary by other areas of social location such as race, class, and sexuality.
Jack Halberstam (1998, 2005) uses the concept of female masculinity to describe the ways that women and female-assigned people may accomplish masculinity. Halberstam defines masculinity as the connection between maleness and power, which women and female-assigned people access through “cross-identifications” such as drag-king performances, butch performativity, or trans identity. Separating masculinity from male-assigned bodies highlights that it is performative, such that masculinity is accomplished in interactions and not ordained by nature. Moreover, this conceptualization detaches power from maleness and provides women and female-assigned people access to power. Halberstam sought to ignite a “discussion on masculinity for women in such a way that masculine girls and women do not have to wear their masculinity as a stigma but can infuse it with a sense of pride and indeed power” (1998: xxiii).