hegemonic masculinity

[hej-uh-mon-ik mas-kyuh-lin-i-tee]

noun

1. a socially constructed masculine ideal, defined chiefly in contrast to or as the opposite of femininity, and held up as the most prestigious form of manliness in a heteropatriarchy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hegemonic masculinity¹

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

Otherwise, that internal sense of masculinity, felt as “I know it when I see it” and framed within the impossible ideal of hegemonic masculinity, means the siren of crisis always beckons.

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This notion of an ideal man is what scholar Raewyn Connell refers to as “hegemonic masculinity”: a perfected sense of manhood that is as glorified as it is unattainable.

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As Wang noted, same-sex spouses seem to feel less confined by the strictures of hegemonic masculinity.

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Mullaney marveled at how those involved were “throwing around terms like ‘toxic masculinity’ and ‘hegemonic masculinity.' Pretty cool to watch.”

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In their 2019 journal article "Demographic Fever Dreams: Fragile Masculinity and Population Politics in the Rise of the Global Right," scholars Banu Gökarıksel, Christopher Neubert and Sara Smith explore the relationship between right-wing nationalism and what they call "hegemonic masculinity" in a variety of contexts, including white nationalism in the U.S. and Western Europe, Hindu nationalism in India and Sunni Muslim nationalism in Turkey.

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