Contemporary Masculinity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Contemporary Masculinity - Essay ExampleIt is, thus, that images of maleness and the implications of the concept are a topic of debate and academic research, questioning and exploration. Despite the stated, however, there remains a persistent aspiration towards the maintenance of earlier images of hegemonic masculinity. Indeed, a followup of Connells notion of hegemonic masculinity will reveal the point to which modern images of masculinity are being overtly countered and contested by the concept of hegemonic masculinity. Following a review of Connells concept of hegemonic masculinity, this essay will argue that Connells concept serves to shed invaluable light on the extent to which contemporary masculinity is experiencing crisis. This crisis, as briefly touched upon in the preceding, is a direct outcome of the preponderating kitchen-gardenings refusal to accept changing notions of masculinity and its determination to maintain the gender status quo.Hegemonic masculinity is pre dicated on the long notion that distinct gender differences exist between men and women.1 Hegemonic norms are legitimate because mass culture generally assumes there is a fixed, true masculinity beneath the ebb and flow of daily life,2 where men are expected to be strong, independent, competitive, risk-taking, aggressive, force-outful, display sexual prowess, be emotionally distant, and be overriding over women in both the private and public spheres.3 Gender differences underpin an unequal system of power relations where men, as a group, enjoy access to certain institutional privileges4 not afforded to women. Although this is not a lately constituted ideology, Connell holds that the dominance of hegemonic masculinity represents an endeavour to maintain this system of inequality through efforts to quell challenges to its institution. He states, Hegemonic masculinity can be defined as the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy.5 The social prescription for western hegemonic masculinity, aimed at preserving the legitimacy of patriarchy, thus includes elements of heterosexism, homophobia, and male- governing gender roles.Connell stresses that hegemonic masculinity is a historically mobile relation noting that when conditions for the defence of patriarchy change, such as with frugal or political pressures like the global movement for womens emancipation, the bases for the dominance of a particular masculinity are eroded.6 In fact, the institutional and cultural features that give rise to any one year of masculinity also create alternate versions of masculinity that support or conflict with core assumptions. For example, dominant conceptualizations of masculinity portray adult males as family breadwinners. This conceptualization, alongside dominant discourse and practices perpetuate this belief, irrespective of express to the contrary and, in so doing, affirm a gender based division of labour. As may be inferred from the aforementioned, despite the fact that the concept of hegemonic masculinity is increasingly being questioned by contemporary economic realities, not to mention socio-political ones, the tenacious hold that this concept has on mass culture is such that utility(a) realities are labeled exceptions to the rule. Connell does not only acknowledge the veracity of the above-stated but emphasizes the extent to which the