Hegemonic Masculinity

In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity refers to a culturally normative ideal of male behavior. The concept of hegemonic masculinity emerges from the empirically verified hypothesis that there is a hierarchy of masculine behavior, positing that most societies encourage men to embody a dominant version of masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity is competitive and reflects a tendency for males to seek to dominate other males and subordinate females. The "oppression, exploitation, power and social control offer a more powerful account of the constraints that operate in personality and in social organization, and of the way in which the two levels are linked in the process of being reproduced." According to the theory's proponents, it is not necessarily the most prevalent form of male expression, but rather the most socially endorsed masculinity that contributes to the subordinate position of women. Sociological approaches inventory valued characteristics such as drive, ambition, claims to self-reliance, and heterosexuality, for example, which they observe to be broadly encouraged in and associated with males but more often discouraged in females in contemporary Western society. McCormack defines other hegemonic traits: "homophobic, misogynistic, and aggressive". Research has also shown that to be more masculine is to become less feminine.

There are two key factors in producing a hegemonic masculinity: domination and marginalization. Domination establishes the ideal qualities by which some men are elevated, but marginalization describes the oppression involved and the actual ranking of men based on masculinities. As these factors are only what society currently deems masculine, and domination and marginalization are static, hegemonic masculinity is a dynamic standard.