Raewyn Connell is often credited with the creation of the term hegemonic masculinity, and is a prolific writer in those discourses. Hegemonic masculinity is one of those terms that can be hard to define; I know what it is, the discourses that inform it and the discourses it informs, shapes and transposes upon. But I have no pithy sentence to give to you, no neat package of information, no discreet meme. Foucalt's idea of bodies as vessels of power is useful when understanding hegemonic masculinity. Check out this explanation and critique of Foucalt's power-knowledge-discourse-bodies work. Bodies are created, reconstructed and imbued with power, and some bodies/ways of being carry more weight, have more social ascendancy and cultural capital than others. Which bodies have more power? Ones coded as male, as masculine, and some forms of masculinity have more power than others. To steal from Sartre in Being and Nothingness "the body constitutes their meaning and marks their limits".
Go to Google (or your preferred search engine - monopolies of access and knowledge are worrying but their algorithms and servers are just so good). Type "hegemonic masculinity". Click on "Images".
The results speak for themselves. Big, buff, WHITE men doing manly things. Here are my favourite image results:
PUMP IT!!!!!!
SOMETHING WITH GUNS!!!!
JESUS!!!???
RACISM! COLONIALISM!!! SAVING HELPLESS WOMEN! SO MANLY!!!
CONVENTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE YOUNG MIDDLE CLASS WHITE GUY! RISK TAKING IS FOR REAL MEN!!! (knowledge of the Hey Girl meme/Feminist Ryan Gosling masters thesis is required to understand the hilarity)
You might also notice that most of the images are of fictional characters, heroes and models (hi Derrida!). This reflects one of the best (read - worst) parts of hegemonic masculinity. It's amorphous and temporal, changing throughout time and space. It's different for differing nationalities, classes and colours. And it does not necessarily reflect the everyday experiences and embodiment of actual men, no concrete connection to general masculinity is needed. Hegemonic masculinity is invisible, unattainable and harmful. That's the great thing about hegemonic masculinity: it not only oppresses women through devaluing their assigned attributes, violence, legislation etc., it polices and restricts all those on (and outside of) the gender spectrum, even the most manly of men. Pretty neat, huh?
Think happy thoughts!
SJ
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