Undermining and Upholding Hegemonic Masculinity: Discursive Framing on an Online Discussion Forum for Anorexic Men

• In Event: 100 - Regular Session. Continuity and Change in Contemporary Masculinities

Abstract

Although a sizeable body of scholarship exists on subordinated masculinities, there is a dearth of literature concerning anorexic men who fail to adhere to the bodily and mental ideals of hegemonic masculinity. As such, this study sought to investigate how anorexic men both experience and negotiate their subordinated status. In order to answer these questions, a popular online discussion forum for anorexic men was subjected to a discourse analysis. Emergent themes included perceived invisibility and feminization; the undermining of hegemonic masculinity’s adherence to musculature, homophobia and transphobia and stoicism; and the upholding of hegemonic masculinity’s adherence to essentialized difference and misogyny in the form of antifeminism. Findings suggest that anorexic men utilize both hegemonic and subordinate masculinity as discursive resources, pulling from both in an effort to discursively frame their tainted identities in a more positive light.

Author

• Stacey Bryley Livingstone, UC San Diego