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You May Be Asking…

What is Hegemonic Masculinity?

Defined by R. W. Connell
Not statistically normal

What is Internalized Homophobia?

Defined by Meyer & Dean
Too common

Hegemonic Masculinity:

“The pattern of practice that allowed men’s dominance over women to continue.”
Hegemonic masculinity does not necessarily require violence, although it can be supported by force or violence, but rather it acquires significance within society through culture, institutions, and persuasion
While hegemonic masculinity is not considered statistically normal, hegemony relies on masculinity being normative and it requires all other men to position themselves in relation to hegemonic masculinity.

Internalized Homophobia

“The gay person’s direction of negative social attitudes toward the self”
Internalized homophobia is a common experience as part of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual identities, but it is pivotal that individuals are able to overcome internalized homophobia as part of a healthy self-concept

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Relationship to Feminist and Queer Theories

“A specific component of queer theory is to challenge the widely held societal assumptions about gender, sex, and sexuality.”
Mary McIntosh

Suggested that homosexuality is not a condition
Societal role with several expectations
Unhealthy identity exploration

Men can easily internalize the dominant culture
There needs to be more research and conversations

Queer theory and feminist theory utilize critical analysis to examine issues such as racism, capitalism globalization, and other forms of domination. Additionally, a specific component of queer theory is to challenge the widely held societal assumptions about gender, sex, and sexuality

A prominent scholar, Mary McIntosh, suggested that homosexuality is not a condition that is inflicted on individuals. Instead, homosexual men are cast into a societal role that has several expectations such as:

Effeminate in manner, personality, or preferred sexual activity
Their sexuality will play a part of some kind with all relations with other men

When homosexual men reject these expectations, they often will attempt to mimic the dominant culture that other men are enacting. This leads to unhealthy expectations for their identity that leads to exaggerated characteristics within homosexual men.

Ultimately, hegemonic masculinity as presented within homosexual men requires more research and further conversations. At present, almost all of present research only examines hegemonic masculinity from the perspective of heterosexual men.

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Hegemonic Masculinity Within Context

Gender Reveal Parties
Emphasis on Genitalia and Identity
Extended Gender Expectations
Similarities Between Anti-Gay and Anti-Women Bias
Vulnerability Hangovers
Violent Attacks
Violence Within Military Services

Ranging from birth to adolescence to adult life to our elderly years hegemonic masculinity has been present within several contemporary examples. Beginning with the societal gender expectations that begin to become enforced as the child is born.

They are born into a world of male or female and the baby is often surrounded by blue or pink. Not only have gender reveal parties caused numerous deaths due to the outrageous nature, but they also impose set and strict expectations for the child’s identity. These expectations allow hegemonic masculinity to foster in children from a young age, where young women are taught that being hurt by men is a sign of affection.

Similarly, these gender expectations rely heavily on the child’s genitalia. When children stray from the family’s set gender expectations, they often will face violence or abuse from the family as a result. The concept of hegemonic masculinity pushes the parents to put these children (intersex, transgender, etc.) into either a male or female identity with genitalia usually being the determining factor for the sex of the child.

The same anti-women bias that is normalized as children, begin to manifest later in life as well. As previous scholars have identified, homosexuality has been called simultaneously weak and feminine to the point that specific language and slurs have developed while rooted in anti-gay and anti-women bias. This bias extends to all homosexual men which in turn creates internal conflict about their identity.

In turn, this leads young homosexual men to experiencing vulnerability hangovers when they feel comfortable enough to share of their life or their feelings. There are several misconceptions around masculine identities, such as men should be stoic or that men cannot fall victim to violence. These misconceptions further contribute to gender expectations upon the individual and lead them to various negative outcomes. For example, while homosexual men represent less than 5% of the overall population, they represent around 42% of men with a history of an eating disorder.

Hegemonic masculinity harms young homosexual men to the extent that their internalized homophobia drives them to attack other homosexual men who are comfortable in their sexuality. The horrific Pulse Nightclub Shooting saw the most recent massacre of queer individuals. Some scholars argue that this was nothing more than a coincidence, but other scholars insist there must be more of a reason. Conflicting reports showcase that the Pulse nightclub shooter struggled with his sexual orientation to the extent that some scholars assert he saw violence as his only option to assert his masculinity.

Unfortunately, violence on a grand scale is not the only violence that results from hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia. Military services have arguably seen a history of violence potentially rooted in anti-women bias. Until recently in American history, women have been denied opportunities in serving in combat with the justification being that women were considered weaker and subordinate when compared to men. Similar arguments have been used to describe why homosexual men should not be allowed to serve in combat positions. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted as a method of allowing homosexual men to serve in combat positions. However, many military soldiers expressed fear that homosexual men would sexually assault and/or rape their fellow cadets. While DADT is no longer in effect, the fear of homosexual men only furthered internalized homophobic rhetoric that homosexuality is a sin. It is interesting to hear of concerns and fears about homosexual men, while “out” men face extreme violence or other repercussions while serving military services.

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What Can We Do?

Identify

Identify the previously identified issues with hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia

Understand

Understand how hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia are presented in modern society

Mitigate Harm

Work to mitigate harm from hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia

Seek an End

Work to change societal stigma around masculine identities and end harmful hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia

So, what can we do?

There seems to be a natural timeline for us to address this issue. Previous research has recognized that hegemonic masculinity can easily lead to problematic behavior; however, most (if not all) research focuses on hegemonic masculinity in interactions between heterosexual men and women. Further research would be needed before we can truly claim to fully understand the impacts of hegemonic masculinity on gay men; however, with the current research it is clear that hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia are issues that are harming our homosexual young men.

So how can we mitigate harm? When hegemonic masculinity and the subsequent internalized homophobia have been so ingrained into society there cannot be a quick and easily solution to end the harm against individuals. Current research highlights differently-based models that all work together to offer an understanding of men’s violence while attempting to prevent future occurrences. A large finding of these studies is that as men face increasing gender discrepancies of how they are “suppose to” present their masculine identities, they become more likely to react through violence as a means of showcasing appropriate masculine traits.

Similarly, hegemonic masculinity is unique from other forms of masculinity in that a common goal is that men with hegemonic masculinity typically will always seek to remain in a dominant social position.

This knowledge is important, because psychologists and other various scholars believe that this knowledge can be utilized to create appropriate programing (HR Training, Classroom Eticate, etc.) and alternative psychotherapy that can help understand and prevent future male violence that results from hegemonic masculinity by helping men manage and process their emotional distress in a non-violent manner.

Otherwise, the end of hegemonic masculinity requires a consensus of the population to abandon previous institutional ideas of masculinity in place of more accepting versions of masculinity. As long as hegemonic masculinity continues to be supported by the gendered patterns of power and inequalities, it will continue to persist. Currently, the public education system can play one of the most important roles while challenging hegemonic masculinity. LGBT+ advocacy within schools, such as programs like Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), are scientifically proven to decrease homophobic language and homophobic behavior, which in-turn has a positive impact on the school’s overall culture.

Similarly, conversations about appropriate masculinity and male expression cannot end with public education. Problematic masculinity has gained serious traction in modern conversations with “locker room talk” or ideas that “men will be men.” Several American universities personally identified hegemonic masculinity as a problem that contributed to the cause of the #MeToo and many colleges began to extend conversations that are now beginning during public education.

Exploring conversations about healthy gender identities while redefining masculinity are necessary if we can expect any societal change. Organizations, such as the American Psychological Association (APA) suggest that when possible preventing aggressive behaviors at an early age for young boys can help them feel more comfortable navigating social norms. As childhood is the period where male characteristics are embedded into the boy’s identity, early childhood intervention methods are pivotal to ending harmful hegemonic masculinity

Ultimately, I hope the issues that hegemonic masculinity and internalized homophobia can bring for young homosexual men. The full extent that this issue impacts queer individuals is unclear; however, we need to work towards mitigating the harm of present issues while also working toward ending hegemonic masculinity as a standard form of masculinity.

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References

APA. (2018). Harmful Masculinity and Violence. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2018/09/harmful-masculinity

Berke, D., & Zeichner, A. (2016). Man's Heaviest Burden: A Review of Contemporary Paradigms and New Directions for Understanding and Preventing Masculine Aggression. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(2), 83-91. doi: 10.1111/spc3.12238

Clements, D. (2018). Toxic Masculinity Is A Problem for Everyone. University Wire.

Connell, R., & Messerschmidt, J. (2005). Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept. Gender and Society, 19(6), 829-859. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/27640853

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Definition of Toxic Masculinity. Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hegemonic-masculinity

Donaldson, M. (1993). What is Hegemonic Masculinity? Theory and Society, 22(5), 643-657. doi: 10.1007/bf00993540

Elliott, K. (2018). Challenging Toxic Masculinity in Schools and Society. On the Horizon, 26(1), 17-22. doi: 10.1108/oth-11-2017-0088

Essig, L. (2018). Hate Crimes Won’t End Until Toxic ‘Bro’ Culture is Reformed. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.redlands.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.redlands.edu/docview/2038288051?accountid=14729

Furtado, P., Moraes, F., Lago, R., Barros, L., Toralles, M., & Barroso, U. (2018). Gender Dysphoria Associated with Disorders of Sex Development. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9(15), 620-627.

Gaetano, P. (2017). David Reimer and John Money Gender Reassignment Controversy: The John/Joan Case. The Embryo Project Encyclopedia.

Haider, S. (2016). The Shooting in Orlando, Terrorism or Toxic Masculinity (or Both?). Men and Masculinities, 19(5), 555–565. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X16664952.

Hesse-Biber, S., & Leavy, P. (2007). Feminist Research Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality.

Lang, N. (2016, Feb 02). Fat Shaming, Toxic Masculinity, and the Gay Male Beauty Myth: It's an Idea so Prevalent in the Gay Community that the Hook-Up App Grindr Made it a Commandment: No Fats. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.redlands.edu/docview/1780569685?accountid=14729

Lang, N. (2016, Feb 03). Gender Fluidity Has a Toxic Masculinity Problem: Female Celebrities Come Out as Genderqueer and Are Celebrated. Men Come Out and Are Called 'Confused.'. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.redlands.edu/docview/1780569519?accountid=14729

Marinucci, M. (2016). Feminism is Queer: The Intimate Connection Between Queer and Feminist Theory [Ebook] (2nd ed.). London: Zed Books.

Purnell, D. (2019). Me(n)Too: Storying a Male-on-Male Sexual Assault. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 24(3), 226–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2018.1524487

Scher, A. (2018). #MeToo is Making Colleges Teach Toxic Masculinity 101: Campus Programs Educating Male Students About ‘Toxic Masculinity’ Report Fresh Energy and Interest Since the #MeToo Movement Began. The Daily Beast.

Sparks, H. (2020). Gender Reveal Party Inventor Begs for End to ‘Toxic’ Trend Amid Wildfires. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2020/09/08/gender-reveal-party-inventor-begs-for-end-to-trend-amid-wildfires/

Valocchi, S. (2005). Not Yet Queer Enough. Gender & Society, 19(6), 750-770. doi: 10.1177/0891243205280294

Webster, J. (2019). Resisting Change: Toxic Masculinity in the Post Modern United States Armed Forces, (1980s-Present).

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