Just a regular everyday normal guy

Hegemonic masculinity is the social ascendency of one 'type' of men, achieved via the embedded values and powers that are inherent within things like religious doctrine, mass media, wage structures and taxation policies... can you imagine a few descriptors for the masculinity that is generally dominant in Australian society? Let me help you out with a few-

He's white. His family is white. He speaks English.
He's heterosexual.
He's aged between 25 and 50.
He has a girlfriend/he's married, but if he's currently single he will almost certainly marry at some point.
He's working/middle class.
He has a job, perhaps he's a tradie or if he's university educated perhaps he's an engineer.
He likes sport. And action movies. And beer.
He's hopeless at domestic chores, and he doesn't care.
He's not very political.


There are so many complex, different, and competing forms of masculinity, so it's debatable whether these qualities are, in fact, examples of hegemonic masculinity, or that these characteristics and traits will remain 'fixed' as cultural ideals. The values of society are fluid and changeable, and the concept of hegemonic masculinity does not infer "total cultural dominance or the obliteration of alternatives" (Connell 1987, p.60). But, do you see what I'm getting at? These are some examples of  the dominant 'cultural ideal' of the Australian male that is currently embedded in the Australian psyche.

I find it interesting how non-hegemonic patterns of masculinity are incorporated into the hegemonic masculinity, like the mainstream adoption of black hip hop culture. (Connell & Messerschmidt 2005). Or the phenomenon of the "metrosexual".


I also find it interesting how  women are central to the processes of constructing and reinforcing masculinities, as mothers, girlfriends, sexual partners, wives, daughters, friends and collegues.  New configurations of women’s identities and their power is going to have a great effect on the interplay of femininities and masculinities. As Connell points out, there is a 'fit' between hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity. . Emphasized femininity is “oriented to accommodating the interests and desires of men”; it's “the display of sociability rather than technical competence, fragility in mating scenes, compliance with men’s desires for titillation and ego-stroking in office relationships, acceptance of marriage and child care as a response to labor-market discrimination against women” (Connell 1987, p. 183- 188- 187).

References:
Connell, R  & Messerschmidt, J 2005, “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept” Gender and Society, Vol.19, No.6, pp. 829-859.

Connell, B 1987,  Gender and Power, Polity, Cambridge.