The Hegemony in Masculinity, at the Intersection of Gender and Age

• In Event: 2351 - Section on the Sociology of Sex and Gender Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 9. Intersectional Perspectives

Abstract

This study aims to specify the largely untested theory of hegemonic masculinity by Raewyn Connell. Most citations to “hegemonic masculinity” focus on gender ideals and on men’s attempts to justify their domination of all women and subordinate groups of men. Few scholars have tested Connell’s theory that masculinity can be hegemonic in effect, by gaining (not merely seeking) the consent of others to domination by elite men. We aim to demonstrate how to operationalize and recognize that hegemony. We argue that scholars will most often find that effect at intersections of gender and other inequalities such as age and specify this theory for the purpose of qualitative analysis. In this specification of Connell's theory, we employ interview data for a study of middle-aged men who discuss prospects for their careers and other activity as they age. In discussion of our results we show that a minority of our respondents verbalize three moments of masculinity: 1) links between their ideals of gender and those of age; 2) domination/exclusion of older men by younger men; and finally 3) consent to that domination and acceptance of personal responsibility for forestalling it through regimens of fitness, productivity, and health. We use our constant-comparative analysis to demonstrate the fact of such hegemony and specify its appearance in interview data, though we lack data sufficient to estimate its prevalence. We conclude that a Successful Aging paradigm is implicit in these men's acceptance of personal responsibility for avoiding the appearance of sedentary life. We also conclude that Connell's neglected theory of hegemony as outcome gains initial support and bears further research, via study of intersections of gender with such understudied inequities as age.

Authors

• Neal King, Virginia Tech

• Toni Calasanti, Virginia Tech